After our white water rafting trip we had a great full asado lunch with tons of perfectly cooked beef, all types of cuts, steaming on a metal platter, topped up every few minutes whether we had finished it or not. All in all it was a wonderful day complete with an encounter with a real life gaucho who patrols the Chile-Argentina border.
The next day Matt, Shandy, Gibby and I went on a zip lining tour through the forest. Beautiful, fast, exhilirating and, of course, SAFE (love you mummy). Also had many mini spanish lessons from our guide who kept insisting I learn how to say ready to go, ¨estas listas!¨
That night we went for mexican food in Bariloche, followed by ONE tequila shot, and a few very interesting games of beer pong. I will go no further.
With a slight hangover we left the following day for Mendoza where I am currently. The first day in Mendoza, a desert in the middle of mountains, and there was a sand storm. Tree branches had fallen off into the road, the sand and debris was flying everywhere it felt and looked like a city of apocolyptic remains. I returned to the hostel with much lighter (in colour) dusty hair, and the outline of my clothes on my body. The temperature, however, was the real surprise. After being in the cold for the last few weeks I was rudely surprised by the intense dry heat. Followed by dust it was not the ideal introduction.
Today was the exact opposite of yesterday. No wind, but very very cold. I dressed to accomodate the heat in a tank and shorts and immediately after exiting my room had to switch back into the cold clothes I had been wearing the last few weeks in Patagonia. This is apparantly the normal weather occurence after a sand storm.
After our friends Anna and Joe were sent back to the hostel because of a shut down of the Chile-Argentina border we ended up going as a group on a winery and olive oil factory tour. The first winery we went to was clearly an industrial mass produced factory with ladies topping up fizzing bottles of white wine with a squeegy bottle....something was wrong with that production line.
The second winery tour at Cavas de Don Arturas was fantastic. We were able to get a tour in english (thank goodness!!!) with a woman born and raised in Florida but who moved to Mendoza to work on her family´s winery. Very snappy woman, starting most of her sentences with ¨of course!¨ but full of really interesting information. Bought a couple bottles, tried a few glasses, and headed back with some of the best olive oil, wine, bottled olive paste, cheese, and lots of other goodies perfect for an antipasto dinner. Even picked up some fresh jamon crudo from a nearby queso and carne shop.
No comments:
Post a Comment