8-10/09/24

Our bus journey from Santiago to Mendoza was fairly uneventful and, dare I say it, relaxing. I got some good naps on that journey! The border crossing was, of course, madly confusing with lots of getting off the bus, getting on the bus, getting off the bus, going to customs but only 3 bags being spot checked, some ghastly loos and a bit more faffing. Although it was cold again (the crossing was up the mountain – we drove under a ski chair lift) it wasn’t as windy and Baltic as the Bolivia to Chile crossing and although it was confusing it wasn’t as stressful because everyone in charge seemed pretty chilled rather than angry.

The Mendoza bus station felt more like an airport than a bus station and was even more organised than the Santiago one. I had a funny exchange when buying another iPhone cable with the young shop attendant in Spanish then English in which he said I should go to a place because “Lady Dee” (Diana) went there when she visited. His hand was placed reverently on his heart when he spoke of Lady Di. I returned to Alex and we watched a man try and win a massive Mickey Mouse from a grab machine as we waited for our Uber.

Upon arrival at the B&B we were greeted by three friendly alsatians who practically led us to the office. The woman who checked us in and showed us around spoke fabulous English which was a relief to my tired brain. The icing on the cake was being told that we can drink the tap water here. Hurrah! There was an option to have dinner on site, which we did. Very nice it was too and she was very generous with the wine pours. Having eaten too much we went to bed early, despite having slept pretty well on the bus!

We woke later than intended and had breakfast. This done, we booked onto the wine tours we wanted to do that day; they were gearing towards us doing a tasting menu lunch but we were too full and decided against it. Instead we did two tours with tasting included. Alas, the woman from the first evening had handed over to someone else who didn’t seem quite as together as she had.

Time for a quick shower before our taxi arrived, and this proved to be the only fly in the ointment during our stay here: the taxi driver was excessively chatty and over-familiar in very rapid Spanish which he didn’t slow down at all even when I asked him to. There for we arrived at our first vineyard and I was stressed and sweaty from having to navigate conversation about the weather, the local area, what London is like right now, where we have travelled, and some important instructions about contacting him when it was time to go to the next vineyard.

Our first vineyard was Mendel, small, family run and old. The woman showing us around, Helena, was interesting and funny and I felt like I learned a lot about grapes and growing and the importance of ensuring they like the climate etc. She also insisted that Argentinian wines didn’t have “good years and bad years” because the climate was consistent, and that that particular concept was invented by the French. At the end we tried three delicious wines and a sneaky 4th because the Floridian woman on the tour wasn’t drinking the whole glass and didn’t want to waste it so shared it with us.

As it was time to leave I had an insane number of voice notes from the taxi driver that were impossible to understand. I had to ask Helena to translate them for me.

His associate picked us up and took us to the next spot, Joffre wines. This was also a family affair, with a grandson of a French wine man who set up in Argentina many years ago, deciding to go back into the family business and setting up the winery specifically for his 4 daughters. Very sweet story! Again lots of interesting information about soil and wine production and vines and all sorts that I won’t bore you with. I was interested that here they did believe in the concept of “good” or “bad” years, but this was more relating to the process rather than growing. They made special family blends that combined the best of each year.

Our tasting here had more generous pours and, interestingly, had the option of pairing the 3 Malbecs that Alex tried with chocolate, which I always thought was a cardinal sin. The rose from this winery was particularly lethal, and I could well imagine accidentally drinking multiple bottles of the stuff. We bought a bottle of red to take back to the hotel with us.

Our original taxi driver picked us up, chatty as ever and when we got back to the hotel we ended up massively overpaying him in dollars because we hadn’t had a chance to get pesos yet. What we didn’t realise at this point is that the hotel could have changed them for us.

We spent the rest of the day chilling in the sun, reading and writing, and drinking our wine. This place is, thankfully, well stocked with bottle openers! We also got some cards and played some poker which was fun! We weren’t particularly hungry, so ended up just having snacks for dinner. We also hung out with the dogs.

The following morning dawned bright again and we woke late… again. Having only really had breakfast and snacks the day before we decided to opt for a big fancy tasting menu lunch… not something we usually do! It had a later start so a more relaxed morning. Alas, who should turn up but the same chatty, overly helpful and willing to accept insane amounts of dollars taxi driver.

At first we went into town to get money out, assuming that it would be much like using an atm in any of the countries we had been in thus far. It most assuredly was not. Alex’s card didn’t work, the maximum you could take out was 15,000 pesos (about 20 quid) and they charged you 9,770 pesos per transaction. Absolutely insane. If you’re coming to Argentina, get your cash in the uk and bring it. Most places accept card so the only reason we needed to get cash was for this bloody taxi driver who was fast becoming the bane of my life. We explained the situation and that we thought the hotel could change it for us. This didn’t stop him escorting us into the restaurant saying “we can ask them if they’ll change some dollars for you.” Buzz. Off. Again I explained the hotel would, and off he buzzed, saying to message 20 mins before we wanted picking up.

We sat down and began to relax with the first glass of champagne. This place was called Bonfanti. The tasting menu looked pretty good and we swapped out the fish for Alex to other things. Unfortunately in one instance it was swapped for mushrooms, which we had failed to mention were also a no. So I ate those too.

The food was good… but I am beginning to fear fine dining may be wasted on me. None of it blew my mind and I would have liked to have had it explained as to why the particular wines were being paired with each course. The octopus was my favourite but the green jelly disc it sat upon (I was disappointed to find out it wasn’t a sauce) was tasteless. But hey ho, it was a nice experience and there were some great dogs and a cat that visited us.

We bought two bottles of wine, headed back to the hotel, sorted out some pesos and paid our ruddy taxi driver a more sensible amount. The rest of the day was spent much as before; drinking, chatting, and eventually, sleeping.

Our final day saw me up at a more normal time and fully showered before breakfast! We packed up our bags, checked out and sat in the sun making plans about what to do with the day, our flight not being until much later in the evening. We also had some wine to finish which we did in the sun, reading our books. Eventually we ordered an Uber (thus avoided the taxi driver who had been foisted upon us the whole time). Just before we left, I asked the less savvy hotelier if I could use the loo. “You want a taxi?” “No, toilet, please.” “Ah okay.” Awkward pause. “…is there a toilet I can use?” “Yes.” Another awkward pause. “Can I use it?” “Oh! Yes. This way.” Baffling.

Our Uber took us into Mendoza, where we dropped our bags at a luggage place and went for pizza. It was excellent! Alex’s had an Argentinian sausage on his and mine had mortadella.

We then went for a walk in the park to walk it off which was delightful, followed by a quick beer for me, and a disgusting Fernet and coke for Alex. Tastes like germolene. Then it was time for the airport and our next flight to Buenos Aires! Ciao for now!