Mendoza

By The Family

After nearly two months of hotel rooms, we were excited to have an entire apartment to ourselves! Located across from the central plaza and right above an ice cream store, we could not have had a better location.

Our first two days were spent resting and recovering from our first bouts with bugs. In contrast to the hustle and bustle of Santiago, Mendoza moved at a quieter and slower pace. In fact, nearly the entire city shut down during the middle of the day when the sun was at its hottest, allowing us to take long breaks in the cool of our apartment. We soon learned that mid-day naps were also helpful for staying awake during dinner, as most restaurants did not begin to open until 8 o’clock!

Located on the eastern side of the Andes, Mendoza is a very quiet city of about 1.5 million people. During the winters, it attracts skiers who ascend the snow covered Andes. During the summer, the air is dry and warm, and tourists flock in to enjoy some of Argentina’s most fertile vineyards. Given that the temperatures frequently reach the high 90s by mid-day, the city is fortunate to have preserved the thousands of trees that line its wide streets.



During the mornings, we enjoyed exploring the tree lined streets and parks. For lunch, we discovered that the best deals could be found at the local parrillas. Here you paid a fixed price and could sample as much meat and side dishes as you wanted. Tucked into one side of each parrilla, there was an open-fire pit with a cook serving steak, pork, chicken, sausages, and other cuts that aren’t found in our grocery stores at home.



A short car ride outside of the city was wine country. Like California’s wine country, vineyards were spread across the valley floor, with the tall, dry Andes Mountains as a backdrop. We visited two of the oldest vineyards. The first, called Bodega Lopez, was established over 100 years ago by a man who brought vines from Italy. In addition to several tasty wines and acres of grape vines, the Bodega had a museum dedicated to wine making that was filled with antique and modern equipment. There was even a cowhide “trampoline” dating back more than 400 years. Men would stomp on grapes thrown onto the cowhide, squeezing out the juice that was then barreled to become wine.




Large Stone Olive Press and Ancient Wine Press:


Another vineyard, also established over a 100 years ago, had storage barrels that were about 20 feet high. Tucked in between the vineyards, there were small chocolatiers, liquor and olive oil shops. These were fun to tour as they also had free tastings.




Chocolate and Liquors:


While visiting one olive farm, we learned that black and green olives come from the same tree. Green olives are harvested earlier in the season, while black olives are left to ripen longer. We also learned that all of the olives are picked by hand!

By week’s end, we had become accustomed to Mendoza’s easy pace. Feeling well rested, we also found our clothes a little tighter!