Getting lost in the vines of MENDOZA

DAY 9

We got lost.  A lot.

After getting to Mendoza, we got lost on our way to the hostel.  After getting to our hostel (a beautiful, antique hostel with a lush garden sitting area), we decided to stroll to town, only to get lost again.  Hungry, hot, and tired of turning the same corner again and again, we finally found a bus that took us in the right direction.

The town of Mendoza is a compact square filled with dessert cafes, wine and cheese shops, and hotels surrounding the main Plaza Indepencia.  In the plaza, there were vendors selling nuts, drinks, and jewelry. To ensure that we didn't starve, we grabbed lunch and a bag of peanuts and headed back.

DAY 10

We left early to go to Maipu, a small vine-growing town outside of Mendoza.  Of course, we missed our bus stop (as there are no real stops, just people hopping on and off country dirt roads).  So with the help of two English girls who were also lost, we all found what we were looking for--Mr. Hugo's.

Mr. Hugo is a big friendly Argentine who rents bikes and gives away homemade wine.  He gave us a bike, a bottle of water, and a map and sent us on our way. 

Biking on the country roads was as big of a treat as tasting the wine.  Trees that reached across the road to one another shaded our path, and alongside the roads were streams, vineyards, and cornfields all set against a hazy blue vista of the Andes Mountains.

For hours, we biked and sampled wines, chocolates, chocolate liquors, and jams.  After drinking enough wine (on my part), we decided to head back.  Twice on the way back to Mr. Hugo's, we were pulled over by police officers.  Like any good officer, they just wanted to make sure that we made it to the next beer garden or vineyard before it closed. One set of officers escorted us to the beer garden, where they proceeded to have a drink. Not quite like officers in San Diego who issue BUIs (Biking Under the Influence)...

DAY 11

We went to Parque General San Martin, a park that is twice the size of Mendoza central.  The park was huge, but just okay scenery-wise.  We walked from one end to the other without actually seeing that much.  There was supposed to be a "mountain" to climb to get a good view of the city.  Turned out to be just a hill.

After making ourselves a great dinner at the hostel, we had a pseudo-crisis moment when mom thought she lost her passport.  We spent hours tracing our steps trying to figure out where it could be, calling the U.S. Embassy in Chile to see if we could get across the Argentina-Chile border to get it reissued in Santiago (we couldn't), making a list of things to cancel (two hostel resos, two bus tickets, and a flight), making a list of things to purchase (bus ticket back to Buenos Aires, hostel resos, appointment at the U.S. Embassy in BA, flight from BA to Santiago). 

After all of that, she found it.  It was such a relief, but a good test to see that we'd be able to handle the worst even if it came at the most inopportune moment (when we're right at the border of a country that they won't let us out of, with a bus ride first thing in the morning, and accommodations booked for the next week).  In fact, I think it made us closer because we realized that through thick and thin, we're in this together.  Also, issues such as missing an international bus (which happened the following morning) didn't seem like such a big deal anymore.

Had to leave ya with a cliffhanger... Sorry.

Til the next episode.