MENDOZA

My birthday! In the car, roadtripping w/ my sweet beanie


i know, i've been so attentive to the blog lately, aren't you proud? Welll, this city they call Mendoza is fabulosa! Thanks to my amazing hosts, Lindsay Davidson and her Hungarian beau Emil, I have had a fantastic time so far...and I keep pushing back the day I want to leave! I arrived Friday night after a long 8 hour bus ride thru the Andes. Beautiful sights, but cramped quarters...met some nice Brits along the way, and got to watch 21 Blackjack - in English! Made me pine for Vegas...but alas, I am in a better place in many ways. Arrived to the bus station and Linds and Emil picked me up and off we went to grab a handcrafted brew at Antares Brewery in the centro de Mendoza. Stayed there for a couple then came back to their barrio, Chakras (sounds kinda cool - it is!) for dinner. Unfort Lindsay and I were disappointed in the beef we ordered for dinner, but nonetheless it wasn't terrible.

Saturday was a doozy - the entire centro was closed off b/c of some taxi driver strike, which then led to a bus shut down or something. Go figure - the taxi drivers wanted more protection b/c one had just gotten attacked - 5tth time in 2 weeks. yikes-o! So we didn't make it to the centro, but almost as exciting, we made it to "Jumbo" the enormous supermercado where Lindsay and I proceeded to shop for loads of groceries and wine! After that, we enjoyed the beautiful sunny day by putting a table outside of their vodka distillery (checkout Primo vodka if you can find it!) and ate a lunch consisting of fresh bread, ham, various cheeses. Yummmm. They gave me a tour of their small distillery - it's amazing what 2 people can do! They bottled 15,000 all by themselves! After that we came back to their apartment and enjoyed a lazy afternoon, followed by a raging dinner party that night. About 10 people, my age and up, drinking way too much red wine to still be good for you, and enjoying more red meat, salad, fennel and our very own mashed potatoes w/ bacon, cheddar and chives I believe. I helped Lindsay throw it all together, and the bacon was my idea ;) It was a hit! Anyway, after I tried about 5 types of red wine ,all mixed together in my mind by that point (between Temparanillo, Syrah, Merlot, etc), we called it a night...

So yesterday was faboo as well. Lindsay and emil's friends, Karren and Randy, met us at the house and we all went for a hike, along with their daughter Isabella (12), super trooper. We drove about half an hour to arrive at the rocky mountains (not quite as picturesque as our Rockies though). We trekked uphill for about 45 mintues before half the group decided to stop. Being the hard core hiker than I am, and 2 weeks after machu Picchu, I couldn't let the men think us women were weak or feeble, hence I joined Randy (pretty much a mountain goat by the speed he climbs!) and Emil (who although dressed in his Ralph Lauren gaucho pants, flat leather boots and vest looked like he came straight out of an African safari or Conde Nast traveler magazine - oh, and lit a cigar on our way down, even better) a novice hiker. It was a bit more difficult to the top, but a pretty view looking over the Cordilleras and with views of the Andes and a large reservoir with aqua colored water. The way down though was the most exciting. We met up with the girls and took a new way down, and almost thought we had to turn around when we stumbled upon steep cliffs, more than once. We knew we were toast when we saw the metal loop that only rappelers were supposed to hook into! Luckily we searched around for an alternative way down, which we eventually found. all in all a fun hike, full of adventure, and topped off with an Andes beer, which Coors Lite could put ot shame - but after hiking 3 hours tasted no less than the Champagne of Beers itself!

After the hike was over, around 3:30pm, we returned to the apartment to hot showers and Emil's over-the-top "asado" - the Argentinian bbq. No sauce, no fancy accoutrements, just really really good meat (that we picked up from the butcher shop earlier that day) seasoned with just lemon and lots of salt. We had all pork ("cerdo") including costilla (ribs), chorizo (sausage, as you all know), and the best piece of meat - punto de espalda (the shoulder). Oh, and I tried my first "black pudding" - as I will have to get used to moving to England. Not bad actually ,though I didn't ask what type of meat it actually was, as I didn't want to know...just a cute little black sausage looking thingy. I also helped with the tomato/green onion salad, and we had mashed taters again. Mmm mmm goodness. That was the huge meal of hte day, and along with wine and some Primo vodka, made for a very relaxing Sunday :) I am literally being spoiled here!

today I finally ventured into the city (by myself), and enjoyed walking around town, checking out the day tours available, and enjoying the sunny weather (again!). I managed to squeeze into a wine tour that took us to 2 decent wineries, 1 olive oil factory, and a church that had a retrato of the Virgen de las Costillera (she watches over the vineyards). I met a really sweet Mexican girl and her sister and boyfriend who I may go snowboarding with on wednesday. nice! Speaking of which, I rented some sweet equipment today including a onesy ski jumper (the likes of which probably made its debut in the States cerca 1994), some hypercolor guantes (gloves) and some sweet goggles (they tried to sell me on the old school 80s Oakleys but I had to decline and pay the extra 10 pesos for the goggles to save my dignity, not that I look that hot in those either...). i am really looking forward to getting in the snow! I had such a disappointing ski season with only 2 trips this year, so I'm ready!

Well, I hope you enjoyed the latest update...I'm thinking of leaving Mendoza on thursday for hte long busride back to Santiago ;( I could stay here much longer though, but I must press on!

Cheers,
Kaitlin

PS. As I've mentioned many times before, check the Flickr link the left for my updated photos - and hey, i spent lots of time labeling the latest ones, so take a look and read the captions! I'll try to post some more from the hike and Mendoza soon...