Category: Argentina - WANDERING WITH WILLIAM

Last Days in Mendoza (at Least for Now)

3/9/2018

Our last few days in Mendoza we just enjoy the vibe of the city.  We walk along it's tree-lined streets, happy that we have not fallen into the deep troughs used as part of the irrigation and flood control system.

Everywhere we go there seems to be children and/or pregnant women.  I haven't verified the statistics, but William is certain that the population of Argentina is growing.

On Thursday we walk the few blocks to Parque San Martín and the Natural History Museum that lies within it.  It's a small museum with a few interesting displays.  Friday as we walk along a street for the first time we happen across a store which sells tobacco products, liquor, wine and beer.  We stop in and William picks up a couple of Cuban cigars.  He enjoys one along with a cerveza at an outdoor cafe that evening.

We hang out in the cafe's, during the mid-day enjoying coffee and in the evening glasses of wine or beer. Sometimes we are entertained by street musicians. On one of the pedestrian streets I spy the perfect short transport vehicle. It's electric and quiet. If I lived in a city this is what I would want to take a few blocks to pickup the meat and vegetables to make dinner. I could see my Mom and Dad using it to run to the pool for their afternoon swim. If only it was street-legal in the US!

And in-between all of this we enjoy some great meals. William is not yet tired of Argentine ribeyes as he orders one three to four times a week and occasionally has leftovers for lunch the next day. I have meals of trout, salmon, pork ribs and skirt steak that are all very good. A generous pour of copa de vino is usually $75 - $80 peso's ($3.75 - $4.00 USD), and the wine is quite good - after all this is Mendoza! From a price perspective the sweet spot on restaurant wine lists is $250 - $400 peso's ($12.50 - $20.00 USD) with half or more of the bottles in that range. Of course you can also spend $1,500+ peso's if you want to at some restaurants. It's hard for a wine-lover not to imbibe.

Uco Valley Wineries

3/6/2018

We have enjoyed Argentine wines for many years, and more so in the past two months while we have been here.  Since there are over 100 wineries in the Mendoza area a trip here would not be complete without a visit to some wineries.

We hire a private guide (Osvaldo) who picks us up at the apartment at 9am.  Osvaldo has taken care of making reservations at three wineries in the Uco Valley.  He drives through the Mendoza city traffic and soon has us on Ruta 40.  After a bit he turns onto Avenida San Martin in Ugarteche.  We pass by Chandon and Bogeda Catena Zapata, arriving at  Bogeda Budeguer shortly after 10am.  At the guardhouse Osvaldo provides information about our reservation, and the gate opens.

We are greeted by our guide, Jorgina.  This is a boutique winery owned by a family who produces sugar cane in the north and has contracts to provide Coca-Cola with sugar in Argentina and Chile.  The facility is top-class.  When we explained to Jorgina that we are amateur wine makers she tailors the tour to us.

The vineyards around the winery received rain last week and they are waiting perhaps another week before harvesting.  We discuss the netting system used to shield the vines from hail and as well as the irrigation system.  As we walk through the winery we meet the winemaker, who smiles and shakes our hands.  We then watch him listen for the fermentation occurring on a couple of barrels which have been pulled aside.

Maipu did not receive rain recently, and today the winery is processing grapes from one of their vineyards in that area. All of the grapes are hand-picked, and sorted in the field. When they arrive on the crush pad they go through a conveyor belt and then a destemmer which works totally by vibration, leaving the grapes whole. Two people sort again as the grapes move along another belt to the small fermenter tanks. These tanks are moved by forklift to the tops of either the concrete or stainless steel fermentation vats. The bottoms of the small fermenter tanks are opened and the grapes fall into the vats. Very modern (and expensive).

Following our tour we have generous tastings of four of their wines: Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot and a Reserve Blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Malbec and Petit Verdot. The Reserve is wonderful and we buy a bottle, complete with a hand signed label from their winemaker.

Our next stop is Bogeda Salentein. This is a much larger commercial operation, and actually is part of a conglomerate with interests in agriculture, cattle, hospitality and winemaking. We arrive a little late and a young man quickly escorts us to catch us up with our group. Along the way he hits the highlights of the tour that we have missed. We join the group in the cave, which is also used as an entertainment venue. Later in the tour we are offered tastings of three of their wines. They are okay, but none strike as as great.

Walking the grounds after the tasting gives us a chance to see the beauty of this location. The grapes are almost ready for harvest and the tops of the mountains appear as if they are floating above the vines.

Our last stop is at a small family owned garage winery, La Azul.  Osvaldo has made a reservation for their five course wine luncheon. The luncheon is served outdoors and the owner, a man in his mid-30's wearing a polo shirt, jeans and a cap is there greeting people and serving tables.  He tells us that his grandfather owned a large property and when it was time for him to pass it on to his children he put five different colored papers into a hat, each corresponding to a tract of land.  His mother pulled the color blue, which was the best tract for growing grapes.  The irrigation system was installed and the first vines were planted in 1993.  The vineyard has now been passed down to the current owner by his mother.

The first courses are served with Azul's Sauvignon Blanc, unoaked Malbec, and unoaked Cabernet Sauvignon.  The main course (ribeye for William and braised pork for me) is served with a Reserva Malbec-Cabernet that sees 15 months in French and American oak.  Any (and all) of the wines are also offered with dessert.  Throughout the meal the owner and the wait staff are right there if someone wants another glass and also to talk about the wines and winery.  Wow - it is a wonderful meal and a whole lot of wine!

Between looking at the scenery William and I both catch small naps as Osvaldo drives us back to the city of Mendoza and our apartment.  We're very happy we hired him!

Vendimia Program

3/4/2018

As part of Fiesta Nacional de la Vendimia there is a program for three nights at Theatro Griego Frank Romerio Day.  Friday there is a program called Constelación del Vino and the crowning of the queen of the festival.  Sunday has the same program followed by folk music, and Monday repeats, changing from folk to rock.

We were happy to snag some seats to the Sunday night show by going through a local tourist company.  For 500 peso's per person ($25 USD) we get tickets and transportation.  Per the brochure the show will begin at 8pm.  We are instructed to meet the tour bus at 6:30pm at a hotel a few blocks from Plaza Italia.  Our landlady's daughter has suggested that we bring something to eat and drink as the lines for food can be quite long, so in the afternoon I packed a picnic.   At 6:15pm we are at the hotel.  Of course, the bus does not arrive until 7:15pm.  :-)

By 8pm we are in seats four and five in the fourth row, center right.  Perfect!  If only it wasn't for the fact the seats are concrete benches - oh well.

The show starts at 8:30pm with three master of ceremonies talking a lot and running a raffle to warm up the crowd. At 9:00 the Constelación del Vino starts. OMG - this is a 12 act program with easily 400 people that tells the history of Argentina and Mendoza. It is amazing fast-action music and dance for two solid hours. At the completion of the program every performer walks the extended stage a few feet in front of us. They are six to eight people deep and it takes a half an hour for everyone to pass by. Many are looking for their friends and family in the audience.

In the interim the upper stage is setup for a short act of guitar players and the main stage is setup for a full orchestra. After the short act the orchestra is seated and is joined by the folk singer, Soledad Pastorutti. She is a crowd favorite, and we soon learn why. She has a beautiful voice and made Argentine folk music popular during the past 15 years.

After Soledad and the Mendoza Orchestra complete their act the stage is modified again.  A portion of the orchestra returns to back up the singers Juan Carlos Baglietto y Jairo.  Though not a completely fair comparison, William and I conclude that they may be Argentina's version of Simon and Garfunkle.

Of course toward the end of their act Soledad is brought back on stage as well as the guitarists for a couple of well-loved songs. Three-fourth of the seats are still filled.  The crowd that remains sings along, and we can feel a national pride.

By now it is 2am.  The show probably would have gone longer but there has been a threat of rain and the producers did not listen to the calls for encores.

We make our way back to the bus which delivers us to the hotel at 2:30am.  The coordinator suggests that we could have the hotel call a taxi for us if we are tired, but we decide to walk home.  As we walk along Arístides Villanueva several of the restaurants and bars are just closing up.  There are still people finishing the last of their drinks and food.  We get home around 3am, tired but extremely happy.

Fiesta Nacional de la Vendimia Parades

3/3/2018

Vendimia (officially Fiesta Nacional de la Vendimia) is an annual festival of the grape harvest. It's held in Mendoza, which seems appropriate as we've heard that 80% of Argentine wine is produced in this region. It's been held since 1936.

Wednesday evening we have a little preview of Vendimia as we are walking along Arístides Villanueva.  A bus pulls up outside one of the restaurant spewing beauty queens.  It turns out that there are 18 queens, one from each department in the region.  Two stopped to pose for us before joining in their dinner party.

Friday after our siesta we walk down Avenida Civit at about 8pm to Plaza Indepencia, following the parade route the tourism office provided for us.  It is not obvious there will be a parade until we are within 2-3 blocks of the plaza where we see more police. According to the official brochure the parade is to start at 8pm and we are in the area two-thirds through the route. Hmmm.  We meet a local Mendocino woman with her cooler and younger adult children in tow.  She guesses that the parade will arrive around 9pm and recommends we get a table at one of the local restaurants, have a bite to eat and enjoy the parade from there.  Sounds like a plan!

We choose La Lucia and settle into a table for two next to the street.  We proceed to have a full meal with a bottle of wine, which in Argentina is not a fast experience.  The only evidence of a parade is that the street has been closed to traffic and there are more people moving toward the park.  William pays our bill and we also walk to the park.  Just as we arrive we hear announcers and the first float arrives - but the queens are leaving the floats before we can see them!  After that the floats proceed up Avenida Civit, but who cares. We laugh and begin our walk back to the apartment arriving around midnight.

Saturday is the big parade at 10am and we have been promised that it will pass along Arístides Villanueva, just two blocks from our apartment. It starts eight blocks away, so at ten minutes to ten we walk to Arístides and choose a sidewalk cafe for our viewing. Amazingly before 10:20am the first group on horses passes by. They are the equivalent of the fire trucks which lead parades in midwestern US cities.

We have some coffee and pastries and watch the parade for a couple of hours. But as the parade progresses the number of times and length of time it stops increases. At 1pm we decide to walk up the parade route for five or six blocks and then return to our apartment for lunch. During our siesta at 3pm we can still hear noise from the parade.

Saturday evening it is very quiet in the downtown area. Everyone is at the Teatro for the big festivities. We have a nice dinner and then go for a walk. In one of the parks some couples are dancing the tango. Delightful.! At 3am we can still hear local Vendimia parties in the neighborhood. Closer to 4am while I am fast asleep William hears the fireworks at a Parque San Martín following the crowning of the Vendimia queen. These people can party!

Sight-seeing around Mendoza

3/2/2018

We use Thursday and part of Friday to do some sight-seeing around Mendoza.

The tourist information map shows a number of government buildings in a plaza about seven blocks from the apartment so after a slow start to Thursday we head in that direction. There's construction seemingly on all the roads near the Civic Plaza, which makes getting there more challenging. Once there we observe the buildings from the outside then go up to 8th floor building of the Municipalidad de la Cuidad de Mendoza. There we find Terraza Jardín Mirador and it's 360 degree views of Mendoza. It also has a collection of wood carvings by local artists placed around the terrace.

From there we walk to Plaza Indepencia for lunch, then on to Plaza Chile. In prominence within Plaza Chile is a statue claiming friendship immortal between Chile and Argentina. I suppose that's true despite the various border wars over the years.

Friday during the day we opt for a tourist bus through Parque San Martin. One edge is only two blocks from our apartment, but we want to see the majority of the almost 400 hectare (1,000 acre) park, so something other than other than our feet is in order. The park was started in the late 1890's and in 1909 the main gates were installed. The park includes a large man-made lagoon, fountains, rose garden, museum, zoo theaters and Cerro de la Gloria. Cerro de la Gloria at 1,000 meters above sea level has on it the Monument to the Army of the Andes. As we wind down the hill in the bus we have a birds eye view of Theatro Griego Frank Romerio Day, which has been prepared for the Vendimia festival.

After the bus tour and a light lunch we decide it is time for us to also prepare for the Vendimia festival, so we take a siesta.

William's Starbucks Moment - The Quest for Coffee Redux

3/1/2018

Since starting our shopping in South America William has been challenged in his search for good coffee to brew in our apartments. The main challenge is that azúcar (sugar) is included in the ground (and amazingly bean) coffee available the grocery stores.

In Montevideo we were able to find a brand without azúcar at the TaTa (a South American retail chain), but it was only one brand of ten or twelve offerings.  Other stores only offered café con azúcar (coffee with sugar).

In Ushuaia and El Calafete the stores only offered coffee with sugar.  We asked a tour guide in Ushuaia where we might find coffee without sugar and he said it might be available in Buenos Aires.  Our tour guide in El Calafate put us on to a specialty coffee shop where William bought a small package of Colombian  beans that they ground for him.  Unfortunately it was flavored.

Upon arriving in Bariloche we were not surprised that the main supermarket only offered café con azúcar.  We started the quest for coffee without sugar, stopping in every small grocery store or specialty store we came across.  Often we received puzzled looks - why would anyone WANT their coffee without sugar?  Most people add more sugar.  I suppose their puzzlement makes even more sense when you consider that Bariloche is the chocolates capital of Argentina and also home to the Havana brand alfajores plant.  Several days into our stay we stopped into a store near an area filled with hostels.  There on the top shelf we found a few of bags of Café Cabrales brand labeled "libre de azúcar" (free of sugar).  We bought a couple of bags - enough for Bariloche and a start on Mendoza.

Mendoza is a larger city and we had hopes, but they were dashed with our first visit to the supermarket where we only found café con azúcar.  However Mendoza is also a larger city and with that comes the prospect of more international brands.  As much as William despises the Starbucks we find seemingly every few blocks in cities around the world, he was now hoping for a Starbucks in Mendoza.

Google maps reveals four Starbucks, two within one mile of our apartment.  As we walk through the door of the closest store William focuses immediately on the packaged coffee looking for a dark roast.  After confirming it is sin azúcar he asks to have it ground for a french press.  Ten minutes later and the equivalent of $10 lighter William walks out of the Starbucks with a smile on is face.

Sometimes a situation causes a change of heart, at least on a temporary basis.

Exploring Mendoza

2/28/2018

It's our first full day in Mendoza and use it to explore some of the downtown area.

We have an early breakfast followed by some online tasks. I reconfirm one of my earlier online searches and see that unknown to us at the time, we have booked our stay in Mendoza to coincide with their largest festival - Vendimia. I search for the local tourism office and see that it is a few blocks past Plaza Indepencia.

Late morning we begin walking. When we approach Plaza Italia we stop for a coffee at a sidewalk cafe. Like many of the cafe's this one offers a desayuno (breakfast) of coffee and a pastry. There's a powdered sugar dulce de leche filled beauty that calls to us. The server wants to bring us four, since we're ordering two coffees, but we insist on only one.

Buzzed up on sugar and sweets we continue our walk to Plaza Indepencia. It's a nice park with benches and fountains which are turned off at the moment. Past the park we walk a few more blocks to the tourism office where we learn more about the festival, areas to see in Mendoza and excursions in the area. We're advised to use one of the local tourist agencies to attend one of the evening events for Vendimia.

Lunch sounds good so we go to Avenida Sarmiento, a pedestrian mall with many small restaurants. As we are dining I glance at a small tourist agency kiosk and see a sign for Vendimia. We stop by and book with them for the Sunday evening performance. They will even pick us up at the apartment.

We stroll over to Mercado Central, the main meat, fruit and vegetable market for the city. But it is after 1pm and the vendors will not open again until 6:30pm as they are eating their lunches and taking siesta. On our way home we manage to get a little lost and go in the wrong direction for four or five blocks, only to have to retrace our steps. Part of learning a new city!

After a siesta we walk to the main travel agency to pick up our tickets to Sunday, walking through Plaza Chile, another nice neighborhood park. Walking through Mendoza reminds us of European cities with their tree-lined streets and frequent public parks or piazza's.

In the evening we return to Plaza Italia for our second attempt at the festival. This time there is an opera singer on stage. All the little booths lining the plaza are food vendors, many the various Italian organizations in the area. The fare is the same as what we see at the summer Italian festivals in the U.S. including bombers (Italian sausage served on a bun with sauce and peppers), pizza, pasta, cannoli and gelato.

All this walking should help counteract the food we've eaten shouldn't it?

From Chocolate to Wine

2/27/2018

Olga, the housekeeper for our wonderful Bariloche apartment waves to us as the taxi pulls away at 7am. We leave behind the city of chocolates and fly to Mendoza, Argentina's wine capital. Unfortunately most flights require a stop in Buenos Aires and ours is not an exception. We arrive in Mendoza at 3:15pm and after a 20 minute taxi ride we are at the apartment.

We buzz Avenida Maunuel E Saez #460 and our hostess Marcela comes out to greet us.  Our apartment is the second story of her home.  It's a 2 bedroom, one bath which looks like it will work just fine.  The living space includes a dining table and there is also a small table outside.  An innovative metal staircase leads up the the apartment from our separate door at street level.  The staircase also can be lifted to provide access to the backyard patio and pool area which we share with Marcela.

Marcela speaks basic English and we try a little bit of our Spanish as she walks us through the apartment.  Then she places a call on her phone and I am speaking with her daughter Victoria, who further explains things to me in perfect English and answers our few questions.  Marcela makes sure I have Victoria's cell number and also her son's number for any questions we may have during our stay.

After a short rest we walk five blocks primarily along Paso de los Andes to the Vea Supermercado.  The tree lined streets are all paved and pretty clean.   Every few blocks there is a small green grocer and close by a kiosko.  The Supermercado is well stocked with meats and vegetables, a real change from Bariloche where the markets were hit-and-miss on meat selections and very limited on produce.

By the time we arrive home and quickly put the groceries away it is almost 7pm.  We are starving and we want something substantial. This could be a problem.  In our previous cities in Argentina many restaurants do not open until 8pm and we have read that in Mendoza it may be 8:30 or 9pm.  The apartment is just two blocks to Avenida Arístades, a major restaurant and bar area so we walk in that direction.

El Mercado restaurant is open and has a small patio area. It looks nice and they also start serving dinner at 7pm. Yeah! The food is very good.

After dinner we stroll down to Plaza Italia where a festival is being held beginning at 8pm tonight and tomorrow. There is a stage setup with a military band about to play and there are vendors setup all around the square. We start to walk along the square and within 10 minutes it is raining. I pull out my rain jacket but William opted to leave the umbrella at home. After all, this is Mendoza where it is only supposed to rain four days during the month of February.

It begins to rain harder and it obvious that the festival will be interrupted. We begin our nine block walk back to the apartment. After four blocks it is pouring. William eyes the bar Vinitos y Birritas and although we had enough to drink with dinner and are still very full, decides it's a good place to stop to get out of the rain. The staff is happy to have at least one customer and when William says he wants a cerveza they bring him an Imperial - a full one liter bottle. Oy! They eye me with skepticism when all I want is aqua con gas. The rain lightens up about the time that William declares he's had enough, leaving a good portion in the bottle. We continue our walk home in the rain. It's after 10pm when we arrive and Marcela is just preparing her dinner - a typical dining hour in Mendoza.

Sunny Sunday

2/25/2018

I have been wanting to go to one of the mountain tops for the last few days, but it's been cloudy. Sunday we wake to clear skies and decide today's the day.

After a relaxing breakfast in the apartment we pack up my black bag and make our way down Salta Street, cross Avenida San Martín, and join a group seven people already waiting at the bus stop. It's a mostly 20's group prepared for a day outdoors. After 15 minutes an already crowded #20 bus arrives. I'm not sure we will be able to get on, but we do - with William standing in the steps by the driver and my hanging onto one of the poles that holds the Sube card reader.

The driver eases the bus onto the road and I have the naive idea that the bus is full and will only be stopping to let people off for a bit. Hah! The driver stops for a young woman who worms her way past William and sits on the cross-bar for the Sube reader. He stops again and five more people are added, then again for two, then again for three but two people get off. This occurs repeatedly as the bus moves the 20km we have to go. William and I are moved back in the bus to join others making a 2nd column of people standing in the aisle on each side of the bus. Picture this: there are seats on the left side of the bus. Then a column of people are standing holding onto the seats, vertical bars behind some of the seats and bars along the top of the windows. A second column of people stands behind the first and they hold onto overhead bars, with everyone facing the windows on the left side of the bus. Behind them is the second column of people facing the right, the first column of people facing right and finally the seats on the right side of the bus. The driver never does declare the bus as "full" and bypass someone wanting to board. Approximately 20 people get off with us at our stop, almost popping out of the doors. It is an exciting start to what turns out to be an excellent day.

There are a number of mountain tops and ski lifts or gondala's to choose from and we've picked Cerro Companario. We pay our 250 peso's ($12.50 USD) each and soon are on a lift chair going up the mountain. The altitude of Cerro Companario is 1,049m, so not tall at all, especially when compared to the peaks in the Andes.

The sky is clear and blue and the view from the observation platform is wonderful. We can see several lakes, Victoria Island, and the surrounding mountains. We can also see Llao Llao Resort, our next destination. After enjoying the scenery and relaxing at the top we jump on the lift and return to the base.

The next #20 bus to come by is not full after the crowd disembarks and we are able to find seats. It takes us up the Llao Llao Resort. Again there are beautiful views and after taking a few photographs William and I make our way to the lobby bar, where we treat ourselves to a cerveza and glass of wine. The bar is decorated in a hunter's lodge style with chandeliers made from antlers and upholstery on some of the chairs of guanaco hide. It is fun to talk, relax and do a little people-watching in this resort where the least expensive non-air conditioned, no-view room goes for $400 USD a night and their average rooms are $850 a night.

It's now 2:00pm and we are getting hungry. We catch the return #20 bus to the central part of Bariloche and get off not far from San Martín Square. The stroll along Mitre Street takes us to Parrilla Don Julian. We vow to not overeat, and adopt a strategy of sharing a provolenta (baked provolone cheese), salad and one ribeye. The portions are generous and our strategy fails. We try to rationalize that the walk back to the apartment will help settle and offset the food.

It's been a beautiful day in Bariloche.

Chocolate, Chocolate Everywhere

2/22/2018

Bariloche is famous for it's chocolates, and there are chocolate shops everywhere.

Chocolates and Bariloche became entwined in the min-1900s when European settlers broughht their skills from Germany, Austria and Switzerland and started making chocolates out of their homes. After WWII chocolate-making operations took off with the arrival of Aldo Fenoglio and Benito Secco from Italy. In 1947 Fenoglio started the Tronador Chocolate Factory, later renamed Fenoglio Chocolates. At the same time Secco opened Chocolates del Tourista.

When walking down Mitre Street it is hard not to find a chocolate shoppe - there are easily 20, ranging from the brands recognized nation-wide to those who haven't expanded much beyond Bariloche. The shops range from basic to expansive, including an ice skating rink within Rapanui. Of course, the chocolates are sold in a hundred or so outlets and independent shops throughout the city.

Just outside of the central city. Havana Chocolates has a production facility and store which offer tours throughout the day. There's an opportunity for a glimpse within their factory and on the day we visit they are making white chocolates. Although Havana is best known for their alfajores, they also produce bonbons and other chocolates.

Bariloche hosts an annual Chocolate Festival around Easter each year. In the past the festival has highlighted a gigantic chocolate Easter egg 8 meters high by 5 meters in diameter. In recent years two blocks of Mitre Street have hosted a chocolate bar measuring 120 meters long, 40 centimeters wide and 2 thick. In both cases they showcase the capabilities of local chocolatiers and as part of the festivities the chocolate is broken up ceremoniously and shared with the festival goers. Unfortunately we will miss this year's Chocolate Festival by a few weeks, it is April 12-15th.

We try to limit our sampling of the chocolate delights, but they are always there tempting us, almost calling to us as we stroll along the streets of Bariloche.