Ok I'm really behind on my posts. But Mendoza was great. We left for our 4 day weekend thursday, March 24th. Molly and I packed our stuff and took the bus down to Retiro. We were on Argentine time of course, so even though we were late, the bus driver decided he needed some food. So at one of the stops he just gets off, walks into the Kiosko (mini market), buys cigarettes and candy and then we head on our way. Luckily we made it to the omnibus station with 5 min. to spare. Molly and I get on the bus and head to Mendoza...a 13 hour journey. However because we bought the cheapest tickets we could find the bus seemed to stop in every city along the way and it took us 16 hrs to get there. And on top of that no food! We had taken a bus to Mar del plata which was a 6 hr trip and we got food. So even though it was a different company we assumed we would get some sort of service. But apparently not. So when we finally arrived I was a little cranky... Molly and I were the last to arrive. Camile, Lauren, Kaly, and Stephanie were on different buses and they beat us there. So first day in Mendoza and it was gorgeous. Sunny with clear, blue skies. We get situated in the hostel and then head out to explore the wine country. Our goal was to rent bikes and then bike from winery to winery...but that didn't happen. We asked the manager at the hostel and he said, "oh no problem take this bus and it will take you straight there." So we get on some random #10 bus and ask the driver. He says yeah i'll let you know when to get off. We're on the bus for about 45 min and then the bus driver tells us, this is where you want to get off. So we do. But as we look around there is nothing but houses. He had just dropped us off in the middle of nowhere. We wonder around for about 20 min, and surprisingly we found a winery, Lopez Winery!
We were able to get a free tour of the entire winery, which was a lot of fun since i'd never done that before. And then got to taste 2 or 3 different wines and champagne. We did that for a few hours and then decided to head out. Only problem was there was no bus stop for miles...the bus driver had just dropped us off somewhere random. We figure our best bet is to go back where he dropped us off. So we go back wait about 20 min and surprisingly the bus came back, picked us up, and took us back to the city. It was great. Sadly we didn't get to see the miles and miles of vineyards/wineries but it was fun. It was Molly's 21st birthday so we bought her a bottle of wine while we were there. Here are some pictures.
1990 wine
rest to come...i promise
