Isla de Damas

Our wildlife guide Paola - who speaks excellent English and translates everything from Spanish - is wonderful. Married to a marine biologist and a dolphin researcher herself, she is a mine of information about the flora, fauna, sea life here. Passionate and articulate, she and her colleagues work seamlessly together to give the tourists the very best possible experience. Ecoturismo certainly is worth the money ($100 each) for the tour.

 We are allowed to land on Isla de Damas (name for the woman’s profile on one of the rocks) for one hour only. Local guides inform us what we can and can’t do - not much except walk and take photos. We land on an idyllic soft white sand beach. You can climb to the lighthouse lookout and observe birds from above, but no penguins here. They are too solitary to be that close to people. They are quite small, probably double the size of our parrot Tikal.

  There is a 40 minute walk along the island and a well kept banjo which is a welcome sight after the bumpy boat trip.

  A 20 minute boat ride brings us back to harbor near a very nice dining room all set up for many tourists, although at 4pm we are the only group having lunch. We had munched on chocolate, candy and dried figs to keep the rumblings away. Here they serve a presentable lunch of empanadas, salad, fish or chicken, and dessert, along with a beer or wine or soft drink. Quite a surprise out here in the boonies.

  Full and tired we board our bus for the 2 hour trip back, stopping en route again for a small herd of beautiful guanacos (closer photos this time) and the little fox family. We stop to taste the olives and oil made here by some enterprising farmers, who mainly have goats out here for cheese and meat.

  Tired and certainly not hungry we much on crackers and cheese back in our room. So we didn’t see any dolphins or humpback whales today but, hey, we’ve seen (and dived with) lots of those.

Isla de Choros - magical

After a ride of half an hour or so we approach the wild, rocky Isla de Choros, a total reserve. Up close we observe many sea birds still nesting, some fluffy heads pop up from nests. We are excited to see our first penguins way up on top of the cliff, where they nest away from  sea lions and other predators. They come down each day to fish for food for the nestlings. We spot one fluffy one at the water edge with its parent. Light brown sea lions, surprisingly small, loll on the rocks, Mr. Big with one of his harem but he will collect 30 for the mating season and guard them violently.

  We spot a sea otter flipping around a rock, but too late to get a photograph. 

  Here are 3 types of cormorants - black, black with a white front, and white headed. It’s the white headed babies that are soooooo cute and fluffy, like smurf balls.I flash away with y 600X lens, knowing I will have to dump lots of these shots later. It’s hard to keep the camera and lens out of the spray at times.

 Pink seaweed on the waters edge is unusual.

  Our boatman is marvellous, he brings his boat in close to the rocks for us to get great views and photos of all the birds and seals. Penguins down at the water are within easy reach of the cameras.

Mar 13 Penguins, sea lions, gaunacos, foxes, sea otter

On checking in, we enquire about tours here and after a phone call, are booked into the trip leaving early next day. We are up for a simple breakfast and picked up in a small MB van with 7 others to go visit the national refuge for Humbolt penguins and dolphins. It’s a 2 hour drive up north and then on a bumpy road out to the coast at Punta de Choros, an old mine port and now small port for fishing and tourist trips to the protected islands.

  What an amazing day! First we see wild guanacos, the coastal llamas, beautiful soft camel haired beasts with long eyelashes. Then a stop for some small wild foxes that frequent a certain part of the road for some reason. 

  There is mining in these parts and a plan to build a new port which will interfere with the fauna and sea life is being hotly contested. e sign the petition.

  Puerto de Choros is at the end of a dry dusty road being developed for more tourist traffic. An hour later 24 off us don our life jackets and board the open boat with a side windbreak and canvas roof which helps keep the burning sun off. I still get a sunburn on my head! Note to wear hat not visor in this sun. Water splashes in and I just escape having a wet bum for the rest of the trip. 

Mar 12 Unserene La Serena

Its sunny with a sea haze as we depart Viña de Mar up the coastal road to La Serena, which purportedly has nice old colonial buildings and houses and a nice central plaza. Bit of an oversell in fact.

  Up over low green hills, we travel good toll roads. It’s very tropical, palm trees, fruit orchards, rich agricultural land, giving way to dry arid sandy hills. Soon we are back on the Panamerican Highway for the first time in 42 years. We traveled it in our Central American travel years. At La Lihue we drop down to beautiful deserted rocky beaches, craggy headlands and stretches of virgin sand.  But no time to stop.

  By 12.30 it is now 21 and coastal fog has rolled in. Next miles and miles of windmills, some going strong, others stopped. Along the road merchants waving flags first selling dulces (sweetmeats, candy) then goat cheese.. We stop at 3pm at a gas station to eat our sandwich I packed from breakfast and a mini roadrunner cocks his head to let us know he’s interested too.

  Around us is landscape like S.Texas or Arizona with plants like small Joshua Tree or small Organ Pipe cacti. Honey, olives, hay abound.

  We have no hotel booked and drive around and around the busy, confusing downtown area, even my Google maps can’t get to the place. When we find it, we can’t park there but I run in and make sure we can stay and the kindly Scottish owner guides us to the entrance to the private garage on the next street over.

  Turns out he is from Bathgate too (my mother’s home.) Married to a Chilean, they have lived all over but settled in this very agreeable climate and now run a large hotel. WE check in to stay a day or two and wander a couple of blocks to the recommended resto for a quick supper at a Gaucho resto.

Mar 11 Santiago’s beach condos

At breakfast, we find that despite the relative quiet, we have a full house at the hotel for the weekend. That day we take a drive up the lovely coast with many small rocky beaches but few places to park. We stop for a walk along the headland below huge multi story condos and more being built. 

  We pay to leave the car in a parking lot, normally the fish market during the week. That way we know it will be there when we get back. We have not had any security issues but people warn us all the time. We hole up on the 2nd floor of a resto overlooking the lovely sea coast with pelicans fishing and gulls diving. Having ordered lunch, there is a sudden crash above us and both us and our lunch table are covered with grit from planters and umbrellas being blown over above us! We move tables and get a repeat of everything. Nice conger eel (like cod in lemon butter garlic sauce and salad. Later we stop at the empanada spot for a seafood empanada and melon frappe. I am beginning to love these fresh fruit drinks here.

  Trying to find the way into the local mall, (or park...) we drive around for about half an hour, get lost trying to get back on the main road, and fill up with gas at $3/litre, double the price in Canada.

  A new guy on the front desk - Julian - is a mine of information about the area north of here so we get lots of good ideas. I kick back with tea and cake (once - as they call that small snack after a big lunch.) Ted goes off for another walk and comes back with crackers, beer and cheese. Successful jaunt.

  Researching hotels for our ongoing journey takes hours!! That is my main function it seems when we are not out and about.

Mar 10 Amazing Valparaiso

Here you order breakfast the night before so get what you want. It’s huge, far too much but a good start to our day. There are only 4 others here so it’s quiet. We borrow the metro card from our host and take the train into downtown Valparaiso. We check out the hotel we are booked to stay in at the end of March for Semana Santa (Easter.) WE also rebook at Viña Del Mar and have choices now.

  Intending to join a walking tour we find we missed the start so do our own. It’s a fascinating city of steep cobbled streets, alleys, staircases and amazing street art that blows your mind. 

  About 4pm we find a roof patio on a small resto and enjoy beers and smoked salmon sandwiches. 

  Back on the train to Viña, I collapse for R&R and Ted, as is his way, is off to wander the streets around our hotel some more. We will return to Valparaiso at the end of the month and have more things on our list to do here.

Mar 9 Pleasures of Viña de Mar

Our destination is a misnomer. There are no vinas although historically it was set up in an area that used to have them.

  We taxi to the airport, and soon have a Hertz rental car for a month.  A Peugeot 209 for US$130.  Their map book of Chile is excellent and instructions how to get on the road out of town too. 

  It’s a lovely drive up over the coastal range of hills and we pass many toll gates and cough up cash, about $4. 

  Into huge Valparaiso metropolis, it’s hazy in the mountains but a pretty drive dropping 1,000m down to the coast and into smaller manageable Viña Del Mar. 

 Our lovely boutique hotel is a gem in a residential neighborhood. Unfortunately everyone here has a dog. It barks at everyone else’s dog morning and night! Our yard is locked and barred so parking is safe and easy. The garden is gorgeous and the renovated house a beautiful place. WE are on the 2nd floor but Andreas carried our bags up. We are welcomed warmly with English speaking hosts, whose total desire is that we should be happy and enjoy everything the area has to offer.

  Armed with a good map of town, we are off to explore the floral clock (memories of Edinburgh...) and the very scenic coastal walk.

We run into an English couple we met on the bus trip over from Mendoza, Small world.

  We stroll the resto strip, Eminem’s me of the Gold Coast in Mazatlan. But like Spain, not open til 8pm!! After a rest at the hotel, we return to the little Peruvian resto just down the steep hill for wine/ beer/Reinata (fish) ceviche and fish soup. After the steep climb home, we sleep like logs.

Santiago - Act 2

It is cooler here now, only 27 high and 14 in the morning but still sunny all day. We seem to be the only guests who eat the meager breakfast here but it saves going out hunting it up. WE load up at the bank, recharge my phone, load up the BIP metro card and are off on the Metro to the central market and our fav seafood resto. They welcome us back and know our beer order before we say a thing. The free pisco sours help. 

  I am craving fruit and veg on this continent. They just don’t eat much of them. Fortunately our local supermarket has it all, plus beer and yogurt which I like to keep in their fridge here. We don't have one in our room.

  WE repack to leave a travel suitcase at the hotel, ready for our travels north next day.

Mar 7. Back over the Andes

We are up and off early to catch the 10am bus back from Mendosa, Argentina, to Santiago, Chile. We expect the border crossing to be an improvement on the 2.5 hours. We are only just happy with the result. It is sunny and hot, 28 at the most. I packed a ham.cheese sandwich for the bus trip, don’t fancy any of the fast food on sale at bus terminal or stop at border. It is again a splendid trip over the Andes, up one valley to the ski areas and down another valley into the capital. 

  I eat my banana in the customs lineup. Fortunately as they confiscate my apple later, but the dogs are not interested in my ham/cheese sandwich for lunch! There are lots of Anglo tourists on this bus, English, Australian, American, no Canadians. 

  The scenery is spectacular and at the border we are in line with a group of bikers. I see a Canadian flag and meet the owner. He’s a guy from Vancouver island joining a group from WAshington state. They have shipped the bikes to Columbia and driving down the Panamerican highway to Ushawai? I check out the web site later. It is minimum US$30k to join them. I send a note to Cynthia (my biker neighbor). She is to interested.

  It is only 1hr 15min at the border but we all stand by as one young lady is totally packed, all her undies on display then they take her into a backroom. But she emerges unscathed. OUr bags despatched back to the bus, we are lined up with our hand luggage and another unfortunate middle-aged hiker from UK has her peanuts confiscated. These Chilean customs are thorough! Later I find my bag of nuts and seeds in our food back...

  WE are back into Santiago in the rush hour so it takes us about half an hour to do the last 2 blocks. Grabbing a taxi we are back to our lovely wee Intiwasi hotel, hot sweaty and tired and straight into the shower. A warm welcome back. Off to a nearby hotel resto for pizza pisco sour and gallons of water.

March 7 - Ted’s summary

March 7 Ted’s Summary 

...of the Argentina Wine Festival Experience

- Parades were fascinating.

- The interesting part was the 2nd evening of the 2-day closed street party, with many wineries offering tastes.  We expected more of this during the harvest festival.

- ‘Queen selection’ was a big event. Declined to to the arena with 10,000 other people because of the logistics of getting there and back when it started at 10pm. Also we are not that keen on the Stampede evening show either, lots of dancing, singing, etc.

-  The Wines. Wine tours: Showcased very few exceptional wines. Enjoyed Cab Franc at Pulenta. Malbec at Soophenia. Single Vineyard Malbec at Norton. 

- Really good wines cost C$50+. Very hard to justify.

- Many wineries using new  French oak barrels once, reflected in prices, many wines don’t merit such expensive treatment. 

- in all tours, hard to find good, current drinking Malbec. Too cheap or thin or way too expensive and immature.

- Very reminiscent of Napa/Sonoma in the early years, trying to impress and stand out with new oak barrels. Not sure end product justified it. 

- Most wineries very modern.  Many small production around 1 million bottles a year. Then Giants, only visited Norton. 

Renacer - Top New World Wines

  Truly a place to blow your socks off. The location and grounds of this super winery were outstanding. Julian guided the small English speaking group through the grounds, reflecting pond with ducks and geese, gorgeous manicured vines and little rivers running through the property, a well as the underground tanks. 

  Despite producing 1 milionlitres they maintain quality is 80% the grape. 

  The first producer of their version of Amarone with a Malbec blend, these people are determined to be in the first tier of Argentine wineries.

  Again they bring in some whites from the Oceanside vineyards up the coast to round out their offerings. And their Uco valley Chardonnay 2015 with 30% oak and malolactic fermentation was a great prospect for matching with food. 

   The Malbec Reserva 2015 with a year in American and French oak, and ideal for cutting through the fat of all the meat Argentines eat, this was highly drinkable now. 

  Finally the 2015 Amarone, a blend of Malbec, Cab Sauv, Cab Franc and Bonarda, had the rainsiny finish you expect from a wine whose grapes have been set out to dry in the sun on big flat trays, which we saw piled up ready in the vineyard for the 2018 crop.

Lunch at Norton

Lunch at Norton - and single vineyard jewel

Ali & Rob raved about their lunch at Norton so we were full of anticipation for this visit. Due to some misunderstanding our time there was not clear. Running late  and with the restaurant due to close in an hour, we ordered their set lunch and hurriedly ate it. Safely, we later found we had an hour to while away before the bus picked us up again for the the winery visit.

  The lunch was disappointing in an indoor dark cool little dining room. A nice amuse bouche starter looked and tasted nice, huge beef stew (not for a hot day! And peaches and cream. With a glass of Merlot and water for US$28 each. Reasonable price. 

  At a loose end and not knowing when the bus would be back, we retreated to the tasting room and were the only ones in there.

  Here the Norton owner’s connection to the Sparkling HIl spa in Vernon, BC. Is apparently but they are to allowed to use the name Swartz? But they have a champagne studded with crystals and a gift box with two crystal studded stem glasses. 

  However, the lovely young Carolina pouring was amenable to us tasting some wines. Turns out she was the harvest queen for her region San Carlos some years back. A beautiful young woman, no English, but poured us what Ted thought was the best wine he tasted in Argentina. But only available to buy in a case of 3 single vineyard special Merlots.

  Agrelo, Luján de Cuyo Single Vineyard Merlot 2012. Worth the visit.

Melipal Winery

We visit the boutique Melipal winery with an all female team  and the special 100 year old Nazarene vineyard. Vines are 95 years old, 8% Malbec. Harvest will start tomorrow. Grapes are all hand sorted, even bottling and labeling is down by hand! Malolactic fermentation is done here too. For first class wines, they need grapes with more juice so plant care is paramount. 

  Here we try a Torontes - the liar grape - very dry and sources from Salta in the north. Then a 215 Malbec, a rainy year but good for fruity herbs flavors.  Malbec 2014 from Nazarene vineyard is deep red like blackcurrants and aged only in French oak. 

Last day in Mendoza - Ruca Malen

Last day in Mendoza so - more wineries - Ruca Malen

Tuesday dawns sunny and less hot, only 28. We are breakfasted and ready at the door for pick up by the Hop-on/Hop-off wine tour bus. Very well organized but slow going round the hotels. In fact, we are picked up at 8 and pass our hotel again at 9!!! There are a few anglos on our bus, American, Australian, 

  Our bus guide Hugo is efficient but doesn’t speak much English so we are not entirely clear about plans. There are 4 wineries, you can visit them all if you don't do a long lunch anywhere. He sorts out everyone’s schedule and calls ahead to book tours at wineries in Spanish and English. Very efficient. At A$650 each pus cost of tours and lunch, it’s reasonable. 

  We first visit Ruca Malen, with gorgeous Andes views and chef picking garden produce for the restaurant and making a beautiful harvest arrangement on a barrel in front of the tasting room. Again the drive out to the Luca valley with gorgeous clear  Andes views is stunning. 

  Ruca Malen was established 100 years ago and thins its vines depending on the quality of wine they want to produce. 3kg, 2kg or 1k per plant, first pick early March, mid March for reserve wines and April to finish. They sample daily, harvest manually. They also do malolactic fermentation here. 

  Surprisingly they use new barrels every year! Reselling to other wineries or for use in flooding or furniture afterwards!

  50% of their produce goes to UK, China US, and Brazil. 50 to Chile and Argentina, small amounts to S.America and Europe.

  Here we taste a 2016 Malbec, a 2015 Petit Verdot and 2010 Kinien blend.

Eating and Soaking

Eating - and soaking..

Did I say the smoked salmon and trout here are wonderful? After all the lunch time eats, we are happy to sit on our balcony and enjoy salad and smoked fish  washed down with the Sophiana Chardonnay.

  Did I say I have a big bath in this hotel? Aaaaaaaah most evenings before I retire. 

Parades and Politics

Parades and Pols

The big parade and breakfast/dinners for the visiting politicians get started at 10am on Saturday.  We hear the incoming president is here, he takes over next Saturday. 

  It is stinking hot again, 30 and we hear that Calgary is under huge amounts of snow people snowed in, brutal temperatures. WE are not complaining about the heat, I spray my head cover with water, put on my visor and off I go. 

  The breakfast spread at our hotel is great so we fill up every morning ready for a day’s heavy events. 

  I should mention huge demonstrations precede the parade both days. If I translate right, it’s all about education funding and curriculum. 

  Behind them come the government’s own floats. A lady beside me with her 12 year old daughter tells me it’s propaganda for the government of course. And it’s an election year for them. The daughter is charmed with the little bear I give her with a maple leaf on his paw from Banff!

  Returning to our hotel, we run into our neighbors. They have been partying hearty. They have gifts from two queens and give them to us! One is wine from her region, the other is wine and balsamic vinegar from her region. Both with pretty postcards of the lovely ladies. How generous. We enjoy them both later. 

  By afternoon we are off to our fav Italian pizza pace on the main drag and catch the end of the parade with Bolivian dancers in their amazing colored national dress, so much energy in huge costumes in this heat! They all have followers with sprays, water bottles, but still they look exhausted by the end of the parade. 

  You never saw such an amazing crew of cleanup people coming right behind the parade. With all those horses, you know what’s on the roads...In no time at all the roads are perfectly clear, well almost, and everyone is out enjoying all the festivities everywhere you look. The craft fair in the main plaza is doing good business, it’s there every day to some extent but this is bonanza time. I read that 25,000 people come into town for this event. But it doesn’t seem overcrowded at all. 

  

Parades...

Parades, Music, Noise the HIspanic way!

  WE’ve come here for the wine festival and Friday night it gets under way big time. Like Stampede parade, it’s a mile long lineup of floats from all over this region. Each region has chosen a wine queen and one will be chosen queen of queens tonight at the big arena in the huge town park. 

  Everyone from miles around has gathered for the event. Restaurants line the route and are packed. Families are out in huge umbers. Everyone is in full festival mode. And it starts at 10pm!!

  Like Marni’s Gras parade, they throw all sorts of stuff from the floats. Not just photos of the queens (vote for me!!) pencils and books for the kids, small baubles, candy, but bunches of grapes, peaches, whole melons (yes, melons!) bottles/bags of wine!! (They are handed off...) Pretty dangerous some of the missiles. 

  Like Stampede heritage, old families come dressed in period costume in their horse drawn wagons, and many many groups of gauchos on their beautiful and ornately decorated steeds clop down the road behind their local queen float. Sometimes accompanied by their own cheering group too. 

  By 11:30 it is time for one of their delicious ice creams and home to bed for me. But the revelry continues on all night apparently. 

Sumptuous lunch

Sumptuous Lunch at Andeluna

Skipping the tour and tasting, we gather round a tale with the most magnificent view of  snow capped volcanoes over the vineyards. Snowy white shirted waiters uand black uniformed chefs ( in an area not much bigger than my dining room) produce the most beautiful plates of delectable food to go with their wines. 6 courses, 6 wines. Our tour operator (an Irish emigre!) Charlie declares this to have been voted the best restaurant in western Argentina. Maybe...

  The courses include amuse bouches as well as nice small portions, til you come to the beef filet, huge! They favor salt crusts here and I had to exchange my beef with our guide for the rare one, perfect. My only beef!! I had the nerve to ask “para llegar” (takeaway) the other half of my beef - which we enjoyed immensely next day with salad on our hotel room balcony.

  After photographs in the garden, we head back to town with full heads, stomachs and beautiful photos of this memorable valley.

sophisticated Sophinia winery

Sophisticated Sophinia Winery

With 5 rivers on the property, this vineyard is in the area of “rivers that sing”. Water is the lifeblood of this whole area and protected fiercely.  Multi terroirs are soil dependent, and although they sell Chardonnay and some whites, they buy Bornarda and Torontes grapes from elsewhere to supply this small market.

  The most fascinating thing here is the concrete tanks sunk into the ground so when you tour the outdoor vineyard area, you are walking on top of them! Imagine getting in there to clean! Dangerous work. 

  This is big time. They have 1. Minion bottle capacity, only producing 1 million now. 2018 is going to be a big harvest, in 2017 it ran from Apr 14 to (late harvest Sauv Blanc) May 1.

  They export 80% of production to 27 countries. We were shown through packaging, labeling, screw tops, cork area, all very high tech. Works all day, every day. Noticed on the labels a huge shipment going to Costco in Mexico!

  Then to tasting. First the unoaked Chardonnay 2017, crisp and balanced. The Alto Sur Malbec 2017 still had intense oak.  The State Malbec 2016 has the benefit of a year in barrel. Then the Synthesis 214 after a year in French oak could age 10 years or drink now, according to the locals. Too early for us. Still too much tannins in all these wines. 

  Cost at the winery (30% discount) A$ ( divide by 7 for Cdn $) 140, 140, 225, 435. Ted decides the 3rd wine a good buy.

March 2

Mar 2 Pulenta and Porsches!

We drop over the ridge into the verdant green valley over the mostly dry river valley first to Pulento. Two brothers run this place. They also own Porsche. You get a free case of wine when you buy one. In the cellar are three engines, 2 Porsche, one Ferrari, the last from a real Formula1 car!! The males are mesmerized by the engines of course! production is gravity fed, the winery having been purposebuilt. Premium vines are planted east to west for best sun exposure. Alluvial soil, 300+ sunny days and 20% humidity guarantee best production. Seismic tremors are felt daily as we are on the fire belt here. Weather, temperatures are stable but they have distinct seasons.

  The view of snow capped Mt. Tupungato at 680m are breathtaking. The influence of early Jesuits and Roman history are embedded here.

  Water police are very powerful.Without water rights, you don’t have anything and they are fiercely protected here. 

  There are basically 5 wine valleys in the area, oases in the arid area with loan 2” deep.

  It’s a huge rich agricultural area, with fruit trees, olive groves, fruit and vegetables among the vast acres of manicured and carefully tended vines.

  Our very able guide Connie shows us the concrete and steel fermenters, describes the micro vilification and testing to create new products that go on in the modern lab and vineyard. Barrels are used 8-10 years, some shorter and wines lie happily there at 16-18 degrees to come to their prime. They are constantly adding humidity to the area to keep it at 60-70%. they harvest at 18-24 bird.

  AT 980m this vineyard produces 60% of the grapes they use.

  Finally we taste! We try a 2016 Malbec, jammy and plummy. Then a Grand Cab.Franc 2014 which Ted declares the best he’s tasted here in Argentina. From 35 year old vines, creamy and elegant apparently!

Finally a 2014 Grand Corte (blend of Malbec, Cab Franc, Merlot and Carignan.

  Malbecs come of course, from Argentina, Chile, France and S.Africa, volumes in that order.

  So is that enough info for today?

Wine Days in Uco valley

March 2  Wine day under the volcanoes at Uco Valley

Another sunny day and 33 with clouds on he mountains later. But pretty much perfect for visiting wineries in an air conditioned mini bus with  other people, mostly anglos. Tour guide Juan has excellent English so we learn a lot of interesting facts & figures about the history, geography climate, economics of the region. Beautiful clear views of the doorman volcanoes abound over the deep green of the vineyards, where picking is about to commence.

  This is a very rich area with multi-minion dollar vineyards, super chefs and highly prized wines. Cost: US$185 each for the day!

  Surprisingly, this is also Argentina’s second largest producer of oil and gas, and we drive past slowly nodding horsehead wells in what they also term their badlands, which look very similar to Drumheller.

  We visit lesser known but highly valued vineyards with excellent English speaking guides, magnificent views, gardens full of produce for their spiffy restos.   

March - in like a lion

  We are following the weather news from home and know we made the right choice to head south here. After the coldest Feb on record for 2 years, they are experiencing brutal cold weather and another ton of snow forecast. We don’t miss it one bit and are sorry for those shoveling away up north.

  The two stormy nights seem to have given way to the normal weather here, blue sky, sun and hot afternoons close to 30.

 While I had a downtime day with a visit to the small pool (too hot to sit in sun for any time..) Ted enjoyed another wine tour of 2 wineries and an olive oil producer, where he bought our supply for the trip. He finds they oak the wines unnecessarily because they drink early. 

  WE are enjoying the tapas resto here serving small empanadas (shrimp, fish and meat) with a salad and the rabbit pate, beer and a half bottle of nice local Malbec, a good way to finish our day.

Feb 27 Spain in Mendoza - also Italia. And parks

Although there is a big Spanish influence here, it was also Italians who established the wine industry in this area. But we were pleased to find a lovely title typical tapas bar for lunch here on Plaza Espana. Imagine our surprise to see the poster on the wall was exactly the same as that on my sister Mary’s kitchen!

  This week there is a big Italian festival in Plaza Italia. All the Italians and wannabes get together for a big party two evenings running. Sadly the first was hit by a huge storm so I hope it didn’t have to be cancelled.

  The city has been laid out by a French designer with a huge central plaza (Independencia) and surrounded by 4 small plazas. Our hotel is on one, San Martin (currently torn up, everything in the vicinity being replaced, big mess. 5 blocks south of here is Espana, 5 blocks west of that Italians,  blocks north of that Chile, from which Mendoza was settled before it became independent. 

 On the west side of the city is a huge park, one of the most impressive on the continent - according to the description. Buses go there just marked Parque. We spent an afternoon strolling it with its boast of 50,000 trees of 75 varieties. There is a beautiful palm avenue and apparently a rose garden (closed for renos with 5000 species of roses.) English and European parks and gardens are far  more impressive. But it was pleasant strolling along leafy walks with plenty of runners, rowers and walkers on a Tuesday - as one of the universities and the city rowing club is there. 

  Many big city events are held there in the auditorium and the big parades set for Friday night and Saturday morning for the harvest festival will start there.

Mendoza - bloody hot and stormy

 Our 4th night here we have a huge storm both following nights, high winds but the rain doesn’t settle. The huge open sewers that run along the downtown streets are full. The guide books says it5 keeps the city cool, I think it smells bad!! 

  We thought Hanoi was dangerous enough trying to negotiate the sidewalks covered in vehicles, cafes, holes, etc. but this is far worse in places. The city seems in a state of constant repair, they tile the sidewalks but many are broken, holes appear, and trees are set in deep holes which anyone could easily disappear into in the dark. It’s well lit at night but still, Ted has fallen almost outside our hotel last night and banged up his artificial knee and bruised his poor arthritic hands.

Argentina: Politically hot

You read all about it. But the Argentina penchant for political activism, rallies, protests is real. A huge protest goes past he end of our road. I have washed some stuff which is drying on the patio and I can see flags, marchers, etc. Can’t resist. Off I go with the camera. I take lots of photos and nobody arrests me. I am given a pamphlet showing political salaries rising from 50 to 90 million from 2016 to 2018. Teachers salaries rose over the same period from $8 to 12 million. Sound familiar?

  There are probably about 5000 students, teachers, unions, associations, etc. protesting education cuts, demanding free education for all, sex ed in all schools, infrastructure change and preservation of senior ad technical schools (if I translate this all right.)

Feb. 26 Back in communication

 We are finding wifi here everywhere, at various levels of efficiency. I have navigated the cellphone situation in Chile (buy SIM card or chip as they call it), go somewhere and put money on the phone, dial up phone supplier and select service. I have minimum data but it seems to be enough as long as I don’t put my cell on for long. Really need it for navigating on Google Maps. What did we do before?? Not actually making any calls...getting messages from the phone company that I don’t understand...pushing something..just like at home.

  Here in Mendoza I find a big cell company Movistar. Remove the Chile chip, go through the motions again and now have data for a week, that should do...

  We return to the pizza place, and hear English voices at the table beside us. When we finish eating, I lean over and ask if they have any suggestions. They are from Ft.McMurray on the 3-week Opimian Society tour of Argentina!! The only other people left at the resto age also on this tour. Staying at the ritzy Palace Hotel round the corner, a fav of Eva Peron apparently! They in fact do have some suggestions. But they are tired, 3 weeks not long enough to do all the stuff on the agenda. And drink all the wine.

Mendoza - nice tropical city in the vines -

Vendemia (wine pandamonium) 

  This city is chock full of outdoor cafes, restos, bars, etc. It is clearly nirvana for a lot of tourists but is full of locals out enjoying it all. Very much influenced by the Italians as well as the Spanish, they have wonderful arrays of food, drinks, bars, gelaterias, patisseries, bakeries. I can see controlling the waistline is going to be tough.

  A few blocks from the hotel we find a nice pizza/beer/salad place ($35 for dinner) We still have to take the leftover salad home for supper later, with the lovely smoked salmon and trout we have bought at the fish market here, miles from any oceans!

   Our second night here Ted is ready for the street scene tasting, called Vendemia.  As it’s the second night, and apparently the last, everyone is pouring generously. You buy a book of tickets (6 for classic wines, 4 for reserves) and get a glass. Half the winemakers don’t bother to stamp your card. 

  Young and old are out strolling with their glasses, the open bars are pounding out music full till and it’s what you imagine at a wine fest, except in Canada the police would be all over you out in force. There is a lot of security, but we don’t have the slightest concern for our safety, nor does anyone else. Families are out with their kids, who are holding dad’s glass, etc.

  Ted enjoys talking wine with lots of them in his broken Spanglish. We are doing quite well in Spanish now too. But we lack the words of finesse to really talk about wines. The big guys have sent out the beautiful people to pour for them.

  For A$60 you can buy 3 hot empanadas, the ubiquitous hand pies, usually meat here in Argentina. About $2 each. As the evening progresses, it is 6 for 100 (C$7) - they are absolutely delicious for lining the stomach for a drinking bout.

  A few blocks away by the central Plaza Independencia, the local pols are speechifying, thee is dancing, singing, rousing national anthems. We are keeping our British heritage quiet here, just Incase the words Falkland Islands come up...They like Canadians.

Ted’s View: The wines so far: Good value tasting of some medal-winning wines. He’s happy. I’m happy.

Feb 25 Thanks - booking.com!

 Knowing it is the annual wine harvest festival, we have booked a hotel in the centre of Mendoza guaranteed for one night. That’s fortunate because we check in and it’s a huge disappointment. Hotel Internacional is a dumpy little place, we have a room about the size of those in Japan, minute, nowhere to put 2 small suitcases let alone anything else. We are tired and hungry so head straight out to a local resto recommended from our guidebook.

  Like in Spain, they start eating here at 8pm. For the wine festival our road has been turned into a huge drinking baccanalian affair, booths from countless wineries line the closed street. 

  There are two bands competing against one another on either end of our street. Our windows are barely single glazed. The fact that we are at the back of the hotel doesn’t affect the noise level. The bands get going at 8 and stop at 1:30am. 

  We asked for a mountain view but are looking into an apartment building from the 7th floor, next to a noisy old fashioned elevator with 2 doors that you pull closed. If anyone forgets to close one of the doors, the elevators don’t work at all.

  If you need the AC on, you call down to the front desk who switch it on and off from there! Hello!!

  We have an amazing appie platter of super smoked salmon and sea bass for supper. Did you know Chile is the second largest producer of salmon in the world? It is all reared, none wild. 

  The street party is just getting going when we return to the hotel at 10:30pm, put in the earplugs and pass our til 8:30am. We wake determined to find another place to rest our heads for the next 11 days in Mendoza. Fortunately the town is not jammed to the gunnels, but we have to come up with lotsa $$$ to move into the Spanish chain NH Cordillera (much more upmarket digs). 

  We walk over and check out the hotel. Yeah. Back to pack, check out and get a cab for the 5 minute ride to new hotel.

  Here we have the penthouse suite overlooking a leafy square which is being torn up and replaced. We have a balcony running the length of our 25ft. long glass window, a sitting area, a big office desk area, super comfy bed, big bath and a walk-in closet. This is what I call home.

  I’m glad the bookings we have made on this trip are flexible and on booking.com, otherwise we would be up the creek.

Andes to Mendoza

  This is a famous mountain crossing, you have to do it by bus, right! We pass more poor looking settlements but these are the jumping off spots for the strenuous ascent of Mr. Aconcagua, at just under 7000m, highest spot outside Asia. A hotsprings area has a small outflow reminiscent of Yellowstone outposts, nothing like that or the pool areas of Turkey.

  There are closed ski areas that don’t look as impressive as Shawnee Slopes at Calgary Olympic Park, but they must have other runs we can’t see.

  Lovely rocky peaks with a sprinkling of snow on top year round are followed by red rock canyons and rocky outcrops in various hues. Majestic mountains for sure. But it is only 2-1/ hours drive to Mendoza so easily accessed by all the adventurous types who come here.

  We follow the river down and see rafters in red rafts running the rapids in what Ted says were waters too shallow to manoevre! Not! Soon we are into verdant valleys covered in mile upon mile of vines and fruit trees. Palm trees and beautiful agricultural land abound. I think I am going to like it here.

More border crossing...

About 1-1/2 hours later we get back on the bus, only to be told as it creeps forward, no AC on yet, that we must get off with all our belongings! Our suitcases are unloaded from the underbus storage one at a time by beefy guys (keep small change for tipping we are told) and put through an ancient scanner. The (un)friendly Argentine customs officers (well, they have sorta uniforms) have selected maybe 8 (most big backpacks) to open and inspect. They are lined up on a table. If you spot yours, step forward. If not pass through. Glad I didn’t bring my Gucci designer suitcases as they are all hurled back on the bus..hahaha

  Again it appears that the Argentina immigration officer went on the bus to see the family, instead of making them all get off. A nice touch. Maybe he took a dog on there too to see if we had sashed any Canadian pre-legal hash...

  The Argentine border toilets: a most horrible experience, all broken, no flush handle so no flush -  imagine getting the runs up there!! And somebody sitting outside waiting for a tip. Unbelievable!

  After 2-1/4 hours, we legally enter Argentina! Several times on the long snaking road down we pass through federal police checks, not stopping but slowing to be eyed.

Welcome to Argentina, definitely a less than 3rd world experience

  Even the stories did not prepare us for the border entry. Up through very poor looking deserted ski areas and a hot springs town high in the Andes, we climb to treeless expanses of multi-hued mountains. Even my photos through the bus window are impressive. The colors are reminiscent of the painted desert in the southern US. 

  There is no stopping for anything except the border. That’s the limitation of taking the bus.

  We go through countless snow sheds a bit like the drive from Alberta to BC through the Rockies, and eventually through the long Christo de Redeemer tunnel. The top is at 3500 meters, border at 3150m, but we don’t notice any problem with thin air.

  Fortunately this bus has a toilet. It is a less than savory experience. Everywhere here you must remember to take toilet paper. I wished I had taken a spray and roll of kitchen roll too! However, we want to stay hydrated so I am drinking lots of water.

  There is an AV system, they show 3 movies in Spanish, all far too loud.

  We arrive at the immigration station some 10 miles in Argentina . We are told this can take anywhere from a short time to 6 hours! Aiyeee! We are already behind 4 buses and a few cars. Soon the cars are 3 deep beside us. 

  The conductor gets on and and makes an announcement of some sort. Should we get off? We are some distance from the covered area, out in the fierce sun with the wind howling. Surely we don’t need to line up? No, it appears people are getting off to buy food from a couple of small kiosks or to find the bands (toilets.) We stay on the bus and eat our ham/cheese/tomato croissants, coconut cookies - ah joy that I made these ahead.

  Later - it’s off the bus with your papers. There is a Czeck family with two boys and a small disabled child who cannot walk and they are accommodating enough to let dad line up with the 5 passports, leaving the family on the bus. 

  We are not long in the sun/wind, later under the covered open air customs hall. The Chilean customs officer is dressed like a skate border - unkempt hair, beard, sloppy jeans and jacket, no uniform. Unbelievable! But he is friendly enough as he stamps our passports, and keeps our Chilean policy record. Note to self: Glad we replaced those and didn’t add hours to our bus border crossing. 

Feb 24 Crossing the Andes in 39 degrees??

We are up early and packed for the taxi to pick us up at 915. An easy ride to the international bus station, not to congested and we are on the upstairs level in seats 7&8 on the bus to Argentina. First through nice fruit growing valleys (peaches, grapes, apricots, apples, oranges, limes, pears) on 4 lane road, soon down to 2 and with 28+ hairpin turns at the top of the Andes. Speed limit 30mph but following a truck, we are all going slower than that. It’s a spectacular ride the whole way.

Feb 23 Bit of culture

Ted has passed the Bellas Artes museum (near the apt that Ali & Rob rentals when they were here) so we take the metro down and enjoy an hour or so looking at the unremarkable collection in a beautiful building. We stock up on food because tomorrow we cross the Andes and are told there is no food on the bus or opportunity to buy. We later find this is wrong, but we are prepared all the same. And the takeout junk food here doesn’t appeal.

  It’s our last day in Santiago for a while so we stock up on seafood soup at Richards, on the 2nd floor overlooking the busy fish market cafes and shops. We are again not disappointed. 

  We repack, leaving one small bag along with a bag of 2cheese boards and 4 wine glasses, not sure they will make it home! We give the other 2 glasses to our lovely neighbor Deborah where they will be well used I am sure.

Feb 21 Out of town to Concha Y Toro

We take the metro first underground then out into the agricultural suburbs surrounded by vines to the end of the line. The company has a shuttle but we’re too late, so jump in a taxi for the less than 10 Knute ride to the winery. There we are expected for the high end Marques tasting - we’re the only ones on it with sommelier Luis. With a cheese board and some crackers, we are led through a 4-wine, 4 minute summary of ConchoYToro’s better products. Ted is already familiar with a lot of them as we get them in Calgary.

  Afterwards we join 4 others (2 from Scotland, 2 from S.Korea) on the English-speaking tour of the beautiful gardens, estate and cellars of this renowned and historic winery.

  We eat lunch in their outdoor patio (could have been in the AC but a bit dull doing that...) of ceviche, an empanada, white wine and a litre of water. After retreating to our AC room we later walk back to our fav tapa resto for beers, sangria and seafood soup, stuffed mushrooms, Serrano ham pinxto (on bread rubbed with tomato/garlic. And stop at the big local supermarket for another litre of water to douse down this 30 heat.

Feb 20 The big HOG

A lot has happened that I have not been able to keep up with!

  With the end of summer sales, we invest in a cooler full of a 6pack of beer from a department store sport section! We retrace our steps past HOG, a big hotdog chain that Ted has his eye on. Exposed to a ton of cooking smoke from the grill, he takes on an 8 inch dog - that’s what he said it was, but you know how men are with measurements...- smothered in tomatoes and avocados. Totally messy to eat but he saved his shoes and shirt from contamination. 

  We have set up shop in our room despite no fridge (we have access to one on the main floor) and keep fruit, milk for coffee (nobody drinks that here), Swiss cheese and gallons of water. A couple of evenings we just sit out in the garden patio and enjoy a beer or two and light eats.