A few days after our initial rejection from Mendoza, we gave border crossing another try, this time by bus. Success! We now have so many Argentina stamps in our passports from various shenanigans that a customs officer recently asked Kristy in Spanish if she lived there. She didn’t understand him so she cheerfully responded, “dos o tres semanas?” which we think indirectly answered his question.
Mendoza is the region in Argentina famous for its Malbec wines. Wine tasting in the Maipu (pronounced “My poo”) area of Mendoza is like a pub crawl – you get crappy bikes and a map from one of the rental places in town and hit up as many viñas as you can in a day. Wide bike lanes with bumpers – perfectly engineered for swerving – line the city’s streets.
My first thought about all this was, “finally, a wine tasting where I don’t have to pretend I’m classy!” If a frat in Isla Vista had a Napa-themed party, this is what it would look like.
We hopped on a bus to My poo, sorry Maipu, and immediately met three Germans in their early-20s. One of them leaned over and said conspiratorially,
“We heard if you go with six people they’ll let you drink one of their cheap bottles and you don’t have to pay for a tasting. Want to bike together!?”
It was at that moment that I realized I’m actually getting old. 22 year old Marea would have rejoiced at the thought of getting hammered on the house tinto with these new friends; 30 year old Marea actually wanted to taste the different wines and have mature discussions with Kristy and Maggie about which ones we liked best.
Fortunately they met three other young girls at the bike rental place so we were able to go our own way. We saw them later at one of the wineries talking really loudly about how good they are at crossfit, so we felt fortunate to have side stepped that land mine.
Mendoza is a pretty quiet town, so after Maipu and some strolls through the civic center and the enormous San Martin park, we decided to focus exclusively on eating and drinking as much local fare as possible.
After Maggie headed home, Kristy and I stayed in Mendoza a few extra days to relax before our next volunteer job. It was Easter weekend which is apparently a happening time in Mendoza, so we were lucky to find an apartment rental last minute.
Being down here we’ve really learned to appreciate the importance U.S businesses place on customer service. When the back of the gas stove in our apartment spontaneously burst into flames, the owner came over, wiped down the wall and told us to just use the front right burner and we would be fine (silly, dramatic Americans!). We tried to insist that he move us elsewhere as he also owned a hostel, but we were told it would be impossible as every room in Mendoza was occupied for the holiday.
We spent the rest of our time there with the windows open, microwaving oatmeal for every meal and reflecting on how living in a litigious society can be annoying, but also comforting. This man clearly didn’t fear a bad TripAdvisor review, let alone a lawsuit.
Anway, none of our stuff burned and no one got carbon monoxide poisioning, so this time Mendoza was a success, right?!
The Traveling Blues 
Oatmeal and avocados? Kristy, where’s our winning oatmeal/wine/chocolate combo? xo
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