While researching for our travels in Argentina we learned that traveling by bus can be an affordable way to see the vast country. With this tip in mind we decided to take an overnight bus from Bariloche to Mendoza to safe both on travel and accommodation costs, though our 30-year-old bodies paid the price. We arrived to Mendoza early in the morning, tired and delirious so we used half of the day to catch up sleep and to orient ourselves. Once rested we explored the area around our Airbnb and visited an information center to plan our short stay in Mendoza. It’s a much bigger city than expected with lush tree canopies enveloping the streets, beautifully themed plazas, and very walkable. During the first hours alone we walked the streets, sampled foods, and visited the Plaza Independencia to admire an impressive fountain show. Mendoza quickly became one of our favorite cities and wished we had planned a longer stay to explore the surrounding areas like Aconcagua Park. Nonetheless, we took advantage of our short time to indulge in the icon of the city - wine. So many aspects of Mendoza feature wine, dare I say, even McDonalds served canned wine instead of soda. Not only was all the wine delicious, but the people were kind, and city’s traditions are interconnected and proud of industry. We took a free walking tour that centered around the history of vineyards and wine in Mendoza and learned so many great facts about our favorite and most notable wine in Mendoza - the Malbec. For instance, we learned that Mendoza proudly serves differently styles of Malbecs - sweet, white, and a wide variety of reds. There’s a wine museum that showcases the farmers that cultivated the grapes and even the plazas honor the influences of the Chile, Italy, France, and Spain on the city. Restaurants served very affordable bottles meaning the delicious libation accompanied nearly our every meal.
As like in Chile we took public transportation to the Argentinian Maipu Valley. Now with a bit vineyard experience under our belts we dove head first for full day of wine-tasting. We took a self-guided bike tour to eight different vineyards and wineries and didn’t hold back sampling all the varieties of Malbecs along with other speciality wines. Our favorite winery, Bodega Cecchin, and organic vineyard offer tasting of delicious sweet, dry, and bold wines. Their rustic approach to wine-making was charming, personal, and inspiring. After a few rounds of wine-tasting our tipsy souls galavanted the countryside and felt and felt enamored by the bright sunny skies.
