MENdoza

So this post literally has nothing to do with Chilean culture, thus I get to write it in English THANK GOD because I literally do not have the energy to write another post in Spanish right now.

As you may have noticed, I’ve been MIA for a little while.  It has been a very busy couple of weeks.  If you read my previous post, you know that Chile celebrated its independence day on September 18th, so I was out of touch with no computer, no wifi, no nothing for a few days.  Then right after I got back from my family’s beach house I went to Mendoza, and directly after that I had a crazy busy week schoolwise. But this is about the fun vacation part :).

We left on Thursday, September 20th around 8:50 for Mendoza, Argentina, a city not far from the border with Chile.  Despite the unfortunate issue with my bus ticket (still no idea what happened, but obviously there was only a problem with mine) we all made it on the bus and set off towards the Cordillera.  The ride was absolutely breathtaking.  I have seen a lot of the Andes since I’ve been here, but every time it’s different and I am always surprised by the natural beauty.  The ride took about 8 hours, mostly because going through customs on a bus is a hassle (although it is immensely easier to get into Argentina than it is to get into Chile), so we got into Mendoza around 5 o’clock pm.

Andes!!

From my first sight I knew I was going to love this city.  It was smaller than Santiago, but still so full of people and life.  It has a much more European feel than any of the other cities I have visited in South America, probably because of its many plazas decorated with statues and fountains.  The other thing I noticed was that I could understand everyone PERFECTLY (this never happens in Chile) because they were talking a lot slower than I was used to.  Our hostel was really cute and fun (Campo Base) and we met some really nice people there.

My friends and I in a plaza

The other amazing part of this was the fact that Argentine men may all be descended from gods. I mean. Like. Really.  I fell in love every other minute.  Like I can’t even.  My new life plan is to marry an Argentine chocolatier (cause who doesn’t love chocolate) and move to Mendoza and just drink wine, eat chocolate, and ride horses all day.

Ok, here comes the fun part, all of my adventures:

Parachuting: This was possibly the craziest thing I have ever done in my life.  I’m not a huge fan of heights or feeling like I’m falling, so I’m not really sure what possessed me to run off a mountain with a parachute (and a guide obviously) but it was amazing and so worth it.  I was in the air for about 25 minutes and it was beautiful.  Great views, and I felt like Superman.  At then end my guide even did some spinning tricks because I was having so much fun.

casually sideways in the air

Wine Bike Tour: I’m really not sure who came up with this idea because every time I think about it, it just sounds like an absolutely horrible concept.  Like «HEY I KNOW, lets bring people to vineyards where they have at least two glasses of wine and then put them on bikes and ride between the vineyards». It just sounds like a recipe for death.  But I mean it wasn’t, it was fine, rough riding over gravel, but no one fell.  For my first wine tour I must say I really enjoyed myself.  We went to three different vineyards (Cecchin Vinicultores, Vistandes, and Viña el Cerno ) and tasted a bunch of wines.  They were all pretty good, but then again I am by no means a wine aficionado.  At least now how to properly taste wine so I can trick people who know nothing about wine into thinking I’m an expert.

wine on wine on wine

Horseback Riding:  This was the best.  As most people in my family know, I had a minor major horse obsession when I was little, so obviously riding all day with the beautiful gauchos was heaven for me.  My horses name was Blanca, and we were best friends…except for that awkward moment when she tried to kill me by riding up the side of a ravine…but we moved past it and she was great for the rest of the time.  Between our morning and afternoon ride we had a barbecue cooked by the lovely cowboys with some amazing salad and bread and of course, wine (again, another brilliant idea, lets pour these inexperienced riders about a half a liter of wine and then go riding again).  The scenery was beautiful and it was just overall a magical day.

Blanca and I – it was a love/hate thing

But I mean basically the whole trip was magical.  Followed by a pretty miserable/comical nine hour bus ride back to Santiago and a week where I literally spent more time in the library studying than I did in my house.

I meannnnn….come on

Categoría : Viajes
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