Mendoza...Land of Steak and Wine

If I haven't already said it enough, Zack and I had the most wonderful weekend in Mendoza, Argentina last weekend. It was very relaxing, and we loved everything about Argentina...the people, the scenery, the food...everything.

Sunday in Mendoza was a very relaxing day. We took a winery tour through a company called Trout and Wine. The tour was a lot of fun and offered a great way to see the wineries which make Mendoza so famous. We also got to try the two wines that Argentina is known for: Malbec (red) and Torrontes (white). If you ever have the opportunity to visit Mendoza, we definitely recommend taking a wine excursion. You will get to try great wine, fantastic food, and see beautiful places.

The weather on Sunday was really nice when we woke up, but while we were at the first winery the clouds and rain rolled in. Here is the view from our hotel room before it got cloudy (obviously we did not pay for an upgraded view...but we could see the pool):
Our first winery was Alta Vista, which is a really old and relatively large winery. The winery was originally owned by Spaniards but a French couple owns it now. The land was really beautiul, and we could see the Andes Mountains briefly before the heavy clouds came. Still beautiful though, despite the rain!

The barrels at Alta Vista are painted down the middle with red wine. This prevents stains from wine drops from showing. Alta Vista claims to be the first winery to come up with this idea.

Our next winery was Achaval Ferrer, which is a boutique winery that I think would have been gorgeous if the weather had been nicer. Even though the winery was really pretty and unique, I was not a huge fan of the wine.

Next was Club Tapiz. This was not only a vineyard but also an inn and a restaurant. Here we toured the winery, and also had an olive oil tasting. They made us take a sip of the olive oil first to get a taste of it, and then they passed the bread around. The restaurant at Club Tapiz was really nice, and our tour included lunch on the second floor of the restaurant. Again, I think there were probably some really nice views of the Andes Mountains, but the clouds were pretty heavy. The 4-course lunch was amazing and included the famous Argentinean steak. I hope I didn’t offend the locals by asking to have my steak cooked well-done!

You can get married here...everything was really beautiful

Zack with his glass of olive oil to taste

The view from the restaurant at Club Tapiz where we had lunch

Our last stop of the day was at CarinaE, which was the smallest but most unique of all the wineries. A French couple owns the winery, and when they bought it in the 1990’s they basically had to rebuild the entire place. The owner gave us the tour and explained that he and his wife love stargazing, and the name CarinaE comes from their favorite constellation Carina. There was stained glass in one of the buildings that they designed, and these little touches are found on the labels of their wine. Everything was so unique and personalized! Us with the owner, Philippe

This was a photo that they had which shows how beautiful the mountains are when it's not cloudy

This one won't make Clemson World, but I thought it was good enough for the blog

When we got back to our hotel after the tour the sun decided to come out. We took the opportunity to check out the pool at the hotel and enjoyed some time reading in the warm sun. It’s not too often that you can go to the pool in late November, so that was really nice.

We ended our Sunday in Argentina with a fancy dinner at Francis Mallman’s famous restaurant called 1884. The restaurant is an Argentinean steakhouse that many, many people recommended to us. Our reservations were at 8:30 PM, and we were the first ones in the restaurant. Argentineans eat even later than Chileans, apparently. By the time we left around 10:30, the restaurant was finally full. It was vacation though, so it didn’t really matter that we were eating so late.

The food at 1884 was another one of the best meals we have ever had. I had my fill of steak for the day at Club Tapiz for lunch, but Zack could not pass up the opportunity to have another Argentinean steak (and I stole a few bites). The restaurant was so beautiful and everything was just so nice.

On Monday, sadly we had to return to Santiago. Check back soon for our pictures and stories from the epic journey going back to Chile through the Andes Mountains.

I apologize that I am a few days behind on blogging. I've got lots of pictures to post this week though, including the ones from our trip to the coast and from my company Christmas party.

Ciao!

Happy Thanksgiving! (Chilean Style)

Originally, I wasn't all that sad about being out of the country for Thanksgiving. But the closer the holiday got, the more I got to thinking about how much I was going to miss the great meal, the parade, the relaxation, family, and the tradition. So when one of my co-workers told me that a local restaurant in Santiago has a "traditional Thanksgiving dinner" for gringos, I knew that we needed to do it.

Today was business as usual for me. I woke up at 6:30, went to work at 8, and worked until 6:30. It was a strange feeling working on Thanksgiving, but it was nice to know that at the end of the day I would get a "traditional" turkey dinner with my husband. We had reservations to eat at Akarana at 8 tonight, and we had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal on the terrace of the restaurant. It was definitely a Thanksgiving that we will never forget.

The Traditional Thanksgiving Menu...at 16,500 pesos it was a pretty good deal too!

The food was actually a pretty good interpretation of Thanksgiving dinner, considering the restaurant is owned by a couple from New Zealand and situated in the heart of Santiago, Chile

Dessert was a classic Thanksgiving indulgence...pumpkin and apple pies

We hope everyone in the States had a nice holiday! I have to add that we were very blessed to be able to talk to both our families today! I'm so thankful for the technological capabilities that I have here, including an IP phone, a Blackberry and a webcam. All in all, a great day for Zack and I here in Chile.

Sorry we are a little behind on blogging. Zack will be a guest blogger soon to update on some of his adventures while he's been here, and we also have a lot more to post about Mendoza.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Ciao!

No Visa, No Problem

Zack and I took a weekend trip to Mendoza, Argentina this past weekend. Despite a rough start, it was a fantastic trip. On Saturday morning, we took the metro out to the Terminal de Autobuses to catch our bus to Mendoza. We arrived at the bus station at 7:30…plenty of time to make our 8 AM departure. When we arrived though, there was no one from our bus company in sight. Not only that, but I’m pretty sure that no one in the entire station spoke English, so I was forced to exercise my Spanish skills all morning. Finally, at 7:50 the man from our bus company showed up only to tell us that our original bus was not making the trip and we had been moved to a 9:30 departure via another company. The man was really rude to me, and my Spanish skills were good enough to understand what he was saying to me but not good enough to respond rudely back at him. The only good part was that we were upgraded from semi-cama (semi-bed) to cama (bed) seats which are much bigger, recline farther, and are more comfortable.

After waiting in the cold weather for an hour and a half for the 9:30 bus, it was finally time to board. When we were boarding, the man taking the tickets asked to see our passports and our Chilean visas. I had my visa with my passport, but Zack could not find his anywhere. (Later he realized it was in the hotel room in Santiago.) I had to explain to several bus employees (in Spanish) that he had his passport but no visa, and I was trying to find out whether it would be a problem crossing the border into Argentina. Nobody gave me a very reassuring answer, but they did let us board the bus. Finally after we departed, the bus attendant told me that Zack might be able to cross into Argentina but “It depends on the mood of the customs police.” It was a rough 2.5 hour ride to the border since we were not sure yet whether our trip was ruined, but the views of the Andes were nice!

Can you believe I wasn't scared and didn't get carsick? This road was incredible!

Curve number 26!

When we arrived at the border, fortunately there were no problems getting through. It took a total of 7 hours to get from Santiago to Mendoza (including the time it took to go through customs and immigration). When we arrived in Mendoza, we took a cab to our hotel and checked in. We stayed at the Park Hyatt Mendoza, which was super nice. We really loved the hotel, and it was in a great location right in front of the park in the city center.

The weather was nice and warm that afternoon, so we walked around and found a little open-top bus tour. The tour was great and took us through Parque San Martin (Saint Martin Park) and the Cerro de la Gloria (Glory Hill). We were only in Mendoza for 2 nights, so the bus was a good way to see a lot in just an hour and a half (not to mention that it was super-cheap – only $6 USD per person). Even though the tour was 100% Spanish, I was able to understand some of it and translate to Zack. Here are some pictures from our walk and the tour:

The fountain in the Central Square of Mendoza

A market in the Central Square

On the open top bus tour

Entering Parque San Martin

The fountain in Parque San Martin

At the top of Cerro de la Gloria there was an interesting monument

The city of Mendoza is in the background

Views from Cerro de la Gloria

We ended our first day in Argentina with dinner at a fancy Italian restaurant called Francesco. We were a bit skeptical when the concierge recommended Italian food, but there is a good bit of Italian influence in Argentina. It was definitely the best Italian food I have ever had. Zack and I both ordered a dish that had an assortment of fresh homemade pastas: lasagna, a pasta filled with veal with a pink sauce, and a pasta filled with spinach and ricotta with a cream sauce. We sat outside in the garden for dinner and it was literally one of the best dinners we have ever had. Our waiter was nice enough to take a picture:

The park in the city center is decorated for Christmas!

We have lots more stories and pictures from Argentina, but I think I’ll continue with those on another day. Stay tuned!

Ciao!

Happy Birthday to Me, Part 2!

Yesterday, I got the best birthday present...Zack arrived! I met him at my hotel at around 10 AM, and then I had to go back to work. We went to lunch together, and then I had to go back to work. Fortunately that gave him a good opportunity to nap and catch up from his airplane-induced sleep deprivation. When I got home from work (and woke him up from his nap) we went to dinner at Patio Bellavista, which is a fun part of town. There are a ton of restaurants and lots to see in Bellavista. Even though we ended up eating pizza for dinner, we did get to see tango dancers on the patio which was neat.

Today, I had to work until 2 PM. While I worked, Zack took a bicycle tour with La Bicleta Verde. Maybe he will agree to be a guest author on the blog to tell you more about it, but from what he tells me it was quite the adventure.

This afternoon we took the metro out to Los Dominicos to do some Christmas shopping. Los Dominicos is an outdoor market with lots of shops and a neat atmosphere. It's a fun area to browse around, and we were pretty productive with our Christmas shopping.

There was an assortment of wildlife on display at the market. Does anyone want a little chick or a peacock for Christmas?!

Spring flowers...so pretty!

There weren't many people there since it was early afternoon on a Friday!

Tonight Zack took me out for my birthday dinner! We went to Baco, which is a French restaurant in Providencia. The food was really good, and the atmosphere was even better. We went all out and each had a glass of wine, an appetizer, entrees, and dessert! When we got back to the hotel, I had lots of birthday cards from home that Zack brought for me. It was so great to have so many nice cards to top off the birthday celebration!

Zack in front of the restaurant

Lots of birthday cards from home!

My sister found an all-Spanish card - it was hilarious! And I love my gift from her...a Trader Joe's cookbook! I can't wait to get home and get back to shopping at my favorite grocery store!

We forgot to get someone to take our picture at dinner, so we had to resort to the automatic timer in the room.

Tomorrow we leave for a weekend in Mendoza, Argentina! We will be sure to update the blog with stories and pictures when we get back. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Ciao from Kristen and Zack!