Mendoza - Argentina

We enjoyed a nice change of temperature when we crossed the

Andes for our 6th time, everyday in Mendoza was glorious sunshine and between 20-30 degrees (basically our ideal weather). We stayed in a really cool hostel (Itaka), which had a great location right off one of the main streets beside some really nice restaurants and bars. The pool and table tennis tables were great ways to pass time while still enjoying a bit of competition!!! (Ro lost his first game of pool in South America with only 2 days left, hes not bitter Peter, not bitter at all).

We booked a bikes and wines tour around some nearby vineyards. Pardon me for a rant for the next 2 sentences!! Our group was pretty annoyed with the tour, they mislead us to believe that we were getting a guide and free tasting, in fact they just gave us a rubbish bike and crappy map and sent us off waterless. If in Mendoza get a public bus to Maipu and rent a bike yourself (you`ll save 50 pesos a head, which is enough for a great meal). But have to say the vineyards themselves were pretty cool and the tours we got were good (the vineyard tours are provided to anyone who steps through their door for free), you normally got 3/4 glasses to taste for about 10peso which was also quite reasonable.

One of the best places was a specialist in chocolates and liqours, we`d especially recommend the cafe chocolate shots. The region produces mostly red wine and we found it hard to drink alot of it in 30 degree heat so we were delighted to find a really tasty sparkling wine for 4e a bottle. We bought a bottle from the Tomasso vineyard which had the best tasting and was a small family run place. A little bit worse for wear we arrived back in the hostel to meet some friends from La Serena and Valparaiso, who joined us for some nice Argentinian steak, good wine, cocktails and lovely dessert (it was nice to pay with Argentinian peso again).

After the effort of cycling between the wineries we decided to pamper ourselves with a trip to Bodega Familia Zuccardi, which was a step up from the other vineyards. Along with Miguel and Larissa, we took a taxi out to the exclusive vineyard, not too sure what to expect. Upon our arrival we were treated to a lovely glass of champagne (well the sparkling Mendozan kind), which was a sign of things to come. After a great tour and some wine tasting we crossed the road and walked through some lovely vineyards to the Zuccardi restaurant for some lunch.

Lunch really was fantastic, the view of the gardens was amazing, the food was really tasty and the company, good. But best of all they never stopped refilling our wine glasses, with every

type of Zuccardi wine (and they make alot!!).

So after about 3 hours of enjoying our lunch and wine we retired to the courtyard for some port. Drunken Ronan invested in there gold medal winning red wine, which he now has to lug around and save for a special occassion!! Its hard to believe that this fantastic day was cheaper than the bikes and wines tour (because all wine was included). Have to say the hangover wasnt too bad, this must have been due to the quality of the wine.