It's been a while since we last posted. Our excuse is that we were hoping to bring you a guest author, but she never quite got round to writing anything and has now left us for Guatemala.
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| The stars from Leoncito Observatory |
As you'll be able to see from the map and photos, we've been quite busy for the last few weeks - though haven't done a great deal of cycling. We have seen the stars from
an Argentine observatory, visited Cordoba, met up with Lou, toured about 12 vineyards in San Juan and Mendoza (and tasted countless wines), ridden through
El Zonda (not fun), done a couple of Spanish classes, gone to Chile, been to the beach, and lost a camera.
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| One of many oaking rooms! |
We're now back in Mendoza having bussed over the Andes this morning. The camera has been replaced and I'm just waiting to hear how much of the crazy Chilean camera price my insurance will cover. As well as being back in Argentina, we're back on our own again after almost 2 weeks with Lou's wonderful company!
As she joined us for the Mendoza period we, unsurprisingly, spent most of our 'holiday' time visiting vineyards and tasting wine. The vineyards around Mendoza are just amazing. We spent a few days in Maipu, a small suburb of Mendoza where there are 30+ bodegas (vineyards). A typical visit involves a short tour of the bodega, with an explanation of how the wines are made and how their specific processes or techniques differ from those of other bodegas, followed by a tasting where you may get anything from 1-5 wines (sometimes for free). We've been learning everything from the different effect French oak has on the flavour vs American oak, to the optimum direction in which to plant the vines. It's definitely given us a flavour for good wine though I still don't think I can always pick the malbec from the cab sauv. More practice is required.
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| The beach at Vina del Mar |
After a few days in Mendoza we headed over to Chile where we left Lou to get her plane from Santiago. Marion and I then headed for the beach at Vi
ña del Mar and Valparaiso. It was great to see the sea and the wonderfully creative street art in Valparaiso. Unfortunately the Pacific around there at this time of year is very cold so there was no swimming, but we got a good dose of sun and sand.
Tomorrow we're going to try to sort out the next part of the trip: a few days in the Uco valley for some more wine tasting, before we head south for a change of scenery (and temperature) in the Lake District.
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| Marion and Valparaiso graffiti |
