Chase gave me a trip to Mendoza for my Birthday and I could not have asked for a better trip. Friday we woke and packed before leaving to go to the airport. We were not really sure how long everything would take so we left about 3 1/2 hours before our plane left. So we walked to the metro took it to a stop called Los Heroes then hoped on the airport shuttle. It ended up being much easier than I thought it would be.
Walking with our bags to the airport
Riding the bus
We made it to the airport with a couple hours to spare so began looking for a restaurant to eat some lunch. The only thing that looked appealing was Ruby Tuesdays. I have only eaten at one in my life and that was in Auburn, Alabama with Walker but I must say that it was some of the better airport food I have had in a long time.
After lunch we still had time before the flight left so we were waiting at the gate with our bags when this lady that worked for LAN airlines came up to me and in rapid spanish started pointing at my bag and then at me. Finally, I figured out that she wanted to weigh our bags. Apparently, American 22 inch bags are too big for South American airlines, so they took our bags and checked them. The flight from Santiago to Mendoza is only about 35 minutes but it is one of the most beautiful flights I have ever been on because you fly over the Andes mountains they are just so majestic. All I could think was how amazing it is that God created them just so that we could enjoy them. I am not usually one to take pictures out of the plane window but I could not help myself this time.
Chase and I on the airplane we were on the second to last row with a 2 year old kicking Chase in the back.
The Andes
The Mendoza airport was tiny, it reminded me of the Montrose airport we fly into when going to Telluride, except no one spoke English. We found a cab to take us to the hotel. This is when it started to get interesting, we walked into the hotel only to find that the cab driver had taken us to the wrong hotel. So we got to walk with our roller bags through the city of Mendoza to our hotel.
Chase and I walking with our bags through Mendoza
We finally arrived at the Diplomatic Park Suites hotel and checked in. The hotel had a wine tasting of different Mendoza wines every night so we headed down to the wine room before going out to dinner. On the way to dinner we walked through the Plaza de Independence where all these different booths were selling different homemade Argentinian goods, otherwise known as junk. They were fun to look at but we did not buy anything.
The sign welcoming visitors to Mendoza
We had dinner at Francesco Ristorante Barbera, an excellent restaurant located close to the cities largest plaza, Plaza De Independence. We got to eat outside and enjoy the nice weather, while eating some of the best homemade pasta and drinking some incredible Mendoza wine. Mendoza is known for Malbec so that is all we drank the whole weekend.
Saturday we checked out of the Diplomatic hotel and checked into the Sheraton. Chase thought it would be fun to stay in different hotels located in separate locations. However, Chase and I both agreed that we enjoyed the Diplomatic hotel more than the Sheraton. It felt more local and seemed to offer better services.
Checking out of the Diplomatic hotel
We spent the rest of Saturday walking around the city and shopping. I was on a hunt for some leather boots and we looked everywhere without any success. One thing that we forgot to consider was that since Mendoza is a smaller city they still take Siestas, so the entire city shut down from 1:00 to 3:00. So Chase and I went back to the hotel to relax and layout for a little bit.
We saw the weirdest thing while walking around, a guy taking a nap with a duck on top on him and dead chicken next to him.
It was mothers day on Sunday and there where signs to remind everyone all over the place. So Happy Mother's day Moms from Mendoza!
While Chase was looking around the new room he decided to just turn on the Badea and it sprayed up all over him all the way to the ceiling. It was pretty funny.
After showering we headed up to the 17th floor to see the mountains
After the sun went down we headed back to our room to have a drink before heading to dinner. People do not eat till so late, so sometimes we do not know what to do till 9:00 dinner reservations.
Chase getting a beer out of the frig
Andes is the local Argentian beer, we really enjoyed it!
Enjoying the beautiful view of the city
We walked to dinner at Azafran, which is apparently the best restaurant in Mendoza but we did not agree. We enjoyed the food but it was not he best meal we have had since moving to South America. One fun thing they offer is that there is no wine list you have to go to their wine room to pick out your bottle. In the room a wine expert helps find the best bottle for you.
Chase finding us a good bottle of wine
Enjoying dinner
Sunday Chase and I got up and walked to the largest park in Mendoza. It was a fun walk because we got to walk up a street lined with traditional Argentina houses that were beautiful. The park was incredible it was much bigger than I was expecting and had so much to offer. There were running trails, a zoo, soccer fields, a Rec center, a lake to row on and I am sure more that we did not even see.
After walking around for about two hours we decided to stop for lunch at a local cafe.
One thing that we have both come to love is getting Pico de Gallo served with all the bread whenever we eat out. I would have never thought to put the two together but it is so good.
On our walk back we went through the Plaza Espana, which as you can tell was my favorite. I loved all the tiles that were everywhere.
After our walk we headed back to the hotel to hang out at the pool before we got a message. Messages are a little different here than in the US first of all it was difficult to communicate, and my lady was so afraid of hurting me that she would not press very hard.
After showering we headed to the out door mall for one last attempt at finding some leather boots. Unfortunately, to no success I found a couple pair that I liked but no one had my size. Chase did find a few things so it was not a complete waste of time.
From the mall we took a cab to 1884, our last dinner in Mendoza. For a couple of seconds Chase and I paniced as we pulled up because the cab went through this alley towards this small entry where there was a guy standing guard. It felt like we were being kidnapped luckily it was just the restaurant, which apparently is very exclusive.
The door we walked through to get into the restaurant. We had to knock and then a hostess unlocked the door.
Our good friend Chris lived in Mendoza and told us about 1884 and said we had to order Mojitos. The bar tender actually went outside to the courtyard and picked the mint then proceeded to make our mojitos from scratch. They were delicious. After finishing our drinks we were escorted to the dinning room, which was beautiful. One really fun thing about the menu was that it was divided up into three sections for the main course: the Clay oven, the Asado (grill which was outside in the courtyard) and the kitchen. Chase ordered a steak from clay oven and I ordered a steak from the Asado. The waiter failed to tell me how big it was.
I am pretty sure the steak was as big as my face, I have never eaten so much steak in my life.
It was such a fun trip and Chase did such a great job planning everything. We had a great time and definitely over enjoyed the food. We will be taking a break from steaks for a little while!
merrill, this looks SO fun! i love that you got to pick your wine bottle from the wine cellar @ that one restaurant!
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