The Land of Mendoza

For my first trip outside of Buenos Aires, I decided to go to Mendoza, the forth largest city in Argentina, on the eastern side of the Andes. Mendoza (the province) is also the epicenter of wine (Malbec) production in South America, which is what got me to go on this cross-country adventure that took no longer than 15 hours by bus! But let me tell you, it was so worth it! Here's why:

The landscape:

The Andes for a background? Picture perfect! Perhaps it is unrelated, but I thought that the onda of Mendoza was muy tranquilo. I think there is something soothing about being surrounded by such beautiful nature.

The wine and olive oil:

I did a guided wine tour with Trout & Wine and it was AMAZING! I was picked up from my hostel bright and early (8:30 am) by a lovely tour guide. Before heading to the first vineyard, we picked up four other people. I think it was barely 10:00 am when I tried the first (of many) wine! In total, we visited 4 wineries, each with their unique history and specialties. We  also had a delicious lunch in one of them. What I didn't know until the tour is that this region of Argentina is also a big producer of olive oil. We stopped at a olive oil producer, where we tried samples of differently flavored oils.The tour took the whole day, and it was absolutely worth it!

The hostel:

I stayed at Hostel Alamo, just on the outskirts of downtown Mendoza. It was at a perfect location, walking distance from the major attractions of Mendoza. Also, it was a very nice, clean and peaceful hostel, with a lovely backyard. The staff was friendly and I met some very nice people during my stay.

Overall, I enjoyed the three days I spent in Mendoza, but the travelling was far from over, as I was about to make my way to Chile!

Stay tuned for the adventures on the Chilean side!