We're drunk on beef. Dizzy with pork. Sweating Malbec.
We arrived in Mendoza during the afternoon siesta (almost everything closes)and found the town cosy cosy cosy. This is somewhere we could prop our feet up for a bit. Mendoza is Argentina´s wine region, producing every varietal but most famous for its delicious Malbec. We came here first so that we could meet up with our friends Amber and Alejo who happened to still be around from celebrating the last tier of their wedding trifecta. We are in love with the leafy shady sidewalks, the ice cream parlors on almost every street corner, the abundance of wine and of course the ubiquitous "parillas" (restaurants serving mainly grilled meats, but to order the "parilla" is like ordering the entire farm; they bring you a piece of every kind of meat until you tell them to stop.)
It is summer here in the Southern hemisphere. The days are hot, 3-4 pm being the hottest. The sun considers setting at around 9:30pm and because the days are really long, we don´t eat lunch until about 2 or 3 or 4 and dinner until at least 10 or 11 or 12. When it cools down in the evening, a subtle breeze kicks up, signaling the exact and most perfect time for a bottle of wine while we discuss how we can live here forever.
Argentina feels like Europe. 97% of Argentians claim European descent (mainly Italian and Spanish). This country gave the world Tango, Evita Peron, Jorge Luis Borges, Patagonia and some of the world best wine and meat. Lucky.
No, we´re so lucky to be here.
In Mendoza, we wined and dined at a fraction of the price of home, we biked to some wineries in wine country, met lots of new friends and got to spend time with Amber and Alejo, especially cool because Alejo is from Mendoza.
After a relaxing week in Mendoza, we rented a car to drive south where we planned to spend the next 10 days exploring the Lakes Region and Patagonia.
Oh yeah, mullets are a plenty. Shocking.
