Argentina - part 4 - Excursions

Trail Ride in Mendoza

Paragliding (that's me!)

Asado (our lunch!)

Traditional Dances at the Gaucho Party

Estancia

I arrived in Argentina expecting to enjoy food and wine and sightseeing (which we did), but we also took advantage of some cool adventure opportunities, including visiting an estancia (ranch) and enjoying an asado (BBQ), horseback riding, and paragliding. Even the first-class overnight bus to Mendoza was a fun adventure. I was skeptical at first, but the huge, fully-reclining, comfy seats, champagne, and bingo convinced me!

Argentina - part 3 - Dining

The food is arguably the best part of any trip to Argentina. Well, if you like beef, that is! We enjoyed amazing meals every day, complete with fantastic Argentinian wine (and no, it's not all malbec, though if it was that would be ok with me!). In addition, there is a laid-back cafe culture and gelato on every corner. Basically you have no chance of ever feeling hungry.

A few logistical notes: 1. dinner happens very late (you're getting the early-bird special if you arrive at 9pm), but other meals are at the normal times. To avoid passing out during the 10 hours during lunch and dinner, people have la leche, which usually includes coffee or a snack around 5-7pm. We turned la leche into happy hour (i.e. a bottle of wine in the hotel), which was a very fun way to pass the time before dinner. 2. Portenos linger over their meals. If you go to a restaurant with a wait, expect to be waiting a while because waiters don't hurry people out the way they do in the US.

Some of our favorite meals were at:

La Cabrera, BA's most famous parilla (steakhouse). Steaks come with all these interesting little side dishes. Reservations are a must (this was the only place we needed them).

Azafran, a cool, eclectic restaurant in Mendoza. They are a little more experimental with the food than is typical in Argentina (where you tend to get perfectly grilled steaks but few frills/seasonings/side dishes). This could have been one of the best meals of my life. I had fillet mignon and hubby had pork with blueberry sauce.

El Palenque, also in Mendoza. Although it is owned by the same guy who owns Azafran, the food is much simpler. It's meant as a place for locals where Azafran clearly caters to tourists. We had a delicious "pizza" where the "crust" was french fries and the "sauce" was steak, topped with cheese, oregano, and other seasonings. The surprisingly good house wine comes in a traditional penguin pitcher and that was just fun.

Don Julio, in the Palermo neighborhood of BA. This was a great traditional parilla without the hype of La Cabrera. We ate here on the first night of the honeymoon and quickly realized that a half portion of steak is more than enough for a human of any size/appetite.

La Oveida, in the Recoleta neighborhood of BA. This was an upscale restaurant (not a parilla, where we ate most nights) which was a great change of pace. I had fish and hubby had ravioli.

Argentina - part 2 - Wine Tasting in Mendoza

Ok, my new married/homeowning lifestyle has distracted me from completing my Argentina postings. (Though we have hosted a couple of successful evenings at the new digs and I am quite proud to have updated a bathroom, with a little help from hubby.)

Wine tasting in Mendoza was probably my favorite part of the honeymoon. We splurged on a high-end tour from Ampora Wine Tours, and it was definitely worth it. Our guide, Luli (stong contender for the title of cutest person in all of Argentina), spoke perfect English and set exactly the right tone for the tour. She was knowledgeable and enthusiastic yet unpretentious and fun at the same time.

Wine tourism is relatively new in Argentina, so things like tasting rooms and tours vary widely. Some of the wineries are still more like farms and others--especially the ones that offer free tastings--often won't let you taste their best wines. Most places also require advance reservations. Ampora specializes in mid- to high-end vineyards and has a max of 8 people on its tours. We visited 4 different bodegas (wineries), got to taste some excellent vintages and Ampora took care of all the logistics (so nice after the wedding madness!), including transportation, reservations, private tours and tastings for our group, lunch, and some nice little amenities like bottles of water and snacks, which were crucial to helping me stave off an early AM low-blood sugar meltdown that could have ruined the entire day.

We headed out to the Uco Valley, an up-and-coming area for wine cultivation, about an hour outside of Mendoza. The valley is at the base of the Andes and the scenery is unbelievable. Interestingly, all of the vineyards we visited were owned by foreigners--in this case, French, American, or Spanish. We visited a really interesting project called Clos de los 7, where seven established Frensh winemakers cultivate their own vines and produce their own wines on a huge property. Some of my favorites wines we tasted were Pasionado (a blend at Andeluna), Festival (a malbec rose at Monteviejo), and the Gran Malbec at Las Flechas de Los Andes. We took bottles of the last two home to remember the trip. We finished the day with an amazing lunch at Bodega O'Fournier, where Area 51 meets wine.

Argentina - part 1 - Buenos Aires

I could not possibly hope to include everything about our amazing Argentinian honeymoon in just one post. I have therefore divided/sub-divided the posts geographically and somewhat chronologically. We started the trip in Buenos Aires (or "BA" to you cool kids). It was fantastic--cannot say enough about the delicious food, amazing wine, fabulous shopping, friendly people, cosmopolitan vibe...

The one downside was the prevalence of street crime, which prevented me from taking as many photos as I would have liked in the city. After the first day, when two locals--including a cop--told me not to display my camera in public, I mostly left it at the hotel. I did manage to get a few good shots, though, especially in Recoleta cemetery.

Over the course of about 10 days total, we made our way through the various neighborhoods of the city. I liked San Telmo, BA's oldest barrio featuring cobblestone streets, wrought-iron balconies, and a great weekly antiques market, while hubby preferred gleaming, modern Puerto Madero, along the canal (opposites attract, I guess!). But Palermo, Recoleta, and Microcentro also had their charms. La Boca was not quite what we expected. Having heard it was a dangerous, crime-ridden neighborhood--but still worth seeing for the iconic, brightly colored, corrugated metal buildings along el caminito--we took a cab directly there and left nearly all of our valuables at home. We were in for quite a surprise when we realized that el caminito was something of a mix between Disney World and Tijuana and was hardly the den of crime we had anticipated. It was extremely touristy and tacky and was the only place in the city where we saw people displaying valuable electronics--including cameras and even a PSP! We felt a little silly, needless to say. And that is why I do not have any photos of La Boca to post.