Mendoza Argentina

After a one hour and forty-minute flight from AEP (Buenos Aires), we landed in beautiful Mendoza City to be welcomed by vineyards right outside the airport. The return was even shorter as the tail winds make the flight gain time. Only 1 hour 20 minutes on the return to AEP.

My first dessert was flan with dulce de leche (like caramel).

One of the nights we went after dinner to have drinks at the roof-top bar of Gomez Building with views of the city:

Just outside the city limits, the Parque San Martin is Mendoza’s largest park with trees, paths, statues, gardens, and magnificent fountains:

We visited Hilbing Distillery where they make gin. One of them is flavored with Malbec. We got to sample several of their gins and grappas and got to make our own gin and tonic with our favorite. I am not a gin person, but this gin was very smooth and tasted like wine. And they have 5-day shipping to Buenos Aires, which we took advantage of, of course!

We also visited Chocolezza, a chocolate and alfajor factory where we got to sample alfajores, chocolate cones filled with dulce de leche. We also sampled wine, jellies and pastes:

One of the excursions included a visit to PASRAI, an olive oil production where we observed the tools and were explained the process of olive making and the different kinds of oil. We sampled infused flavored oils along with local pastes of olive, tomato, carrot, beets, and pickled eggplants. They offer also beauty products like soap and moisturizers made with olive oil.

Wineries –

The first one we visited was Florio. Like many other wineries in Argentina, it was founded by an Italian immigrant that recognized Mendoza had the potential to grow wine. Florio also has a small boutique hotel by the vineyards that small groups can stay.

We also visited Vina El Cerno. This is a small family-owned winery that does not sell in supermarkets in Argentina. We went downstairs to the caves and sampled 4 wines.

The last winery we visited was VISTANDES (vista: view of the Andes).

This is a very modern winery where they use mostly aluminum barrels. They are building some accommodation pods to have guests stay overnight looking down on the vineyards.

We stayed at Raices Aconcagua Hotel in the center of Mendoza. The hotel includes a continental breakfast that had something for everyone. The hotel’s location gives you access to all the center of the city has to offer. In the same space there are two restaurants, and a local coffee shop called Entre Dos. The City of Mendoza, and the whole province are an oasis and still using the irrigation techniques that the Roman and Moors used in Spain and the Inca before the Spanish arrived. You would not tell you are in a desert. This system brings water from the melting of the glaciers in the high Andes. Beware tourists, no jaywalking in Mendoza, there might not be a sidewalk bridge.

Our last full day in Mendoza, we went on an excursion through National Highway 7 almost to the border crossing tunnel with Chile. This full day excursion is called Alta Montaña (High Mountain) as in the way to the Andes Range, there is a stop at a viewing point of Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere and outside the Himalayas. Aconcagua’s summit stands at 22,841 feet! On the way there we stopped at a viewing point of Los Potrerillos Reservoir that supplies most of Mendoza’s freshwater. We also stopped at Uspallata, Argentina’s last city before crossing into Chile. Before heading towards the border crossing, we took a detour and went up the side of a mountain where the border with Chile lies. At the top of this mountain is the statue of Christ the Redeemer and one can “step” into Chile without a passport. One can stand at 13,124 feet above sea level. Hydration and warm clothes are a must, even in the summer. That excursion no longer takes place as winter is just around the corner. After reaching the top, the group comes back down to the town of Las Cuevas where a warm Argentine lunch is waiting for all the hungry and cold tourists coming down the mountain. It started snowing as we were headed down from Christ the Redeemer. Another stop of the tour was at Punte del Inca (the Inca’s Bridge) that used to be a hotel with hot springs but after a mudslide has been abandoned and can only be observed. The mudslide spared the chapel in the back of the picture. There were artisan stands to buy souvenirs from ponchos to pottery. The West to East wind is a constant so hold on to your hats.