Mendoza

A few weekends ago, I took my first excursion since moving and settling into my new life and routine here in Argentina. A group of us decided to meet in Mendoza for a long weekend to enjoy the wine and natural beauty of the region. Leading up to the trip, I was extremely exciting to travel and visit a new place. After a month or so of settling in, I was beginning to get the travel bug. While I have prioritized daily routines and comfort, I also remember that here I am living in another continent, and I need to utilize my time and ability to travel as much as I can. A group of 8 of us were excited about traveling and making this weekend plan a reality. We had rented a beautiful home outside of Mendoza city, Lujan de Cuyo, which is where most of the province’s wineries are placed.

Although my idyllic weekend got off to a rocky start. Here in Argentina, strikes, or paros, are extremely common. Because so many jobs are federally run, workers often strike for severals reasons, like fair payment and benefits. That Thursday night, I was supposed to leave for Mendoza via bus, although there was a public transportation strike that went until midnight. I quickly had to return my first ticket, and purchase a new ticket that would leave early Friday morning. The drive to Mendoza for me is around 10 hours, which is not the most comfortable trip, and my original plan worked perfectly because a majority of the trip would have been overnight. But, I was not allowing a small change in schedule to dampen my mood, so bright and early Friday morning I showed up at the bus station ready to go. It wasn’t until my bus had not shown up after it’s scheduled arrival time, that I began to worry. After asking the terminal office, they told me that because of the paro, schedules were still effected and my bus was now 4 hours late. This was an important reminder for me: not everything goes perfectly to plan, but the best thing to do is be flexible.

After 10 long hours on a bus, I was able to arrive at our AirBnB just before midnight. Thankfully, I was warmly welcomed by a house full of friends and dinner on the table. I feel so extremely grateful for this group of people to take care of me after an extremely long day. It also felt nice to be able to reconnect and see so many new friends that I have not seen since March. Being able to share and bond over our experiences living abroad as Americans in Argentina was very comforting. It was such a special moment to know that other people have experienced the same highs and lows as me.

Following my long day of travel and fun reunions, we started Saturday off with a wine tour and tasting at Renacer. My one summer working at a winery truly peaked my interest in not only wine, but also the entire process that goes into creating wine. And being able to learn about wine in one of the most famous wine-making places in the world was extremely fascinating. It was also a surprise to me to see the fall foliage in Mendoza. While I have been experiencing the same weather, I have not been having the same autumn experience of leaves changing colors since I am mostly surrounded by palm trees and cacti. We were also able to make friends with the winery dogs!

After our first wine tour, we headed straight over to our 6 course meal and wine pairing. This once my first time doing anything like this, and it certainly did not disappoint. While at the second winery, Bonfanti, we ran into a group of American study abroad students from North Carolina State University, which is such a small world. To summarize, this food was possibly the best, and certainly the fanciest, foods I have ever had.

On Sunday, our final full day, we went to Termas Cacheuta, which are natural hot springs up in the mountains. We had only planned on staying at the termas for a little bit this day, but ended up staying there for the entire day. The cold weather, mountain views, and hot springs was a surreal experience.

On Monday, we packed up and headed out on our separate ways. It was so great to see everyone again, and I am already excited for when I come back to Mendoza in July.