Hace Click

We're back and had an amazing time. Here's a quick summary of what we did and where...

In Mendoza, the country's wine-growing region, we rented bikes and toured several bodegas (wineries) as well as a chocolate and liquor maker, and an olive oil pressing plant. We spent the day riding with our new British friend Darren, who we met in our hostel, and two other dudes who had been doing some trail restoration in Bariloche. It was a fun day, with good wine and sore butts. We also made our way up to one of the coolest monuments ever - to the national hero San Martin. We learned from a very helpful tour guide (not sure why he wasn't telling this to his tour group...) that the frieze of the monument follows the farmers/laborers struggle to independence.

Next, we headed to Cordoba, where Kate is studying abroad. We loved having a fluent and local tour guide. She took us to amazing restaurants, markets, churches, plazas, and even helped us purchase bus tickets to Buenos Aires. Thanks Kate! We also took a small side trip to Villa General Belgrano, which really is like the Mercer Island Deli, Alpenland, exploded. Kate took us on a rugged hike there with rewarding views of the surrounding Sierras and Andes from the top! Finally, our last day in Cordoba consisted of an authentic asado (thanks Lucio!) and watching the Euro Cup with lots of Germans and one Spaniard (well, half Spanish anyway).





















Finally, we made it to Buenos Aires, where we had a pretty posh hotel room in the Recoleta barrio. Our balcony looked out over the Recoleta Cemetary, where famous Argentines are buried. We basically spent our final days in Argentina roaming the barrios of Buenos Aires, eating lots of good steak, and drinking many bottles of malbec. Buenos Aires reminded us of a lot of big European cities like Barcelona, Paris, and even London. The most moving part of our time there was watching the Mothers and Grandmothers of the Disappeared marching in the Plaza de Mayo. They march every Thursday in memory of the 30 thousand people who were "disappeared" in the 1970's.