Jul 11, 2018 - Mendoza, Argentina

Hola hola hola! Ted y yo estamos en Mendoza, Argentina. Localiza al este de los Cordilleras de los Andes. Continuamos el viaje de Argentina. Esta mañana, hemos comido tostado, fruta, y yerba mate por desayuno. Durante nuestra visita se quedamos a la Huentala Hotel Boutique que localiza en centro de la ciudad. También, vamos a la Bodega Caelum por la cena. Estoy emocionada por la bodega y muchas otras bodegas. Luego, visitamos al Museo Fundacional para Ted. Me encanta esta ciudad y las personas amables. El vino de Mendoza es el mejor del...

Jan 25, 2013 - Mendoza - Day 2

Friday, January 25, 2013 So hard to believe we are spending our last full day in South America. We were up early to pack our bags so they would be ready for Alberto to move over to the main house to be kept until our departure this evening. Fortunately, we went over a little early for breakfast & our van for the wine tour would be coming a little later(9:10). Maria took great pleasure in showing me around their lovely home. (Now that there family is grown, they have a small apartment in the basement, and are proud to show off the rest of...

Jan 24, 2013 - Mendoza- Day 1

Thursday, January 24, 2013 Up not so early this morning (still seemed early!) to have breakfast at the main house in time for our wine tour pick-up. The grounds & main house of Casa Glebinius look absolutely beautiful. Anxious for later today when we return & can explore it a little & take photos. The main house is beautiful! We were greeted by Maria, wife of Alberto, who showed us to the solarium overlooking the pool where we would have breakfast. A small buffet of breakfast pastries, fruit, small sandwiches, juice, coffee & tea awaited...

Jan 8, 2013 - Santiago to Mendoza

The past four days have been EPIC! They went like this: The Beach, The Mountains, Good Friends and Rafting in the Andes. First the beach... Our hostel host Jonathan is/was a California surfer and knew of the best beach in Chile. He took us and a friend 2 and a half hours in his pickup truck through the mountains down to the coast. The town he took us to was a suffers paradise. Beautiful beaches, great food and cool little shops lining the shore. We spent most of the day lying on the beach, though we did make it into the ocean for a few...

Dec 19, 2012 - Wine in the sky

As I am sure you have all noticed, I have gotten behind on my blog. As Jenn says, "in Argentina and Brazil, we really got down to serious business having fun." We had early rises, packed days, and late nights leaving brain power and energy for this blog a limited resource.  I will try my hardest to catch up though, aiming to capitalize on the readily available time provided by our seemingly never ending bus rides, and occasional hungover rest days. At the moment I am sitting in my hostel bunk bed in the sweltering heat of Rio, attempting to...

Dec 12, 2012 - Mendoza

Mendoza At Santiago bus station we were pointed towards a large luxury top of the range coach. Clearly he meant walk around the luxury coach to the limping mini bus rammed with people round the other side. Your home for 6 hours and what should take you cleanly and hopefully legally across the border into Argentina.  Well we made it. Customs was nothing more than a passport stamp in a huge airport hangar and throwing some loose change at an official.  For better or worse we picked a popular hostel with bar and pool and located on the...

Nov 27, 2012 - The Andes

We completed our stay in Santiago on monday morning. We took the subway to the bus station to catch a ride to Mendoza. On Sunday we went on a wine tour 2 hours south of Santiago. It was interesting to learn that they plant rose bushes in the wineries to enable the growers to detect disease and react before it damages the vines. Chile is known for its earthquakes and apparently there are an average of 30 per day. The last significant one took place on February 27, 2010. Buildings in Santiago are designed to withstand a 7.0 shaker. Bus...

Nov 14, 2012 - Mendoza free day

Today was a free day! We visited a main plaza named after the founder of Mendoza that was totally destroyed in 1871 by an earthquake. They have excavated the site and have a very interesting museum. We walked there, then back to the hotel to meet other friends and find a lunch place. Then, shopping! Now we are waiting for the overnight bus. It is supposed to be one with seats the become beds! Should be interesting. Hasta...

Nov 13, 2012 - Mendoza, Argentina

What a difference a day, and location make! Santiago was creeping into spring, and Mendoza is heading into summer! Today we headed out to one of the many viniard areas around the state of Mendoza - famous for their wines, especially Malbec. Temperature, days of sunshine (which sounds like ours in NM), dry air and bad soil are apparently what it takes to make great wine here! We had a wine tasting at the first viniard, but along the way had spectacular views of the 20,000 ft mountain outside the city, as well as the perpetually snow-covered...

Nov 12, 2012 - Day 4 Trip to Mendoza

We were off to Mendoza bright and early catching the 9:30 am public bus from Santiago to Mendoza. We spent much of this day trying not to throw up because the road from Chile side across the Andes Mt. Range was horrifically curvey..We were all glad to hit the border which is at the top of the mountain pass dividing Chile from Argentina. Marina, who suffered heat stroke yesterday during our hike, is feeling somewhat better today but not 100% quite yet. Unfortunaely, now Dawn is ill..most likely due to drinking the hotel water in Santiago....

Oct 24, 2012 - Mendoza, Argentina

A straight line on the map from Santiago, Chile to Mendoza, Argentina is about 125 miles east. However, the driving distance is twice that distance due to the fact that you have to go over the Andes Mountains at a height of over 21,000 ft. It is about a five to six hour drive. The flight from one city to the other is only about 45 minutes. You barely get up before you are coming down. On a clear day the views are spectacular as you can imagine as the mountains always have at least glaciers if not snow. Mendoza is the primary region in...

Oct 11, 2012 - Day 7 Aconcagua Park in the Andes

Day 7 Tour to Aconcagua Park in the Andes First let me say that my hotel has turned into a mad house. The Uruguay National Soccer team is now staying here as they prepare for a big match against Argentina tomorrow night. Of course I had to google the team to know what the players look like in case I get to have a 'star sighting'. Today was a full day of sight seeing. I took a tour out to Aconcagua Park which is the highest peak in South America at 21,000 feet. Your viewing point is at a mere 9,000 feet. I can say I did a lot better with the...