Mendoza

Four days of mountains, bikes, shady sidewalks, beautiful plazas, good restaurants, and above all wine, one must ask themselves can life get any better than that? I submit that it cannot!!! A definite break was need from the big city after finals, so a trip to Argentina’s mellowed out wine country was planned. Mendoza sits at an altitude of 760m and produces 70% of the country’s wine. Argentina’s wines are getting better and better and are attracting international attention. Famous for it’s Malbec, a grape only grown successfully in the mountainous region outside of the city, Argentina has earned itself a place on map, and subsequently wine tasting has become a popular tourist attraction for many passing through Mendoza.




Taking full advantage of South America’s wine region, we rented bikes and headed out for a 12km trip consisting of 12 wineries, restaurants, and chocolate factories –sadly not operated by umpa-loompas to my demise- and olive oil plantations. Thinking wisely, we headed to the furthest winery on the map and began slowly making our way back trying varieties of wine, olive oil and chocolate along the way. Despite the occasional risk of being run off the road by an 18 wheeler, a good time was had by all!!




The next day was spent in the mountains of Mendoza hiking and kayaking. Trekking through the hillsides we made our way to a waterfall and from the top we repelled down. Despite having repelled hundreds of times, the rush of hanging from a string over a cliff still stirred up the old endorphins…I can’t imagine why! The second half of the day we leisurely made our way down a river in kayaks taking in the mountains of Argentina and marveling at it’s highest peak, Aconcagua (6962 m).

After 4 days a new appreciation of wine was acquired as well as a re-confirmation that Argentina continues to be one of the world’s most incredible countries for those who love the outdoors.