Mendoza

My morning in Ushuaia was thankfully uneventful. I packed my things in the dark as my roommates were still sleeping. Since I would be sitting for a few hours, I decided to get some exercise and walk to the airport as it was only a few miles away. This was the first time in my life I had ever done so. I walked, pulling my bag behind me in the crisp morning air and taking in the scenery. I arrived at a pretty modern airport and waited until my flight to Cordoba. Honestly, the view taking off from Ushuaia was beyond beautiful.

I landed in Cordoba a few hours later, then quickly was able to catch my next flight to Mendoza. I hate connecting flights with short leeway times exactly because of what happened. I landed in Mendoza, took my time to get to the baggage claim and my bag wasn’t there after everyone else had gone. I asked where my bag was and the attendendent asked me to go to the lost bag office and NO ONE WAS THERE. I had hired a driver, Juan Carlos, to take me to my lodging, and he showed up and assisted me in finding someone to help me get my bag. Finally, someone came back to the office, found my bag, and off we went.

Mendoza was a lot hotter than Ushuaia by about 30 degrees. It is the wine region of Argentina and is incredibly green and beautiful. It has the unique feature of being so close to the Andes mountains that it server as a constant navigational guide like “Oh, there are the mountains, so that way is West.” Another interesting feature is that every road in the city has a very small canal designed not for just drainage, but allowing the annual melting of the Andes snow to flow freely throughout the city. This is also used for agriculture.

Juan Carlos and I talked as he took me to the condo I rented. He dropped me off and we said our goodbyes. It was in a regular apartment building, so I went up to my floor and checked in. It was a pretty nice place, but just a room with an ensuite bathroom. However, the view was lovely as there was a small balcony overlooking a plaza with the mountains in the distance.

I put down my things and walked around the plaza. I was hungry, so I went over to a small street cafe and had some steak and a beer. I raised a glass to myself before I headed back to my room.

The next day I got up, had breakfast, and headed on my walking tour. The tour was pretty forgettable, but I did manage to strike up a conversation with a young lady from the Netherlands named I. She mentioned that she was heading to Ushuaia to get on a boat and head to Antarctica. My ears perked up and I told her I was just there. We chatted some more during the tour as we were walking from one part of the city to the other. After, we decided to get lunch together.

She told me about her life being a radiation tech for kids with cancer one of the country’s biggest pediatric hospital. I told her about my trip and my thoughts on the Netherlands and things to do in Ushuaia before she got on the boat. I also showed here the video I made of when I marched with the penguins. She absolutely loved it. She told me penguins were her spirit animal and showed me a tattoo of one she had on her ankel. She also seemed quite engrossed when I told her about my misadventures in Santiago with teargas, protestors, and the military police.

As the wine continued to flow, I could tell she liked me. She told me she had just gotten out of an 8 year relationship and she was taking her annual time off from her job to see the world. After lunch, we decided to take a walk together to see some of the things we wanted to explore further from the walking tour. However, I said that I needed to run up to my room first to grab a water bottle and invited her up. Suddenly, we both got very tired and took a nap. After being very well-rested, I walked her back to her hostel and we promised to see eachother again.

The next day, my birthday, I had planned an adventure. I went down to the lobby of the building and waited for my driver. They were Argentinian fashionably late, meaning 20 minutes, but that was OK. After their van picked me up, we headed to Maipú, a small city outside of Mendoza and picked up an older couple. I could tell they would be trouble. 

We then headed to the ranch that was about almost two hours away. During the ride, one of the guides gave the Boomers a crash course on the correct way to enjoy maté. Finally, I had enough people to do the circle and pass it around. 

We arrived at the ranch up in the mountains and upon exiting the van, it was remarkably colder. We were treated to some warm drinks, introduced to our guide, then headed to the stables. It was here, where I met my trusty steed for the day, Aurelio. We were given strap-on chaps and some warmer clothes before we mounted our horses, and headed out to the trail. 

We rode for an hour through several mountain passes and valleys. Honestly, it was an amazing experience and I am very glad I treated myself to it for my birthday. We then happened on a stream. Our guide told us that the water was so cold and pure from the mountain that we could drink right from it and not get sick. Going against every instinct I had as an outdoorsman, I took a drink from the guide’s cup. It was refreshing. We also passed around a wine skin filled with Malbec, which I am certain helped to kill any and everything that might have been in that water. Apparently the gauchos squirt the wine into their mouths instead of drinking it from the tap, a skill of which I was well acquainted.

We remounted our horses and rode for another two hours. We saw condors, wild alpacas, and some of the most beautiful scenery. It was when I was up on a mountain pass with Aurelio under me, looking at the valley below me that I thanked God for giving me another year on this Earth and what a year it was.

We got back to the ranch and we all sat down for an asado lunch. It was very tasty and of course there was more wine. We hopped back in the van and began our return to Mendoza proper. After dropping off the Boomers, I asked the tour guides to drop me at the restaurant where I would be having my birthday dinner. I had heard about it from when I was in Santiago from someone I had been talking to on Bumble. I changed in the van to something more appropriate for a 5-Star restaurant.

One of the things about places with fantastic wine is that they have fantastic food; from Napa to Tuscany to Bourdeaux. The restaurant was called 1884 and it was situated in a former bodega. Its dishes used Patagonian ingredients cooked with French adroitness. I arrived at the restaurant and headed to the bar as my table was not ready yet. I saw they had Highland Park 12 Scotch, so of course, I order a finger. I called my family and they all wished me a happy birthday. I then headed to my table. It was a very lovely day.

After dinner, I was able to call an Uber using the restaurant WiFi and headed back to my condo. The plaza was having a night market when I returned, so I went there looking for something to commemorate my birthday. I found a small metal bracelet that was perfect. I then headed back to my room and went to bed. However, when I returned to my room, the people that were running the condo asked me to pay them more for my room in cash as they said they upgraded me. There was no mention of that when I checked in. It felt very scammy, but I still needed the room for the night as well as having them print out a bus pass for me. So, I did what I had to do. I headed out to a bank, but it was closed. I went to a second, which was also closed. Luckily, the third time was the charm. Much like Ushuaia, I began writing the review of the place as I was falling asleep. I would be less than kind.

The next morning I woke up, had breakfast, had them print my bus ticket which was tantamount to asking them to sacrifice their firstborn. Since I could not withdraw enough money the previous night, I needed to get some more. Four banks were closed. When I got back to the condo, I told them I would get them the rest of their money but a lot of the banks were closed. They said that would be fine. 

I met I at the Plaza de Independencia then we went and had a coffee. While it took a long time to get served, it really did not matter. We were just engrossed in conversation. 

We went around looking for more ATMs with cash, and after eight, we finally found one that was working. We wanted to rent bikes and travel out to the vineyards of Mendoza, but the buses were taking too long. We just decided to go have lunch and wine. 

 

As the sun rose and it got hotter, we agreed it was time to go take a siesta. After our nap, we talked and cuddled. I played along with a running joke that I was an American spy that was very bad at my job. I guess it is because the stereotype is that Americans don’t really travel unless it is for war or espionage. We laid around for a bit until the sun went down. We got up and went to a local bar for some tapas and shared a bottle of beer while we chatted some more. I then walked her back to her hostel gate. We kissed deeply and held each other. We didn’t say goodbye, just I’ll see you later. She invited me to come to visit her in the Netherlands. Before we finally parted, she took my face in her hands, looked me deeply in the eyes, and said, “Promise me you will survive Santiago.” I told her I would do my best. We kissed again and we hugged. I told her to get out of here, playfully slapping her butt when she turned around. She opened the hostel gate, and walked inside, looking back at me as I looked at her. I stood outside the gate until I saw she got in alright. After a few moments of staring into the empty space between us, I turned into the night, weary of my return to Santiago.