Adventures in Mendoza (Day 1)

It has become Brian's and my tradition to go on a mini getaway whenever I'm in Chile. In 2016, we went to San Pedro de Atacama in northern Chile, and last year, we went to Mendoza in Argentina.

Mendoza is a small city close to the border that's known for one key Argentinian export: Malbecs! We decided to go the same week we left: We paid for the reciprocity fee, booked our Airbnb, paid for our bus tickets, and left on a Wednesday evening for the overnight trip to Mendoza.

The border crossing may have been ridiculous (don't even ask), but the bus ride over was comfortable enough. Booking "first class" tickets was a great choice; we were able to sleep most of the way from Santiago, through the Andes, and to Mendoza. We arrived at the bus station early in the morning and took a cab to our Airbnb close to Plaza de la Independencia.

Our cab driver had a hard time understanding me say "Gutierrez". When I showed him the address, he was like: "Oh! Gutier!" Hahahaha. I've clearly got a lot to learn in the Argentinian accent department. My Filipino-accented Spanish failed me on even the simplest words! He dropped us off in front of our building, where we ran into our host's neighbour. She called him down for us, and soon, we were settled into our room for the next two days.

For a last-minute booking, we managed to snag a well-located, comfortable, and cozy room close to the city centre. It had these huge windows that overlooked the busy street below. Whenever I distanced myself from the experience for even the shortest moment, I felt like Brian and I were locals and that the elevator-equipped apartment we were staying in was our own. We relaxed for a couple of hours before we left the apartment in search of breakfast. We ended up at Buenas Tertulias (G Espejo 501), where we got coffees and omelettes.

At our host's recommendation, we walked along Alvarez to book our wine tour for the following day. We went to a couple of places and noticed a range in cost. The price difference between an English- and Spanish-guided wine tour was astronomical, so we ended up booking an all-day wine tour in Spanish and hoped for the best.

We then took a short ice cream break at Ferruccio Soppelsa (Av Emilio Civit 2), followed by a walk along Emilio Civit to admire the local architecture en route to Parque General San Martín (Av Emilio Civit 711). We stumbled on a quiet neighbourhood wherein each house had its own character. And like my apartment experience, I could picture myself living in one of them indefinitely.

We walked all the way to the end of Emilio Civit and straight into the park. My research told me that Cerro de la Gloria offered a great view of the city, and we proceeded to make our way there as the skies above us threatened to pour. We walked along main road that also doubled as a track for joggers and runners alike.

The road ahead of us seemed to go on and on. And it wasn't helped by the fact that the views on our route weren't all that great. (We would find out later on that we took the route less traveled and that a more scenic route was actually to the left of us.) Tired and--in my case--antsy, we took a short cerveza break before continuing with the other, equally grueling half of our journey.

It seemed like we were the only two people making the trek to the cerro. But out of nowhere, a group of students were walking behind and then past us. They soon became inadvertent guides to the cerro, especially when CityMaps2Go, our offline map, led us to a dead end.

After God knows how long, we finally made it to Cerro de la Gloria. And the view was indeed great. Although you couldn't see much of Mendoza from up there, you could get a great view of the surrounding towns and the mountains beyond. I took the opportunity of resting for a little bit, while Brian took some pictures of the cacti, the sculpture, as well as the vultures that were flying above us.

As great an experience as that walk was, Brian and I were over it and hailed a passing cab to Plaza de la Independencia, where we checked out the artisanal stalls. Then we got ready for a well-deserved dinner of Argentinian beef at Cordillera Vinos y Fuegos (Av Belgrano 1028).

I was relying on CityMaps2Go a little too heavily, and it led us to the wrong Cordillera. I was upset and verging on full Minou (sorry, Brian!) before I reentered the restaurant's name on the app and was shown the correct location. We had to walk back the way we came and down Belgrano for the actual Cordillera and that much awaited steak dinner.

We arrived early for Argentinian standards and were seated in the dining room with a view of the grill. Our server came by shortly after to take our order and bring us to the wine cellar, where we would choose the bottle that would go with our meal. Of course, we went with a Malbec.

The rest of our time at Cordillera was fantastic. My ojo de bife was superb. SUPERB. I was served a generous cut that was juicy, a bit fatty on the edges, and well-seasoned. I enjoyed every bite of it. Brian's filet was equally awesome, especially when paired with the housemade chimichurri. We polished off our plates to their entirety and had a little bit of room for dessert in the form of cheese and sweets.

We wanted to check out Mendoza at night, so we made our way to Antares (Av Arístides Villanueva 153), a microbrewery that our host had recommended to us earlier in the day. It was located on a pretty happening street, which was very much an indicator of what Antares would be like.

For a Thursday night, Antares was packed and loud. But the vibe was relaxed, lighthearted, and infectious. We tried the honey beer, barley wine, and imperial stout, and drank until the wee hours of the morning. We had a great time and walked drunkenly home for Day 2 in Mendoza.