With its endless rows of vineyards and world famous wines, Mendoza seemed like the only sensible place to be for Hana's birthday. Therefore, we left Santiago at midday the previous day and crossed the border into Argentina, finally arriving at our hostel late that evening after a long and windy journey through the Andes.
Still suffering from jet lag, we were desperate for bed but Erica and I had work to do! Resources were limited but somehow we made Hana's presents presentable using maps and leaflets for wrapping paper and plaited plastic bags as ribbon. Then we blew up her balloons and hid them in a locker, deciding they'd be too much of a temptation for any drunken backpacker coming in late at night.
The morning began as all birthdays should, by opening presents in bed and scoffing Nutella pancakes. For the rest of the day, however, we'd planned something special; a trip around the Mendoza wine region, visiting three vineyards and testing out their different wines.
At the first we were given a tour of the winery to learn exactly how the wines are made. Our guide was very informative but he lost his trail rather too often and I couldn't help thinking he probably loved his wine a little too much. His enthusiasm bordered on insanity at times as he marched us around his factory wonderland like an Argentinian Willy Wonka, snapping his fingers and shouting 'vamos!'
Finally we got to the part we'd really all come for; the tastings! We tried reds and whites, both unfinished and finished, swirling them around in our glasses before taking a swig. The whites were my favourite but we all found at least one red that we liked too. With so many different varieties on offer it would be difficult not to and we found the more we drank, the better it tasted!
The second bodega was just eight kilometres away, a great distance to cycle even after eight tastings of wine. Though it was another scorching hot day it was really quite pleasant as our path was shaded by the tall trees planted either side. By the time we arrived we'd worked up quite an appetite so we were delighted to find the tables laid out in the garden waiting for us. We dined alfresco with a large platter of bread, cheese and hams, and an accompanying glass of red wine on the side. For the hour that followed we sunbathed out on the lawn, allowing our lunch to go down whilst we waited for the next tour to begin.
In the second winery we were led down cold, underground cellars which they use to store wine rather than artificial rooms which imitate these conditions. Aside from that it appeared to be very similar to the first which was rather fortunate as I couldn't make out a single word our guide was sayIng. Though she was arguably more sober than our previous Willy Wonka guide, by this point we most certainly were not and so found her accent almost impossible to decipher. Nevertheless, the wine at the tastings spoke for itself and we ended up buying a bottle of our favourite rose to continue the celebrations later on.
Not trusting ourselves to then get back onto bicycles, we joined the rest of our group on a minibus to the third and final winery of the day. Again it was pretty similar to the other two except that the wine produced there is used for religious ceremonies and so it contains more alcohol than most because it's only supposed to be consumed in small sips. However, we've been taught that to truly taste a wine you must take a large gulp at the very least and so we ended the day downing the strongest wines of all.
Our first hangover hit around seven o'clock. Fortunately, as South Americans share the Spanish tradition of eating late, we managed to squeeze in a quick power nap before dinner. The restaurant was amazing, an authentic Argentinian place recommended by our tour guide from earlier on. We each ordered a humongous steak and then helped Hana polish off her birthday mousse (the next best thing when there's no cake on the menu.)
The next day none of us were able to face any more wineries so we decided instead to see what else Mendoza had to offer. It's a beautiful town with a good scattering of cafés and restaurants but we bought food from the local supermarket instead and took a picnic along to the Square. We thought we'd be safe being miles from the vineyards but even there, wine was difficult to escape! Free tastings were being held in the streets and even the fountains had been tinted pink to look like a giant pool of inviting red.
The majority of the afternoon was spent in the sunshine at Mendoza Park which would have felt like a lazy day had it not been for the fact that we utilised that time to teach ourselves some Spanish. We've been using phrase books and dictionaries to set each other small tests in the hope that we'll learn enough to get by in these next few months.
It's difficult, but having spent the last three days in Mendoza I now at least have one phrase ingrained into my memory; 'otro vino, por favore!' And that will do for now.
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