Monday, November 18, 2024
After a truly amazing week, we bid goodbye to Argentina's most interesting capital city.
We found Buenos Aires to be a
wonderful city indeed
Buenos Aires combines European grandeur in its architecture with Latin passion for life. An unbeatable combination.
When you add the cuisine and a packed cultural agenda to the equation you have a city that is beyond question and worth visiting more than once.
The people of Buenos were kind, helpful and possess a certain joie de vie that really made our visit memorable.
Of course, our gathering of the Contreras Clan at cousin Ernesto's home was the highlight of the week. Seeing all of our cousins together for the first time since 1961 was an incredibly emotional experience.
Typical of family, it was as if we had never been apart at all as we sat around Ernesto and Alicia's dinner table to share a fabulous meal and catch up on our divergent life stories.
GREAT CITY,
MUCH BETTER FAMILY!
With the Buenos Aires phase of our Adventure now behind us, we finally began to focus on the main impetus that created this two week travel opportunity.
As usual, it had to do with an American football experience.
There was an American football tournament
scheduled in Mendoza, Argentina
It was going to be a six team, five country affair and it just sounded like fun.
The teams involved were:
GROUP A
The Black Lions from Peru
The Chiguayante Nativos from Chile
Team Sudaca from Argentina
GROUP B
The Black Dragons from Paraguay
The Mendoza Condores from Argentina
The Sharks from Costa Rica
The tournament starts on Tuesday night with two games.
At 6:00 p.m. it will be Group A contest between the Sharks and the Black Dragons and then at 8:30 p.m., Team Sudaca takes on the measure of the Black Dragons in Group B action.
The Chiguayante Nativos and the Mendoza Condores have first day tournament byes.
In a delicious twist of fate, all tournament games this week will be played at the Deportivo Padre Jorge Contreras complex.
It was meant to be.
Our host city for the next three days
This city of just over two million inhabitants was completely unknown to us when we started planning our voyage.
Mendoza is located in the western part of Argentina at the base of the spectacular Andes Mountain range near the border with Chile.
Mendoza is the hub of Argentina's thriving wine industry producing the best Malbec wines that the globe has to offer.
During our trip, whenever we mentioned that we were going to visit Mendoza, people whether in Santiago de Chile, Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay or Buenos Aires lit up a big smile and raved about the wine and the positive, laid back experience we were all about to share.
Two sources of Argentine pride,
the Andes and wine
We boarded our one hour and
forty minute Flybondi flight to Mendoza
When cousin Ernesto found out that we were flying on Argentina's budget airline, the equivalent of Spirit Air in the States, he got a sheepish grin on his face. Something was definitely amiss.
He commented that we must have gotten a low fare and he was correct. He then asked what time our flight was scheduled to leave and we informed him that we would be taking off for Mendoza at 10:45 a.m.
He then said that he and Alicia would have breakfast ready for us at 11:00 a.m. as Flybondi was notorious for last minute cancellations.
NOT ON OUR WATCH!
A tad cramped once onboard as one expects on all budget airlines, our flight took off without a hitch and we were whisked away to our destination.
Malbec Wineries,
WE ARE HERE!
If you live in Texas or Florida and
desire to learn about the forbidden
topic of Evolution, then the Institutos
Darwin in Mendoza beckons
Sherlock Holmes' go-to
tobacconist while in Argentina
A good place to start our
Mendoza wine experience
But first . . .
. . . we all needed sustenance
My mixed empanada plate seen here was all that I hoped it would be.
Hunger vanquished yet again,
we continued to explore
As it turned out, today was
a National Holiday
Of course this eclectic cotton candy making machine was open for business at the crafts market we found as we strolled into Plaza Independencia.
It was National Sovereignty Day commemorating the anniversary of the Battle of Vuelta de Obligado against the Anglo-French blockade of the Río de la Plata.
As a result, most shops were closed for the day.
We found a lovely, refreshing
fountain at the center of the plaza
After Laurie made the obligatory trinket purchase at one of the craft market stalls, we continued exploring Mendoza.
They grill meats in Mendoza
Who knew?
A dining option but "Fugazzeta"
does not sound like a nice thing
to say about anyone or anything
"They CAN because they
BELIEVE they can"
A solid piece of advice on one of Mendoza's many murals.
CHARGE!
General José de San Martin,
I'm guessing
Known as the Liberator of Spanish South America, San Martin (1778-1850) is the National Hero of Argentina, Chile and Peru.
After our walking tour of our surroundings, we headed back to our headquarters at the well located, well heeled and artsy Mendoza Sheraton Hotel.
I said the Sheraton was artsy
The sunset, as viewed from our
14th story room, was splendid
Is she pregnant?
More of the Sheraton's Ode to Art.
Our room rates include free wine
tasting daily from 11:00 a.m. to
11:00 p.m., the ladies were happy
Of course we were having a
delicious Malbec from a local vineyard
A happy bunch in the foothills
of the Andes Mountains
It must be noted that the smile on Koreen's face comes with a price as she is now a shoo-in for the much coveted Trooper of the Trip Award to be given out once we return to North America.
First, she had her purse pilfered while we sat eating dinner at an outdoor table our first night in Santiago de Chile.
Then while touring Buenos Aries' Palermo Viejo district a few day later, she stepped into a hole in the side walk and took a hard fall landing face first.
Today, in Mendoza, after lunch, she and Laurie opted to use the restaurant's bathroom. Koreen misjudged the first step up into the establishment and, according to Laurie, she face planted extremely hard.
There were watery eyes, a little blood from a cut lip, a lot of blood from her nose and lots of concerned, caring and helpful people to the rescue.
After cleaning up, some ice and lots of TLC, back came Koreen's electric smile and positive persona for a third time after a setback on our Adventure.
Trooper of the Trip Award
INDEED!
How in the world Koreen avoided disaster while we visited Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay is still one of the great Mysteries of the Universe.
A rampaging rogue elephant is
always a nice touch in any hotel
We took an evening stroll and
somehow wound up here
We had partaken of their refreshing gelato in Buenos Aires, why not try our luck with their Mendoza branch?
It tasted as good as it looked!
When we reentered the Sheraton,
we discovered that it has a Casino
We journeyed up the escalator on the right to take a peek but did not gamble although Koreen was severely tempted.
We enjoyed our first day in Mendoza to be sure,
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A much better day of exercise
after yesterday's day of rest
Tomorrow we will be making the trip to the Finca Agostino for lunch, wine tasting and a tour of their vineyard before returning to Mendoza for the much anticipated American football doubleheader.
The Adventure continues, stay tuned . . .
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