Mendoza, Argentina (Jac Attack Part Two)

The second weekend that Jacqui was in town, we hopped over the Andes to the city of Mendoza, Argentina.  By hopped over, I mean we took the overnight bus through the winding switchbacks.  The ride was about 6 hours including a stop at the border.  We arrived to our hostel at the not-so-bustling hour of 5 am, and slept on the couches in the common room for a few more hours.

Mendoza is known for its wines and various bodegas, so we obviously wanted to get in on that action. Rather than take a traditional group tour, we took a city bus out to the vineyard area of Maipu and rented bikes from Mr. Hugo's Bikes.  Mr.  Hugo himself was there to give us a very warm welcome and soon we were on our way, map in hand.  Side note:  renting things in South America is such a different experience.  No ID, no names, no collateral... In fact, on the notepad keeping track of the number of bikes... It said "3 chicos".  

Anyway, we rode around visiting a couple vineyards along with an olive oil factory and a beer garden.  The weather was fabulous and the scenery was equally as awesome.  We drank and biked, ad nauseam until 6ish hours had somehow passed.  We finished our day with Argentina's other claim to fame... A big hunk of bife de chorizo and... More wine.

On day two, we geared up for a hike up Cerro Gloria, which according to the online guidebooks, would offer splendid views of the city AND take about 3.5 hours.  Exactly .5 of that was true.  Going up the hill took exactly 20 minutes and the views were good, but not a superlative form of good.  The statue depicting border battles and such, was however, quite rad.

We spent the rest of the day just walking through the park and city.  Being Sunday, it was super pleasant to do just that, without having to constantly mentally curse at youths.  We stopped for another steak--- this time it was literally the size of a puppy, and then walked some more.

The entire time that we were in Mendoza, I felt like I had been transported back in time.  The city was full of older cars and one-stop mom and pop shops to buy washing machines like from That Thing You Do.  All of that was charming minus the emissions of these bad boys... 

I saw this on a wall and loved the quote which says:  "Education doesn't change the world, it changes the people who are going to change the world.". Right!?!  So true. Points for inspiration on your street art Mendoza.

That night we just chilled at the hostel, played some cars, and drank one of our bottles of wine we had acquired from the day before.  The next morning we set off on our 6 hour bus ride, during the day this time, to get the sweet views of the cordillera that were rumored to be spectacular.

The bus ride this time ended up including a 3.5 hour stop at the border while we waited on the two people working customs to search every car and every bus that went by.  There was some pretty excellent scenery, and they say every picture is worth 1000 words, but is every picture worth hours stuck on a bus?  The jury is still out.  Although, the jury is not out on the fact that the next trip to Mendoza via Santiago (whenever that is) will definitely include a 45 minute plane ride.

But, alas, for your enjoyment, may I present the Andes:

The Color Run

When there is the opportunity to run through the streets of Santiago whilst being doused with strange colored powder, you just say yes.  We had done one Color Run before in Austin which was less Color and more mud due to some last minute rare Texas rain, but this time we were not disappointed when we, along with many of our Gringonation friends, got up early on a Sunday to make a mess.  I put my camera in a plastic bag, only slightly diminishing the photo quality, and captured some great moments of what really is the happiest 5K on the planet.  

Tutu in its second run through Santiago...

getting colored is serious business

Premature coloring

All before the race... Chileans aren't very patient people

8am dance party

There was at least a little running

Pure happiness

Even the street dogs got in on the action

This picture is called "Sorry concierge for bringing this into our building"

It was a great way to spend a Sunday morning, complete with color-themed karaoke at each station... (I'm blue aba dee aba dai... They call me mellow yellow....You see your TRUE. COLORS SHINING THROUGH), techno dancing, and post run brunch.  5 gold stars guys!

Jac Attack Part One

My college roommate and first faithful travel companion Jacqui is currently on a round-the-world trip (I know... awesome right.  You can read about her adventures here, and you should.  She is bouncing around all over the place).  I was so excited for her arrival in Santiago for the Chile portion of her trip.  Honestly, there aren't very many people that could share our shoe box apartment for a month sin problemas... actually that list is one, and it is her.  

The only slightly unfortunate part about Jacqui being here in November was the part where Michael and I were still having to work like real adults (super fome), but we sitll managed to take advantage and fit a surprising amount of things in on nights and weekends while she was here.  Of course, she did plenty during the days too, truly getting the Santiago experience... not sure if that is good or bad.  We'll have to read her blog.

Here's our first reunited pictures in front of the fancy fountain in the park down the street.  Nothing says bienvenidos like bright colors and homeless people.

Anyway, inn our first weekend, Michael had to work on Saturday so I took Jacqui on the short bus ride to Valparaiso and then over to Vina del Mar for a quick glimpse at the Pacific.  We managed to get through the day basically unscathed, despite the cold (yes, it is summer... no, the beach didn't get the memo that day).  

Valpo is super confusing to get around with every street curving and swirling, but with some help of the locals and some pure luck, we got where we intended to go.  

Jacqui had her first of many Chacereros... a typical Chilean sandwich with green beans on it.  

When we were leaving from Vina del Mar, there was a slight hiccup in our bus situation... as in, we missed the first one we actually had tickets for, but after the initial "There is nothing I can do, you have to buy a new ticket" and a response from me of... "Nope, I'm not going to do that, you are going to have to help me", a rare glimpse of decent Chilean customer service reared its head and we were on our way.  Success!!