Thursday, Dec 13 – Friday,
Dec 14
The flight to Buenos Aires was over 10 hours long, but
luckily departed on schedule. We were stressed over a possible upcoming strike
of Aerolineas Argentinas workers, and didn’t start packing until the last day.
We found on Thursday morning that our afternoon flight is still on. In BA we
had to switch to terminal C and drag our bags there, and the flight to Mendoza
was slightly delayed.
In Mendoza we were met by our tour guide for today, Emily –
a delightful French expat. The driver, Fernando was actually our guide on one
of our wine tours 2 years ago. We were ready to start our individual tour of
Lujan de Cuyo. First, we drove to exclusive Matervini winery, which specializes
in boutique wines from different vineyards in the area. The winery was created
by Santiago Archaval just a couple of years ago. He had a famous winery called
Archaval Ferrer before, which he sold together with his name brand to Stolichnaya
Vodka in 2011. We toured a small winery set up in a very modern eco-sustainable
solar-panel equipped building where the wine is made in small concrete tanks rather
than steel vessels. Concrete tanks help keep temperature stable without any
intervention. The wine was very good and priced from $40 to $150 per bottle.
The next stop per my special request was Cruzat which makes
only sparkling wine according to traditional Champenoise method. Here we tried
a variety of sparkling wines from extra brut to semi sweet. Sparkling wine is
made via 2 stage process with second stage done by adding more yeast and sugar
into the bottles. Sediments are then collected at the top of the bottles and
removed by freezing them with glycol. In the past, winemaker would stick
bottles upside down into snow to achieve the same effect. As an alternative
method, Prosecco is made by adding yeast and sugar in steel tanks, so no
fermentation occurs in bottles.
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| At Cruzat |
For lunch we went to Vistalba winery, where we had a very
good 4-course meal with small tasting portions paired with wine – octopus,
snapper, pork medallions, and dolce de leche ice cream. The winery was set up
in a single level building with courtyard reminiscent of an old monastery.
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| At Vistalba |
Saturday, Dec 15
I slept great last night, didn’t even stir once. We had a
quick a la carte breakfast in our hotel. Our tour guide Sebastian was over an
hour late due to a strange “error in the booking engine“. We drove for 2 hours
to the mountain trail called Cajon de Arenales close to the border with Chile. Because
of delayed departure, we started the actual hike only around noon. The hike was
not very scenic and pretty challenging due to thorny bushes along the trail and
massive rock scrambles. Some parts of the trail were very rocky with unstable
small and large stones moving under our feet.
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| Hiking Cajon de Arenales |
For dinner we took a taxi to the highly recommended Restaurant
1884 located inside a bodega and run by famous chef Francis Mallmann. We sat at
a table in the courtyard next to a big outdoor grilling kitchen. We had pulpo
(grilled octopus tentacles) and grilled goat cheese appetizers, followed by steaks
(filet mignon and ribeye) – all expertly prepared and artfully served. The
service was very attentive, and sparkling wine and Malbec from Bodega 1884 were
both pretty good. The grilling setup was amazing – big charcoal grill for slow
smoking, another charcoal grill, and a fire pit. For dessert we had grilled
pineapple with mascarpone ice cream. While waiting for our taxi, we checked out
their whiskey collection at the bar and noticed some Japanese products – Suntory
Toki, something from Nikka, and a lesser-known brand Kikori made with rice in Kyushu.
This whiskey had a light golden color and clean taste with peppery ending. We made
a mental note to visit this distillery on our future trip to Japan. We contemplated
for a second going to a local dance club called Guanaca, but decided to call it
a night to get some rest for tomorrow.
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| At Francis Mallmann's 1884 |
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| Steaks at 1884 |
Sunday, Dec 16
Today is Leon’s birthday and we are going horse back riding.
The drive with our tour guide German from Andes Vertical was picturesque, going
through mountains, and next to Lake Potrerillos.
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| Lake Potrerillos |
We drove on unpaved road to
get to a ranch in the hills, where arriero Daniel lives with his family, 50
horses, dogs, cats, goats and other small farm animals. We asked German why he
is referred to as arriero rather than gaucho, but didn’t get a coherent answer.
After a larger tour group on a bus arrived, we mounted horses and rode hilly
trails for about 2 hours. My horse’s name is Bajo and she is white and very
smart. Leon’s horse was brown, somewhat lazy, and she never told him her name.
After riding through mountains for a couple of hours and crossing a few streams,
we got to a place for lunch – very picturesque setting in a valley next to
running stream. Our guides cut up some cheese and sausage, and poured wine to
tide us over while the steaks were cooking. Daniel set up a rack for grilling
and prepared hot coals. Leon really appreciated chorizo with wine. Four dogs
accompanied us all the way from the ranch, one was a cute black puppy. We ate smoky
asada steaks and gave scraps to the dogs. On the way back, our horses had to go
slowly and carefully down the mountain through big rocks, but once we were on flatter
ground they cheered up and started trotting.
For dinner we had reservations at our old favorite Azafran.
It was good but not as great as we remembered – service was a bit confused and
they discontinued Leon’s favorite quinoa dish. We had a flight of Mendoza wines
with beef carpaccio, pork with apples and pineapple and salmon ravioli in green
sauce. After dinner, we stopped by casino to try our birthday luck. Leon
doubled his money from ARS100 to 200 (about $6) playing slots.
Monday, Dec 17
Today we have scheduled a group tour of Valle de Uco wineries.
This was somewhat difficult to plan because apparently we already visited the
best wineries of that region 2 years ago. Our first stop was at Corazon del Sol
located inside Vines of Mendoza complex, which is still being developed but
already anchored by Francis Mallmann’s flagship Siete Fuegos restaurant. The
winery itself was disappointing – all modern steel and concrete, no history,
and no views of the mountains. It was founded by a cardiologist from Houston
who apparently likes to invest in vineyards. The wine was nothing to write home
about either.
The next stop was at Casa Petrini – also a relatively new
bodega, but with amazing views of the Andes and a few cute little cabins where
you could stay. They use steel tanks, as well as regular concrete tanks and
egg-shaped concrete tanks. The wine was really good, especially their unoaked Malbec
Roca Volcanica (from vineyard section full of volcanic rocks) and Blend de Rio.
With unoaked Malbec, you can perceive the flavors of the grape much better.
Unfortunately, Casa Petrini does not export to United States, although they are
planning to start in about a year.
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| At Casa Petrini |
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| At Casa Petrini |
The final stop was at Domaine Bousquet where we had a 6-course lunch with wine pairings at their certified-organic Gaia restaurant. The food was great – goat cheese agnolotti, lamb and mushroom risotto, grilled beef tenderloin, cheese course, and chocolate mousse desert. The desert was actually somewhat disappointing, but the rest of the meal was delicious. The wine pairings were selected perfectly as well. We spent 2 fun hours eating, drinking wine, and talking to people in our group, mostly to a young couple from West Palm Beach and another from New Zealand.
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| At Domaine Bousquet |
Getting back to our hotel, we relaxed a bit and ventured out
again around 8:00 pm. The goal was to grab a light dinner, but salmon ravioli
and mushroom risotto at Maria Antonietta could hardly be considered light.
Tuesday, Dec 18
Our tour guide German, who we went horseback riding with 2
days ago, picked us up at 8 am. We had a 2.5 hour drive to Mount Aconcagua base
camp trail called Confluencia. Federico from Andes Vertical somehow forgot to
tell us to bring passports (we had them anyway just in case) and AR$750 per person
for park entrance fees. So, we had to stop by 2 ATMs and a bank to extract some
cash. Apparently, ATMs in Argentina are still low on cash, same as 2 years ago.
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| Entrance to Aconcagua park |
The hike started at the elevation of 2,950 meters (9,678
ft). Confluencia base camp was 7 km (5 miles) away at elevation of 3,400 m. So,
this was mostly an uphill hike, made harder by the impact of high altitude.
After we crossed a hanging bridge, the path became steeper and narrower weaving
around the side of the mountain. The weather was great and the scenery
absolutely gorgeous. We made a good time to the camp (under 3 hours) and had
lunch there. German brought usual white bread sandwiches for us. Little red and
yellow birds really appreciated all the bread I fed them. Confluencia camp was
pretty large, with huge tents maintained by various tour companies. These tents
had bunk beds, and there was even a fully equipped kitchen with grills and a
smoker. People tend to spend a couple of days at this camp acclimating to
altitude and doing short hikes, before moving on to a higher camp and onward to
the ascent of Aconcagua.
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| Hiking to Confluencia |
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| At Confluencia |
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| At Confluencia |
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| Camp at Confluencia |
The hike back went much faster, under 2 hours. I tried to
make time pass quicker by asking German about his schooling. He used to be a law
student turned political staffer turned mountain hiking guide after being
disgusted with all the power struggles in politics. Shortly after getting back
in the car, we stopped by an amazing sight called Puente Inca – a geological
formation resembling a bridge across a narrow mountain gorge and river. The bridge
and walls of the gorge had all kinds of colors due to minerals in the water.
Apparently, there was a resort there early in the 20th century, but
it was destroyed by an avalanche in the 1960s. Only the church survived, still
standing there looking quite well preserved.
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| Puente Inca |
After that, German drove his little car super fast and we
were back in Mendoza before 8 pm. For dinner we went to a place on the side of Plaza
Italia called Ceibo. Leon ordered a steak, which was served on top of something
suspiciously resembling a big latke, and a glass of Malbec. I had salmon
ravioli in red pepper creamy sauce, which was better than pasta in Azafran, and
a glass of Torrontes.
Wednesday, Dec 19
We both didn’t sleep well last night and had to roll out of
the hotel at ungodly hour of 5 am to catch our flight to BA followed by a
flight to Punta del Este. Thankfully, both flights were on time. We had a bit
of a confusing switch in BA – had to go down, out and up again to switch to
international flights. The passport control line in Punta was very long and then
we had to wait for our rental car. We finally reached our Grand Hotel around 3
pm. We got a great room this time – 805 – on the 8th floor, only one level back
from the front of the building, with unobstructed views of the ocean. We went
for drinks and a snack at the beach bar, and then back to the room to take a
nap. For dinner we went to our old favorite seafood Basque restaurant Leonardo
Extea. Leon had grilled ancho fish and I had red peppers stuffed with local
crab. We ordered a bottle of Torrontes, drank half, and asked the waiter to keep
the rest in the cellar for our next visit on Sunday.
Thursday, Dec 20
We woke up to a light drizzle, but the sky cleared up after
breakfast. We got in the car and drove north along the coast through La Barra to
the town of José Ignacio. On the way, we took a 5 km detour away from the shore
to visit an outdoor sculpture park of Pablo Atchugarry. The park was very nice,
with gently sloping hills and lakes, and an impressive collection of abstract
sculptures.
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| At Pablo Atchugarry sculpture park |
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| At Pablo Atchugarry sculpture park |
Then we got back on the road and soon reached José Ignacio. This
used to be a sleepy fishing village which is now full of luxury villas and
condos but still has a very laid-back vibe. We parked next to the ocean and
walked on the beach towards the lighthouse. Once there, we ascended the spiral
staircase and took in the panoramic views of the town and ocean.
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| Jose Ignacio lighthouse |
Then we
stopped by a craft market, bought a beautiful abalone shell, and continued
walking down the beach until we reached La Huella, considered to be the best
restaurant in José Ignacio. The menu didn’t look all that impressive, and we
weren’t yet hungry anyway. So, we walked back to the car and drove south a bit
to the town of Manantiales, where we had a great lunch of local ceviche and
pulpo (grilled octopus tentacle) at a fun place called the Fish Market.
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| Pulpo at the Fish Market |
Talking
to our waitress, we realized that we are right next to the famous Bikini Beach,
so we went there after lunch. The water felt too cold for swimming, but it was
nice to stretch out in the sun. Once on the beach, we recalled coming here two
years ago, and remembered how deserted the place was back then. It was not much
more crowded now, with just a few people around. After spending a couple of
relaxing hours on the beach and discovering free Wi-Fi at the beach bar, we
drove back to our hotel. It was too early to go for dinner, so we went for a
quick workout at our hotel’s gym, which was surprisingly well equipped. It felt
nice to lift some weights after all the hiking we’ve done last few days. And
then we drove to town and had great empanadas at a little place called Las
Charruitas. The best one had beef and olives, and another really good one had
shredded apples. We finished the day with drinks at our hotel’s lobby bar.
Friday, Dec 21
Today the forecast was for rain and thunderstorms in the
morning, and Sofia reserved a tour and lunch at Bodega Garzón – a new winery about
1.5 hours drive away. While we were having breakfast in our hotel, it started
raining really hard. When I went to retrieve the car from the parking lot
across the road, I had to jump over a couple of big puddles, just like in
Hoboken after heavy rain.
The drive was long but easy, since the roads here are mostly
empty. About 30 minutes after we started driving, the rain slackened and it
started clearing up. We drove through beautiful countryside – huge rolling
pastures with good-looking cows, sheep, and horses. By the time we got to
Bodega Garzón, the sun was out and we could see the grounds in all of their
natural splendor – gently sloping hills with well landscaped fields, vineyards
and olive trees. Bodega Garzón building is very modern, brand new, built inside
a mountain by blowing up parts of it and using stones for construction.
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| At Bodega Garzon |
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| At Bodega Garzon |
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| At Bodega Garzon |
We took
a tour of the winery where the best wines are matured in big oak casks and
egg-shaped concrete tanks. We tasted three different varieties of the local Tannat
wine. For lunch we had two different menus which allowed us to try various dishes
– homemade chorizo, perfectly cooked egg with asparagus, fish, amazing steak,
dulce de leche cream brûlée. We tried a local white wine called Albariño and
really liked it. The restaurant was also grand, with huge windows and open
terraces, and picturesque views of the fields. Our tour and lunch together lasted
a long time – over 4 hours. After lunch, we took a few more pictures from the terraces,
then reluctantly got back in the car and drove home through José Ignacio.
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| Bodega Garzon wine production |
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| Bodega Garzon restaurant wine cellar |
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| Bodega Garzon restaurant kitchen |
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| Bodega Garzon terrace |
We changed, went for a quick walk on the beach and returned
back for a cocktail reception in the hotel. The drinks were good but snacks very
basic. Given how big the lunch was, perhaps that was a good thing.
Saturday, Dec 22
The sky was overcast this morning and again it started
drizzling while we were having breakfast. The rain quickly stopped but it was
still overcast and windy. We drove first to Playa de los Dedos and then to Playa
Mansa on the quieter bay side in search of stand-up paddle boards. There were a
few “surf school” shacks setting up, but none had paddle boards. We took a long
walk on Playa Mansa and then returned to relax on Playa Brava next to our
hotel. The weather improved and it was more sunny now. After a couple of
relaxing hours, it was time for lunch. We debated just staying put and having
lunch at Grand’s beach bar, but desire to explore won over. So, we got into our
car and drove to La Barra, where we had shrimp tacos and chivito at a fun
little restaurant called Chill Out. Chivito is a traditional Uruguayan
sandwich, and mine was great - made with steak, jamon serrano, mozzarella,
lettuce and tomato. Sofia’s shrimp tacos were excellent as well, with fresh
homemade tortillas.
After lunch, we hung out in La Barra a bit, had ice cream,
and returned to our hotel. A bit later, we drove to Punta Ballena and visited
our old favorite Museo Taller Casapueblo – a whimsical white structure
resembling a sandcastle. Carlos Paez Vilaro’s art was still fun and fresh, and
there were still cats wandering the rooms and hallways, just as we remembered. The
highlight was the sunset – very dramatic with the sun first disappearing into
patchy low clouds and then re-emerging as the orange ball of fire before
finally sinking into the ocean. During the last 10 minutes, a recording of
artist reading a poem played. Even though it was in Spanish and we could
understand only a few phrases, this Ceremony of the Sun was very romantic.
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| Museo Taller Casapueblo |
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| Casapueblo staff |
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| Casapueblo sunset |
After the sunset, we drove back into town of Punta del Este
and visited the craft market on Plaza Artigas. It was very lively this evening,
with live band playing and singing Christmas songs in Spanish. The singing was
surprisingly good for an amateur band, and the whole atmosphere was very
festive. Whole families with kids were out enjoying warm pre-Christmas evening.
The market itself had basically the same stuff as two years ago – some nice
shearling hats and gloves, mate sets, belts, and more arts-and-crafts type
items. We walked around the market a bit, and then drove 0.7 miles to Punta
Salina restaurant for dinner. Parking is just not an issue here, so it’s easy
to drive places. The restaurant was great, with a big parilla grill and
welcoming staff. The steaks – both lomo and ojo de bife – were excellent, accompanied
by 3/8th of Pisano Tannat.
Sunday, Dec 23
Today we finally woke up to clear blue sky and bright
sunshine. After breakfast, we drove up to Playa Bikini in Manantiales and spent
a nice lazy morning on the beach. I even went for a swim, even through the
water still felt a bit cold. For lunch we went back to the Fish Market a block
away and enjoyed pulpo, ceviche, and a salad. It was too hot to be on the beach
at 2:00 pm, so we drove back to our hotel and spent about an hour packing. Then
we came out and relaxed a bit on Playa Brava in front of our hotel, ordered happy
hour caipirinhas, and took a nice long walk on the beach.
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| Playa Mansa sunset |
For dinner we went
back to Leonardo Etxea and finished off our bottle of Torrontes with pulpo,
jamon iberico, and zarzuela de mariscos. The restaurant actually filled up
after 9:00 pm – first time we saw it this full. I suppose Punta really does
gets busy during high season.
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| Pulpo at Leonardo Etxea |
After dinner, we decided to drive back to La
Barra and Manantiales to check out the supposedly hot party scene. Well, either
at 11:00 pm we were still too early or the party season hasn’t kicked off yet,
but both the beach bar at Bikini Beach and the new mirrored Tequila club in La Barra
were dead empty. Tequila club was still under construction by the looks of it,
even though the bar was already fully stocked.
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| Tequila Club in La Barra |
Monday, Dec 24
Today is our last day in Uruguay and the weather is
excellent again. We spent the morning on the beach in front of our hotel –
first going for a walk and then relaxing and going for a swim a couple of
times. Perhaps we got used to the water temperature because it no longer felt cold.
Then it was time to drive to the airport, turn in our car, and check in for our
1:45 pm flight to Aeroparque in Buenos Aires. The flight was on time and we got
our luggage quickly. We used our Aerolineas vouchers to get a free transfer on
Tienda Leon bus to their terminal in Puerto Madero, stored our bags, and went
for a walk. It’s worth mentioning that Tienda Leon experience was much more
civilized this time than 2 years ago. It was the usual hot summer BA afternoon,
so we headed to Galerias Pacifico mall to escape the heat and observe last
minute Christmas shopping Argentinian style. On the way we passed by Dada
Bistro where we had lunch during a similar BA layover 2 years ago. The mall was
nice and not very crowded. We browsed around a bit and then decided to head
back to Dada for a late lunch of caprese salad, humus, and empanadas. The heat
died down a bit once we finished our meal, so we took a stroll to Casa Rosada
(presidential palace) which somehow didn’t seem as bright Pepto Bismol pink as
we remembered it from 13 years ago.
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| Casa Rosada |
Then we went to San Martin Park with its
large old trees, and finally back to Tienda Leon terminal. With it being Christmas
Eve, we didn’t want to get stuck and decided to play it safe and take a
relatively early 7:10 pm bus to Ezeiza (our flight back home was at 11:30 pm). This
turned out to be a good decision, although for a different reason. Once we got
to the airport, we first spent an hour in a check-in line, and then another
hour or more in a passport control line. By the time we were done, there was
less than an hour left until boarding – just enough time for a glass of wine
and a snack. And then it was time to say “adios Argentina”.
