Argentinian tapas in Mendoza

To celebrate our final day traveling together, Masha and I went on a leisurely bicycle ride through Mendoza's wine region in Argentina. By leisurely I mean that I was huffing and puffing the whole way and complaining that it wasn't as beautiful as Napa (it's hard to deny my roots sometimes). After only making it a few kilometers we stopped for a light lunch and ended up with a nine course meal and a bottle of local Malbec.

Homemade bread with various vegetable spreads

"Chicken loll pop with scented acid cream with fresh aromatic herbs" and Patagonia prawns sautéed with olive oil and garlic served with green garlic sprouts and roasted pork ribs served with green tomato chutney

Lamb pie with fresh mint served with fire-roasted eggplant spread and pumpkin soup with toast and Roquefort cheese

Almacen del Sur, Maipu, Mendoza, Argentina

Our day ended with a visit to a nearby winery where we ended up being escorted out by the local police who claimed that a wind storm prevented us from riding our bicycles back, and insisted on driving us on their motorcycles, lights flashing, back to the bicycle rental place where a glass of Malbec awaited us. A lovely day pretending not to be backpacking.

The wonder of Argentinan buses

In Argentina flights are expensive, and most people choose to get around by the extensive bus system in the country. While in Bolivia, where one bus journey actually had me weeping before 8am, I attempted to console myself with the stories I had heard about the Argentine buses. "Once we're over the border, the streets will be paved with gold and a guy in a tie will serve us champagne on the buses," I'd say pathetically, sitting in a sub-zero thirty-year-old bus after being forced to call yet another barren field by the side of the road a bathroom.

The thing is, Argentina is a big country so the bus journeys are very long. This is a dinner from a 23-hour trip that I took last week.



The bus food is a little bland looking, but surprisingly good and tend to always contain at least some beef, and crustless white bread sandwiches (they sell sliced bread sans crust in South America). Note the large plastic cup of vino. Even wine on the bus ain't bad in Argentina.