Biking and drinking

We had reserved bikes through our hostel but to pick them up, we had to get to Maipu which is a city outside Mendoza where the wineries are located. The guy who worked at our hostel said it was really easy to catch a bus, we just had to walk down two blocks to where the bus station was. The Irish boys and the guy from Switzerland had agreed to come wine tasting as well, so we organized our motley crew and set off. The Irish guys had come home from the clubs around 7:00am and had barely gotten two hours of sleep, so they were still drunk and in danger of some bad hangovers if they didn't start drinking soon. However, the walk to the bus was not two blocks but rather a 45 minute walk of wandering and asking directions. It was incredibly frustrating when I was sober and well rested so I can only imagine how they were feeling, lol. Luckily, we found the bus station, bought tickets and got the boys beers for the ride and all was well. When we got to the "Maipu Bikes" store, the Irish boys selected tandem bikes and the rest of us got singles. I thought for sure the boys were going to kill themselves but they actually rode very well.

We made it to the first winery and did a tour of the facility. We really care a lot less about the tour than the tasting part though. Their wine was really good and though you pay $50 pesos for the tour, you can use that $50 towards purchasing bottles of wine, so Alyssa and I combined out funds to buy 3 bottles. Luckily our bikes had baskets so we could carry them around.

We had a map but it was still hard to find the wineries since none of them had signs. We decided to stop at a beer garden along the way to get some lunch. They had great pizzas and empanadas, not to mention locally crafted beers. The Irish guys were so much fun but also really intelligent. I was surprised that they all had real, serious jobs back in Ireland and we had a lot of political and philosophical conversations.

Back on the bikes, we headed to the next winery. It was beautiful weather so we were happy to just cruise along through the vineyards.

We did quite a few tastings and then started ordering full bottles. Alyssa and I were on a bit of a time crunch because we had an overnight bus that left at 10:00pm that night, so were keeping tabs on the situation. Finally, we had to start making our way back to Mendoza.

Not ready to let the fun end, the boys bought giant Coronas for the bus. I had clearly had a lot to drink, so it was only a matter of time before the bottle of wine I was carrying ripped through its bag and burst open in a bus station. Alyssa's face of judgement couldn't have been more priceless, but the boys are quick to deal with any situation and had the bottle cleaned up before I even knew what had happened.

Once back at the hostel, we only had two hours to get packed up, showered and head to the bus station. I was too busy saying goodbye to all our new friends at the hostel to do anything but pack and before I knew it, we were off. The owner of the hostel offered to drive us to the bus station which was so nice; I really liked staying there! We got on the bus, where we had the front row, top level seats that I prefer. I watched "Pride and Prejudice" on my ipad trying to remember that we were off on a new, fun adventure. Sometimes it is very hard for me to leave places. We meet such great people and the hostel starts to feel like your home. I could see how it would be easy to get stuck in a place. But for better or for worse, we have a schedule to keep and adventures to be had.

Posted with Blogsy