3 olive oils, 1 balsamic, 3 olive spreads, 3 dulce de leches, 3 marmalades, 2 pepper sauces and endless amounts of bread and my head was getting back to normal. The dulce de leche with coco was amazing! I must have had 5 pieces of bread smothered with it. I even purchased an funky marmalade that I can't seem to remember at the moment. It tasted like Fall and I imagined it on some toast in the city on a cold October morning. About to walk out the door, the worker stopped me and told me that I had to try the chocolate and two of the liquors they produced there. I have never really been one for green liquors, but somehow after reading all of the labels, those are the two I went for. The first, a hot pepper flavor that didn't burn until about 20 seconds after sipping it. The second was something I had only tried once in my life before in 2007, absinthe. It still tastes gross.
Riding away from the olive oil place, my head felt immensely better and I was finally ready for wine. The smell of wine poured out from the building on my left. On the right were vineyards as far as the eye could see. The sun was getting stronger, but not yet overwhelming. Getting to the main road, a bike lane went along either side, giving plenty of room for wobbly riders at the end of the day. I visited 4 different wineries that afternoon ranging from Trapiche, the largest winery in Argentina, to Bodega Familia Di Tommaso, a family run joint that has been around since 1869. I enjoyed lunch in the shade of a giant tree, sipping on malbec and eating far too much fresh bread with olive oil. Correction: never too much fresh bread with olive oil. Returning the bike at 5:30 that evening, my body was drained. I went through 3 liter of water before 2pm. Riding all day between glasses of wine, the sun beating down, the smell of wine flooding my nostrils... it was beauty. NYTimes.com actually put up an article 36 Hours in Mendoza the day after I left.
Now, I've have seen amazing things in so many different ways... Iguazu Falls, Amazon Jungle, pristine and empty beaches, animals of all shapes and sizes... right up there at the top of the list would be driving through the Andes Mountains and entering Chile. Most of my bus rides, such as the one I'm doing in a few hours, are at night. That way I can save a nights pay on a hostel and I get an extra day wherever I am. Going from Mendoza to Valparaiso was one of the few long bus rides that I did during the daylight. It was such a good idea. Driving through the mountains on a road cut into the rock was breathtaking. The elevation we were at had to be a staggering height, only to end the trip 8 hours later at sea level. Again, an experience I will never forget.
Valparaiso... I arrived late at night and figured it would be a better idea to take a taxi, not knowing how far I would have to walk or the safety of the neighborhoods. Talking with people later, this was a good decision. I got to a bed and breakfast style hostel and immediately was excited by the city. The hostel, like so many before, was full of people from around the entire world, listening to music, playing cards, sipping wine. Being a Sunday night with nothing open, I had to settle for yogurt, a banana and apple for dinner, but some new friends shared a beer and we laughed over games of cards for the remainder of the evening.
Valparaiso is a city of hills, old buildings and 19th century outdoor elevators, all covered in art. Once my pictures get up, you'll have a better idea of what I mean. The most beautiful graffiti, embraced by the city, gives the place a feel unlike anywhere else I have ever visited. The home owners go along with it, painting their homes in bold colors, making a whole city look like the La Boca neighborhood of Buenos Aires. I ventured around the city with two friends, Rowan and Emma, that I had met the previous night at the hostel. We walked the new place, getting lost and loving it. At one point we went to the first cemetery in the city to have a look around. Arriving just after it had closed, we were pretty bummed. However, the night watchman let us in and gave us a personal tour with me translating for the other two. It started off normal, history, famous people, ect. It got a little stranger when we showed us a section that had been completely destroyed by the 2010, 8.8 earthquake that rocked the city. Apparently they had not gotten around to cleaning it all up and there were still bones sticking out of buried rocks. It got even stranger as he pulled a human skull out of a bag of bones and asked if we wanted to pose with it. I think he has spent a few too many nights alone in the graveyard.
The hostel itself was really the best part of Valparaiso. I wasted the hours away with some truly fantastic people. Each evening the owner would make fresh bread and each morning we'd all pile around the kitchen table eating the bread and drinking coffee or tea. Nights were spent playing cards, cooking food, sharing drinks, talking for hours about our travels and taking turns on youtube introducing each other to new bands. I loved those 3 days in Valpo.
I took a bus with my new English friends to La Sirena. It was their first time ever stepping foot in the Pacific. Unfortunately, it was a very cold Pacific. However, there is plenty of photographic documentation for their records. La Sirena is a small city with 29 churches, some dating back almost 400 years, only partially demolished by earthquakes. Small, but wonderful, the city has a very welcoming charm, with a large town center and markets all along the surrounding streets.
Last night, my two friends and I decided to have a "proper bbq", as they would say. We grilled peppers and onions, corn, chicken, chorizo and steak. It was a delicious meal and the company was outstanding. Pisco, is a liquor made in this region of the world, somewhat sweet and extremely easy to drink. We finished a bottle and then some wine, turning the night into a heated laughing session in the cool evening. They are still at the beginning of their trip with Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador ahead of them. I am at the end, off to Santiago tonight for a short time before heading back above the equator. It's all coming too fast...
