Argentina is one hour ahead of Bolivia and Chile, and its currency is the Argentine peso, which had a similar exchange rate to the Chilean peso at the time I visited.
The friend I'd travelled Peru, Bolivia and Chile with flew home, and I flew directly to Mendoza, Argentina, where my parents and brother would be joining me for the remainder of my trip. We spent ten days in Argentina, visiting Mendoza, Patagonia, and Buenos Aires, and this leg ended up being a highlight of the my travels.
Mendoza
Day 1
I arrived to Mendoza in the evening and was picked up by a driver at the airport, which was a nice luxury, who took me to the hotel and taught me a lot of fun facts about the area. I learnt that Mendoza is the fourth largest city in Argentina and is the wine region, so I was very excited for my stay here. That night, I felt an earthquake for the first time (although I'd experienced earthquakes previously, I'd never felt one to that extent before). The following day, my family joined me and we explored the town a bit but took it easy as they were still jetlagged. Despite being constantly told by all of the locals that it very rarely rains in Mendoza, it rained twice during our three-day stay and was cloudy the rest of the time, so our luck wasn't the best here.
Day 2
This day happened to be my anniversary with my boyfriend and we had planned a walk in the mountains with a gaucho. On the drive over to the ranch, we saw blue skies and beautiful views wih glaciers in the backdrop, however by the time we actually reached the ranch, it was cloudy and had unexpectedly snowed the previous night - once again everyone emphasised to us how rare this was for the region. We learnt a lot about the area and the country generally: we were told that Argentina is very much a country of immigrants, especially of Spanish and Italian descent, and that healthcare is free, as well as some universities. We learnt that their equivalent of Route 66 in the US is Ruta 40, that the locals have siestas here, and that the Argentine accent is actually one of the easiest for Portuguese people to understand as they often pronounce the 'll' as 'ch', so many words sound the same as in Portuguese, for example 'chover' (meaning 'to rain') and 'chamar' (meaning 'to call').
Eventually, we arrived at the ranch in the mountains, La Alejandra in Tupungato, and after meeting the gaucho, Juan, and learning a bit about the ranch, we were offered some mate tea. This is a traditional beverage consumed in Argentina, Uruguay, and the South of Brazil, and there are many ways of enjoying it. In the ranch, a small hollowed-out pumpkin was filled 30% with loose tea, then the vessel was shaken to remove any dust, before tilting it so all of the tea was on one side of the container and boiling water was poured from a thermos flask into the other side of the container. A special straw with a filter on the end was then used to drink the tea from the vessel. The first sip is the most bitter, and typically, the mate would be shared amongst the group, all drinking from the same vessel and just refilling with hot water from the thermos when the water runs out. It tasted similar to green tea and I was a fan.
We then went on what we thought would be a hike, but was in actuality more of a walk. As aforementioned, it had snowed unexpectedly so the views were very unique for that region at that time of year, but it was a very relaxing and enjoyable walk, and once we reached the peak, offering a 360° view of the ranch, Juan surprised us with a local Malbec to enjoy whilst taking in the views (a very welcomed surprise, I must admit). We took some photos, then headed back down the hill to the ranch, where a warm fire and lunch were awaiting us. All of the food was cooked in a typical wood fire oven, and it was some of the best food we ate in Argentina. We started with bruschetta and empanadas (the best empanadas I have ever had in my life), followed by a pie filled with lamb and potatoes (both sourced from the ranch), and topped off with a dulce de leche flan (and a lot of wine). The food was all home-made, fresh, and authentic, so it was absolutely dreamy. Lunch was at a very relaxed pace so by the time we were finished, it was already mid-afternoon and we drove back to the hotel. Interestingly, we were told by various different people that Argentines can be lazy when it comes to work, so often Bolivians will do a lot of the manual labour and are considered hard workers in Argentina.
Mendoza is very pretty in the fall (which is when we visited, around May), but very cold - luckily my winter coat that I'd torn in Bolivia was being mended in the hotel, which was an absolute life-saver. I quickly FaceTimed my boyfriend before dinner, and then we headed to La Gloria Cantina Cool for a light salad as none of us were very hungry after the huge lunch.
Day 3
I didn't sleep very well so woke up exhausted, but today was a day entirely made up of wine tasting, so I was absolutely thrilled. Straight after breakfast, we headed to our first vineyard, Maal. Here they only make Malbecs, and the concept of the place was very eco-friendly and had a family feel, which I liked. The wines had very simple, but well-thought-out, names and designs, which I greatly appreciated, and all but one of the four wines that we tried were easy to drink. I enjoyed the tour and the tour guide was clearly very passionate and knowledgable, which was great to see.
We then headed over to Budeguer, which was slightly bigger and more technically advanced. Because Mendoza can experience hail stones the size of tennis balls in winter, this can damage the crops, so they place black nets over the crops when it hails, and have a sprinkler system that prevents any frost destroying the crops in the winter too. Here, we were offered a welcome drink by the lake, which was lovely (despite the cold), and then our wine-tasting session comprised another four wines. I enjoyed these wines a lot too, espeically with the nut and cheese pairings.
Finally, we headed to Norton for lunch, with wine pairings, of course. Both the food and the wine were absolutely immaculate, however this definitely had a fancier feel and wasn't as cutesy (although I'm sure that was the ambiance they were after anyway). The service was incredible, and after another four or five glasses, I was very merry, to say the least. I enjoyed the variety offered by each of the three vineyards and feel that it was the perfect way to explore what the region has to offer in terms of its wines. I had a little nap on the way home, and after a little dawdle through the town, we mainly played cards and chilled together, which was very nice, until bed.
The following day was entirely a travel day, as we got our first flight to Buenos Aireas, and then a second to El Calafate, in Patagonia, so we only arrived in the evening. That said, this was somewhere I was very much looking forward to and was definitely a highlight of the trip.
Patagonia
Day 1
Our first full day in Patagonia was the day that we would be visiting the famous glaciers, and the main one that we chose to visit was Perito Moreno, named after a prominent Argentine explorer and academic. We had an early breakfast in order to leave the hotel at 7:30am, which was tragic as in May, sunrise is at 9:20am and sunset is at 6:10pm. Nonetheless, this meant we could nap a bit more on the coach, before entering the National Park over sunrise, which was breath-taking as you could see the pink hues reflecting on the glaciers, with the lakes and autumn trees in the foreground. The only place even contending with views like these (in my humble opinion) is Canada, which has some of my favourite landscapes in the world, namely in Banff.
We took a boat to the actual glacier and immediately could hear parts of the glacier cracking and breaking, as the pressure rose beneath. The view was magical, and by far one of the most impressive I've ever witnessed to date. We went mini-trekking on the glacier itself, so needed to wear crampons, which are essentially spikes that you attach to your boots in order to prevent slipping. It took a bit of getting used to, as instead of walking from heel to toe as normal, we had to dig our feet straight down into the ice. Nonetheless, it was easy to get used to (though not for everyone in the group) and there were two guides in each group to ensure everyone was okay. The mini-trekking itself was a lot of fun and as we climbed and descended across the glacier, we witnessed huge fissures, small lakes, and more ice crashing down into the sea. Towards the end of the adventure, we were surprised with whiskey and chocolates, which was lovely, and then we left the glacier and removed our crampons, headed for lunch.
We walked over a boardwalk through some woodlands, which was stunning as the autumn hues were prevalent and the glacier was visible in the background, and we enjoyed our packed lunches outdoors with this gorgeous view. We then headed to the 'pasarelas', which is a series of different, colour-coded walkways, in which you can see various views of Perito Moreno glacier. It was definitely worthwhile, and after buying some souvenirs we headed back to El Calafate. We passed Lake Argentino, where there were flamingoes, and then after arriving at the hotel at around 5:00pm, we played ping pong and table football, before chilling in the bar and then heading to dinner. We had been to 'Mi Viejo' for dinner the previous night (where we were asked if we were from Galicia, which was funny as we were speaking Portuguese but Galician is very similar), and despite the food being good, the service was very slow, so on this night we headed to 'Casimiro Bigua' instead. Here, I enjoyed a delicious lamb pasta (lamb is very prevalent in Patagonia) and saw some flamenco live, which was an unexpected surprise and was very impressive!
Day 2
I spent the morning finishing a favourite book of mine for the second time, A Gentleman in Moscow, before being picked up by a minibus for an excursion about Patagonia's nature and natives. This did what it said on the tin, as we learnt about the different aspects of nature in El Calafate, as well as about the indigenous population. We saw guancacos, which are similar to llamas, and learnt that the namesake of the town is the plant, calafate, which translates to 'caulk' and the berries of which can be used in jams. We learnt that Patagonia is named after what one Spanish explorer named the first indigenous person he saw, Patagon, which was the name of a character in a popular book at the time, and also translates to 'bigfoot', as the Spaniards claimed the indigenous people here to be giants. Tragically, the colonisers killed the vast majority of the indigenous population in Argentina, so they make up only a very small percentage of the population nowadays.
We met a girl from the Netherlands who was roughly my age and was lovely, however the remainder of the group was from Uruguay and extremely loud, constantly talking over the guide. Luckily, we split into English and Spanish speakers along the way, and we explored some caves, learning about how the natives survived and their culture generally. Afterwards, we put on some ponchos and headed into a cave with a view of Lake Argentino for lunch. This was an incredible experience, and the food and wine were absolutely delicious; we started with pumpkin soup, then had a lamb stew inside some bread, followed by chocolate mousse. We arrived back to the town centre in the afternoon, and after exploring the town and playing table football, we enjoyed dinner and then headed to bed, ready for our final day in Patagonia.
Day 3
Over breakfast, there was a gorgeous sunrise, with vibrant pink hues colouring the sky. We walked through the town one final time, taking in the little shops and resturants (as well as the array of large dogs gallvanting through the streets), before heading to 'Nina' for lunch. I had a delicious squid tagliatelle and lava cake, and as I reflected on my travels thus far I really realised the extent to which I love Latin America and can't wait to visit (and re-visit) more of it. We eventually headed to the airport, passing various signs declaring that the Islas Malvinas /Falkland Islands belong to Argentina, and I delved into a new book, Marching Powder, which is based on the infmaous San Pedro prison in Bolivia, which we could see into from our Airbnb in La Paz, and was a riveting read. The flight was quick to Buenos Aires, and we enjoyed a delicious dinner at Hierra Parrillo, before getting some rest before our full-day city tour the following day.
Buenos Aires
Day 1
I woke up to a sun cream explosion in my suitcase, which kept me busy pre-breakfast, and then we were picked up for our full-day tour of Buenos Aires. We were only in the city for three days so it was a great way to orientate ourselves and learn about the culture from a local before exploring by ourselves on the remaining two days. We started in an area called Palermo, which we were informed was filled with runners and dog-walkers, who will walk up to 10 dogs at a time. We drove past a statue of Eva Perón, who was a First Lady of Argentina, as well as an activist and philantropist, and seemed to be very well-loved by the Argentines. She is also the namesake of the musical 'Evita', which features the song 'Don't Cry For Me Argentina'.
We made our way to the Recoleta district, where we visited what is considered to be the oldest café in the city, 'La Biela', which featured many motorsports posters, as well as a statue of Jorge Luis Borges and Adolfo Bioy Casares, two Argentine authors, sitting at a table together. Here, I tried a local drink called a 'Submarino', which comprises a glass of hot milk with a small bar of chocolate dunked in, which you stir until it creates a hot chocolate. After enjoying our drinks, we headed to Recoleta Cemetery, which features the graves of some of Argentina's most famed faces, including Eva Perón, and is made up of an array of mausoleums. I preferred the cemetery in La Paz as in my opinion, this one was much less colourful and personal, but one of the guards did unlock a mausoleum for us to enter as he was mates with our tour guide, which was a very cool experience. Unfortunately, it was also here that I obtained the first (and only) mosquito bite of my entire trip in South America.
After driving a bit more, we stopped at 'El Ateneo', a theatre-turned-bookshop, where the stage has become a café and the stalls, reading corners. I bought an Agatha Christie book in Spanish, in order to practice my reading, and found the bookshop to be beautiful and loved the uniqueness of it. We drove down Avenida 9 de Julio, the widest avenue in the world, spanning around 110 metres, which is named after their Independence Day passing an obelisk, a shrub with the initials 'BA', and a mural of Evita on the Ministry of Health building, before arriving at the city's main square: Plaza de Mayo. This is where protests often occur and also where, every Thursday at 3:30pm, the mothers of the disappeared or tortured march, in response to the former military dictatorship and repression.
It was in the Metropolitan Cathedral that our tour guide informed us of a joke other South Americans have for the locals: 'How does an Argentine hurt himself? He jumps from his ego'. We saw the covid-19 memorial and the 'Casa Rosada', the office of the President of Argentina. We learnt that in Argentina a President can only serve a maximum of two consecutive terms, and three in total. We also learnt that voting is compulsory in Argentina, and similarly to in Bolivia, the census is carried out door to door.
We then drove through San Telmo, which was cute with tram lines, cobbled streets, and cartoon characters lining the street walls. We headed to a market, Mercado de San Telmo, for lunch, which consisted of empanadas, alfajores, and Patagonian beer, all of which were nice, though unexpectedly the empanadas contained boiled eggs, which I'd never seen before! Here we learnt some more fun facts about Argentina: 'che' is said to grab someone's attention, 'sandwiche' is used instead of 'bocadillo', 'inodoro' is used instead of 'aseo' and 'palta' is said in place of 'aguacate'. We also discovered that 'churipan', a chorizo hot dog, is eaten at football games in Argentina, similarly to Portugal's 'pão com chouriço', which is eaten at town parties. The locals greet each other with only one kiss on the cheek and are referred to as 'Porteños'.
The penultimate destination on this full-day tour of Buenos Aireas was to La Boca, a very colourful neightbour and also the origin of the tango. It was where immigrants used to live and is located near the port. This was my favourite part inf the whole city, specifically 'El Caminito'. This is also where the Boca Juniors play, in La Bombonera stadium, which featured IKEA's colours all over, alongside some beautiful murals. We ended the tour by Puerto Madero, a financial area by the waterfront, which features 'puente de la mujer', a rotating footbridge. I absolutely loved this tour and felt that we'd seen a lot in the little time we had, and both the guide and weather were amazing so we got very lucky. We had dinner at Grappa, which was recommended to us and offered delicious pizza and desserts.
Day 2
We started the day with a hearty breakfast, before meeting the main travel representative for the Argentine leg of our trip, who gifted us alfajores and offered many recommendations. We decided to spend the majority of the day walking around the city in order to get an idea of the actuality of living in the city, as opposed to only the touristic parts, and this commenced with a protest outside of a health centre.
We then headed to the nearby botanical gardens, which was a bad idea as they were full of mosquitoes, but luckily I had some repellent on me. We walked all the way to Palacio Barolo, a homage to Dante's Divine Comedy, as the bar had been recommended to us, however we were very disappointed to learn that the bar is closed on Tuesdays. Instead, we headed towards Plaza de Mayo to buy souvenirs, stopping for chicken milenesa for lunch, which is very popular throughout Argentina, and did the job (though wasn't my favourite meal). I noticed on this hefty walk that compared to other countries I'd visited in South America, the locals here contained many more smokers, more people with curly hair, and most pedestrians were distracted by their phones. Eventually, we headed back to the hotel to relax for a bit, enjoying a complimentary glass of wine at the bar.
I had a tactical nap in the late afternoon as the final thing we'd planned in Argentina was that night: a tango show. I was beyond excited for this as I love shows, especially if music and food is involved. We had a three-course meal in the tango venue, La Ventana, then enjoyed an array of dancers, musicians and other performers, and I was exremely impressed by the talent in the room. It was incredible and before I knew it, every performer was on stage as 'Don't Cry For Me Argentina' was sung (in Spanish) and footage of Eva Peron was shown on the screens, which truthfully did make me emotional. We also got to dress up and get our photo taken, which was a nice touch. The whole show was incredible and well worth watching.
Day 3
Our final morning in Argentina was very relaxed as we simply had to eat breakfast and pack our bags, before checking into a ferry port and taking the Buquebus, to Uruguay. Reflecting back on my time in Argentina, I truly enjoyed each region we visited; they all had something unique to offer and I learnt a lot in each place. Messi and Maradona were featured everywhere, of course, and so many people asked us where we were from, suggesting Galicia, Brazil, and England, but very few guessing Portugal, which I found entertaining. Nonetheless, I was excited to visit Uruguay, as I got the impression that it has a similar relationship to Argentina as Portugal does to Spain...
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