Sounds Good on Paper

Category: Mendoza

  • Tereré – mate made cold

    I’m totally obsessed with yerba mate. Not only do I like drinking it, but I LOVE to see people with their mate gourds drinking it.  I constantly am on the lookout for people with their gourds.

    guy selling nuts and drinking mate

    We’ve been invited to drink it with others several times now.   When this happens I am so torn.  I’m always dying to drink mate with Argentinians but, I can’t drink hot stuff.  It burns my throat, lips, tongue.  I can’t even fake it and just pretend to take a sip. When you are handed a gourd of mate, it’s polite to drink the entire gourd, no matter that you might be setting your throat on fire.   I always go home from mate drinking with a mouth so burnt I can’t taste anything for a week.

    So, when our friends Nati and Frankie suggested a picnic in the park, I was super excited for several reasons.

    1. Nati and Frankie are really cool and fun to hang out with.  Moving around always makes us the new kids on the block, and my poor Spanish makes me the dumb new kid on the block. So it’s really fun to have friends.

    2. Frankie is from New Jersey and Nati is from Paraguay but spent a lot of time in the US, so the picnic would be conducted in English.

    3. There was a rumor of guacamole filled deviled eggs.  Not a traditional dish of Argentina, but you can’t eat steak at every meal.

    4. Nati was going to show me how to make tereré which is cold yerba mate, something that is very popular in Paraguay.

    First, we ate the eggs (among other things).  To say guacamole filled boiled eggs are good is like saying there is a little bit of meat eating going on in Argentina.   They rank right up there with dulce de leche (the best food in the entire world).   If there is such a thing as guacamole-deviled egg rehab I will soon be checking in.   These things were addictive.

    Then after eating we got down to the business of making the tereré.   Preparing tereré is similar to preparing yerba mate except you use cold water instead of hot.  First, Nati filled my gourd with the yerba.

     

    I really like the kind that comes with stems and twigs.

    this is the brand I like.

    I’ve read online how the bombilla (fancy metal straw) has to go in a certain way.   Nati showed me how you put it in when the gourd is half full.

     

    For sweeteners you can do several things. You can drink it without sugar. You can add sugar, or you can add stevia. Nati had bought stevia in it’s natural form at the market and we added that.   It was sweet but not refined sugar.   Then she also added chamomile but explained that you can add any other herbs you want.

    Then we added cold water.   In Paraguay the water is usually ice cold, but since I didn’t have a cooler the water was sort of room temperature. But,still about 100 degrees cooler than boiling hot water.

    And then we did something that would strike terror in most Americans. WE ALL DRANK FROM THE SAME STRAW!  That is the way you drink yerba mate.   Drinking yerba mate hot or cold is a social thing. Sharing the gourd and straw is part of the mate drinking.   The head mate maker fills the gourd then passes it to someone. That person drinks the entire gourd hands it back, the head honcho fills it again passes it to the next person etc.  There is no Purell. There is no sterilization, there is no switching out straws.  Everyone shares the same gourd and straw.

    Nati
    Jeff

    Here’s the thing.  You drink this with friend and family. It’s not like some stranger off the street is going to hand you a mate .    If they are friends and family, you’ve already cheek kissed them and shaken their hand. You already shared germs. What’s a little shared mate drinking?   And, I think if people are sick they don’t partake.  We were at a picnic and someone said they had a cold, so they didn’t want the gourd passed to them.

    Sheryl rockin the mate, not the new bangs
    Frankie

    So tererè is my new favorite drink. It goes down really easy on a hot day. It’s really fun to drink with friends, and it tastes really good.  The only problem is that I now drink a lot of tereré but haven’t given up my coffee habit.  It’s not a problem until 3:00am when I’m wide awake and have no idea why.  Then I remember that I’ve had several cups of coffee and several gourds of yerba mate during the day.

    Here’s a video of us drinking it.    It was little boring, like watching people drink coffee, so I added music to liven it up.  Now it sounds like we’ll be passing the mate to Benny Hill next.

     

     

     

     

  • Wind – Mendoza style


    It’s hard to take a photo of wind, so here is a photo of me in the wind.   This isn’t just any old wind. This is me facing the camera in a Viento Zonda.    We first heard of Viento Zonda in Salta. Jeff’s cycling friends told him about it.  It’s a dry hot wind from the Andes.   Coming from the Midwest where there are tornadoes and Seattle where there are wind storms, we weren’t impressed. We thought it was kind of cute that the Argentinians would name their winds.  We kept waiting to experience a Viento Zonda.

    We should have known something was up today when this was the forecast on weather.com

    Any time “widespread dust” is the forecast and the sun is blurred out and brown, you know it’s a weird day.  We went outside and it was unusually warm and windy. But, the wind felt great, warm instead of cold.

    View from our balcony. Everything looks normal.

    As we drank our coffee on our balcony the wind picked up.   We have a great view of the Andes, and by looking at them, you’d never guess that they are causing this crazy wind.   My friend Nati explains both the reason for it and the mythology behind it on her blog  Nomadic Behavior.

    After breakfast we went off to workout – Jeff on his bike, me to the gym.   After a few blocks I understood what Viento Zonda feels like.   If Hell is windy it feels like this.  If you put a wind tunnel in your oven, and opened the oven door it would feel like this.  If you had a giant hair dryer and tried to blow your hair on a sand dune it would feel like this.    The dry hot wind whips up all the dust and throws it in your face. It should be called Viento Antipatico. (nasty wind).

    By the time I walked home from the gym, my eyes were burning. My hair was full of leaves, and my lungs felt like they would explode.  Luckily Jeff gave up on his ride minutes after starting.

    We watched from inside our apt as the wind whipped the trees around, kicked up dust and blasted us with hot dry air.  Luckily, this one wasn’t bad. There wasn’t any damage. Afterward,  it was weird to see Mendoza’s normally pristine streets full of leaves.

    But, strangely, a lot of leaves blew into neat piles.

    So, while it is kind of nice that they name their winds in Argentina, there is nothing cute about a dry, hot wind whipping dust and leaves in your face and down into your lungs.  Next time the forecast calls for widespread dust I’m staying inside.

     

     

     

  • Wine tasting without Mr. Hugo


    Everyone in Mendoza loves Mr. Hugo.    I’m sure Mr. Hugo is fabulous. But, we decided to wine taste without him.   It was a hard decision, one with many concerns.  Could it really be done?

    Mr. Hugo rents bicycles in the town of Maipu, which is near the city of Mendoza.  He rents bikes, gives out a wine map, bottle of water, and drink at the end of the day.   So many people rave about him, I assumed it must be all hype, until several different friends that live here year round also recommended him.

    Who wouldn't want to rent from Mr Hugo? (photo from Mr. Hugo website)

    We would have rented from Mr Hugo except for two things.  I am terrible on a regular bike and Jeff is too smart to go wine tasting with me on a tandem.   He knew that after my first sip of wine I would have refused to pedal and he would have had to drag me all around town.    But, could we do it without Mr. Hugo?  We didn’t know.

    In Mendoza we called a taxi to take us to the first winery.  Even he was dubious of doing this without Mr. Hugo.  He pointed out Mr. Hugo’s storefront as we drove by just in case we changed our mind.   For the equivalent of $15US  we arrived at the first winery.

    This is easy.

     

    Our first stop was the winery Trapiche.  We’ve seen this label in the US, so we were excited to try their wine.

    Two of Mr. Hugo’s rental bikes were parked in front, taunting us.

    You should have rented us.

    There were four Mr. Hugo riders on our tour.   They ignored us older taxi-riding wine tasters.

    Hey cool kids…wait for us.

    In the tasting room, Jeff was able to engage the youngsters in conversation while I became fixated with the world’s fanciest tasting room bathroom sink.

    fancy!

    After the quick tour and tastings the Mr. Hugo riders rode away while we waited for a taxi.  The winery called us the cab, but we had to amuse ourselves while we waited for it to arrive 30 minutes later.

    practicing my fancy arm movements
    practicing fancy dance moves
    harvesting some snacks

    When the taxi showed up I was dubious since it didn’t look like a taxi. But, for the equivalent of $6 US he took us to the next winery.

    Tempus Alba had even more Mr. Hugo bike renters.

    The winery was beautiful with a self guided tour, vineyards overlooking the Andes and a fabulous patio with a wine bar and restaurant.

    If you really look hard you can see the Andes behind me.

    We were the only non Mr. Hugo renters and also the only people over the age of 22.    I haven’t seen this many college kids trading travel stories since 1989 when I was one of them.  Although lacking the youthful exuberance and travel bravado of the youngsters, we did have something they may not have, money to spend on wine and good food.   We went wine tasting crazy.

    7 glasses between the 2 of us? No prob we don't have to ride a bike back.
    this baked brie went really well with wine.
    this carmelized onion quiche also went will with wine.
    pork, sweet potatoes and onions in malbac sauce doesn't look like much, but was one of our best meals of the entire trip.


    After a very long and lavish lunch, we decided to walk to the next winery.    The walk itself was really nice along a shaded street with views of the vineyards and mountains.

    Unfortunately, a city information guide had told us earlier we might get mugged in this town. So, although there were bikes, police cars, trucks and cars whizzing by, I was sure we were lost and about to be attacked.  We weren’t.

    This third winery was just OK. The wine was good, but there was a strange vibe inside (not to mention about 30 Mr. Hugo bike renters).  Unfortunately, instead of doing the tasting outside it was in a weird smelling basement like room.

     

     

    We skipped the tour and went back outside and waited for a bus home.  The bus cost the equivalent of 30 US cents.  And, best of all it dropped us off  at a bakery.

    Would I recommend Mr. Hugo? Sure, everyone looked like they were having fun, the bikes looked good and I’ve heard nothing but good things.  Would I suggest still going by taxi, walking and bus if you don’t want to bike? Absolutely!

  • Wine before Liquor?

    Everyone knows the saying wine before liquor never sicker.   We set out to answer the question, does wine tasting before liquor tasting make you sick?    I’m happy to report that the answer is no.  It just makes you very sleepy on the bus home.

    Our first question was actually how to even go wine tasting. The normal way of taking a tour was too expensive and the budget way of renting a bike was too dangerous for me.  There is a reason the only cycling I do is from the back of a tandem.

    Our new friends Jeff and Romi helped us by giving us exact instructions on how to take a bus to a winery and distillery.  Jeff is an amazing photographer. Check out his photos.   www.photojbartlett.com.

    They told us to take bus 182 and exactly where to pick it up.  It was lucky because without their help we never would have figured out which bus to take.

     

    Looking slightly drunk before even getting there.

    The bus took a long time, I think we stopped at every person’s house between Mendoza and the winery.

    But once we got there.  We had a fabulous tour through the vineyards and olive groves.

    grapes
    olives

    It was a hot day, so by the time we got to the tasting room I was already light headed from dehydration.   After a few tastings I was even more light headed and slightly giddy.  I figured I better really test out our wine before liquor question by drinking enough wine.  Our guide helped us out by refilling our glasses several times.

    We stumbled out of the winery and headed directly across the street to the distillery.    Our guide at the winery told us to ring the bell at the distillery “really really hard and loud.”  I’m not sure if this is really a giant door bell, or a warning to the people in the distillery that drunk gringos are on their way over.

     

    We probably should have asked for a tour first in order to sober up.  But, we felt it was important to get straight to the tasting in order to put  the wine before liquor saying to the test.

    We got to taste quite a few different liquors.   My favorite of course being  the dulce de leche liqueur.

    dulce de leche liqueur – heaven in a shot glass
    this gin was also a favorite

    Urs, our Swiss distillery guide was very helpful in our testing of wine tasting before liquor tasting.

    We caught the bus back. I couldn’t tell you how long it took on the way back because I feel alseep the second we got on the bus. It wasn’t the little head nod nap. It was the full on sprawled on the seat, drooling type of sleep.  Not pretty, but at least we did not find “wine tasting before liquor tasting never sicker” to be true.

  • Is Mendoza dangerous?

    Is Mendoza dangerous? The answer is yes, no, maybe and I hope to never find out.   If you listen to everyone around us, you would think this is the most dangerous city we’ve ever been to.   The warnings come at us from everywhere, landlords, doormen,  expats, travelers, tourist offices, locals, Jeff’s cycling friends, everyone has warned us about the dangers of Mendoza.

    After many questions and inquiries I think these are the dangers.  They seem similar to all big cities.

    1. Bad areas – we’ve been warned against certain streets, neighborhoods, towns and country roads.  We’re not supposed to ever enter some ares, some only in the day, and no park at night.   Jeff is not supposed to ride his bike in certain areas at all, and some never alone.

    2. Muggings – we’ve never seen any, but it sounds like if you’re careful with #1 you should be OK.   I hate this one, not because it’s so scary, but because I find myself looking over my shoulder now all the time. But, better safe than sorry.

    3. Pickpokets – we shouldn’t leave anything in our pockets or unattended.  This one is obvious everwhere, but never a bad reminder.

    this translates to, don't leave your stuff unattended

    3. Home invasions – this one is the scariest to us.   We are in a giant apartment building with a 24 hour doorman, so we feel secure.  We’ve heard some horror stories that makes us understand why houses have so much security.

    gates, bars, spikes, and security window shades

    this is no different than a garage I guess, but looks heavy duty

    Is the danger real? Overblown? Is everyone paranoid or just overly careful?  It doesn’t really matter. It’s hopefully something we’ll never be able to answer since the only way to know for sure is to be a victim.

    I hope that with caution, luck, and common sense we’ll avoid the above dangers.    Not to make light of this, but I have come up with my own dangers and fears that I think could cause me more harm on a daily basis.

    1. Fear of tripping

    This fear I have all over the world.   I have been known to trip on my own two feet, air, dust, and carpet.  Here in Mendoza the tripping hazards are real.  The sidewalk often goes up, down, slants, or disappears altogether.

     

    random step up

    2. Fear of Jeff tripping

    I’ve gotten really good at looking down while I walk, but Jeff isn’t so used to falling onto the ground for no reason.   He doesn’t study the ground, so I do it for him.  I’ve come to add warnings into my normal conversation.   For example, “So for dinner why don’t we fry STEP UP chicken and add some veggies to it and HOLE then make some brown STEP DOWN rice and open that bottle of BROKEN TILE malbec.

    3. Fear of falling into a hole

    All the many trees in town are watered by the irrigation ditches that run along the side of every street.   Love seeing the trees, live in fear of falling into the ditch.   One too many glasses of malbec and I think I’d be spending the night in one of these things.

    balance beam curb

     

    4. Fear of seeing a rat

    These ditches look really cool when the water rushes through them. But, if you look closely you might see a rat, like I did one night. Now, I’m doubly afraid of falling in.

    imagine a rat running around in here

     

    5. Fear of empanadas

    I absolutely love empanadas.  But, after many many tries, I find that when I eat them, the next day…let’s just say I have stomach distress.  I find I can’t stop eating them, but I do have a healthy dose of trepidation before scarfing them down.

    6. Fear of taxi doors

    The taxi drivers in town all seem pretty nice unless you slam their taxi doors.   Then they freak out.  The taxi doors even say “close with love” or something like that in Spanish.   The cars all look sturdy, so I don’t understand why you can’t slam the doors. You can’t even close them forcefully.  You’re supposed to lightly close them.  How poorly are these cars made that slamming the doors will break the car?   I try and try to remember, but I’ve been slamming car doors for over 30 years now it’s a hard habit to break.

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    As much as I fear the above six things,   I will happily eat an empanada while a taxi driver yells at me, as  I trip and fall into a hole with a rat in it over ever getting mugged.