Back in BA

The girls I had met in Mendoza and I were all going to be in Buenos Aires at the same time. The Belgium girl was coming back from Iguazu and the rest of us boarded an overnight bus together. My second time in BA, I felt I knew the city quite well and I was the tour guide something I am way more comfortable doing. I was a master of the Subte, knew the districts, the tourist attractions, where to stay and where to drink.

I took us to a hostel in Palermo which I picked because it would be close to my friend and future traveling partner Tracy, this hostel was also cheap and had a pool. I didn’t feel so right leading the girls and having them put their trust in me, I felt like I had lost my travelers instinct and every hostel I choose ends up to be a dud. This one wasn’t as fantastic as it was described on the Hostel World website. I think that was my problem I had long ago gave up on Hostel World and the Lonely Planet for hostel advice. People who book on Hostel World aren’t real travelers trying to find the hidden gems, they are organized, strapped for time and looking to meet other gringos to drink with. Mini Hostels is an OK site but I am still weary after the Israeli hostel experiences. The Lonley Planet is outdated and overrated. I have always had the best luck on word of mouth but here I was going to a website recommended hostel because I was sick of the heat of Argentina and wanted a pool.

My pool turned out to be a bath tub on the roof top. The girls didn’t seem to mind the practically empty hostel that lacked in character with a bath tub but I couldn’t believe I had done it again. I used to just know where to go and could sense an amazing hostel. I was a pro, I was an old school budget traveller, and this was practically my profession. I knew how to get in with the locals and find the authentic experience. Had I really lost it? Was I one of those jaded travellers who were just looking at things the wrong way?

I was starting to lose all hope in myself but thought the girls needed to check out Plaza Serrano for some Sangria and people watching. That’s when we came across an art opening in a children’s shop. There was music, wine and snacks, I felt like I was back in Oaxaca, Mexico where I used to rub shoulders with the art community on a regular basis at openings. I knew exactly what you were supposed to do in this instance; grab a glass of wine and shmooze! The girls were a bit hesitant but I knew this was open to the public and soon we were chatting with the crowd who were doing exactly the same thing.

We pulled ourselves away from the free wine and found a place in the plaza. After much wine and a lot of girl talk we embarrassingly realized the guy beside us could understand everything we were saying. I guess he didn’t care so much about our endless girly sex talk because after a few more drinks he invited us back to his apartment which was actually close to our hostel. They were nice guys slightly weird and a little nerdy but it was great entertainment driving around Buenos Aires with locals and drinking wine in their apartment playing drinking games. We learned that in Argentina New Years is more of a family occasion even more so than Christmas. Buenos Aires empties out with everyone spending family time on the coast and the river what is left is foreigners. This is the party Capital of Latin America and on the biggest party event of the year the city is deserted?! I wasn’t worried as New Years is highly over rated and I had house party plans but the other refused to believe this.

In the end maybe I hadn’t lost my touch but I was still not sleeping, I was on edge, anxious and morning always brought me down. However it was nice being in BA even though previously I despised it and everything Argentinean, perhaps it was growing on me.

Travel in Bike: Wine Bike Tour in Lujan de Cuyo Mendoza, Argentina

Travel in Bike; Wine and Bike tour of Lujan de Cuyo, Mendoza

Most backpackers go to Maipu to check out the famous wine region of Mendoza. I was lured to Lujan and after much havoc we stumbled upon Travel in Bike wine tours. It was the treasure at the end of our exhausting journey.

I have raved previously about the friendliness of Colombians, the hospitality and warmth of the people which I haven’t found in many other places. I found that here in the small town of Lujan in a little family business. A man and his pregnant wife greeted us with friendly smiles and quickly went about making sure we had everything we needed, getting us set up with bikes, water bottles, booking wine tours and giving us maps. They heard the hunger rumbling in our bellies and sent us next door for the craziest Argentinean wine and culinary experience.

Soon we had set off but we spent so much time with the Crazy Argie Chiqui next door that we were close to our first appointment across the road but not close enough to go so we went in the opposite direction to check out the scenery. The owner Marcos noticed us in the wrong direction and got in his car to make sure we were ok. We were surprised to see him and his concern for us but we assured him we were ok and happily cruising along. We toured Norton’s with the poshly dressed who were staying in local “simply charming” B&B’s. It was an extensive tour and very informative, we toured another winery before peddling like crazy to Chandon, the sparkling wine makers from Moet in France. At this point we skipped the tour and opted for a straight tasting. Upon arriving at Chadon Marcos called ahead to see if we made it ok and if everything was fine with our bikes, another little surprise that warmed our hearts. We made it back to his place all in one piece breezily peddling and feeling ever so bubbly from Chiqui’s homemade wine and the heavenly samples in the Bodegas.

Marcos took a group photo of us before we had to say goodbye to the hobbits and the Prince Williams. We were rewarded with bottles of homemade sweet red wine to enjoy in his beautiful garden with greenery and grape vines. Still peckish we ordered snack plates from his kitchen with olives, peanuts, meats and cheeses. This lovely couple and family to be's outstanding service care and concern was what made my experience so much more memorable. I am always a fan of giving my money to and enthusiastically recommending local deserving people and this couple was nothing but worthy.

I decided to contact Marcos for more background information for my blog he replied right away and remembered exactly when I was there and expressed how happy he was to hear from me. The care for his customers continues even after they leave the stunning wine region. Marcos Ibanez and his wife Paola celebrated the one year anniversary of their business this February. Previously Marcos worked in a shoe shop selling shoes while he studied marketing always with the desire to open his own business and provide outstanding customer service and care. His wife is a Doctor is a small hospital near to the village. She works in the mornings and helps him out in the afternoons. Both Marcos andvPaola’s families are from the Lujan area, the two met thanks to Marcos’ sister and have been together for three years. They have a little baby boy on the way due in two weeks, a future wine and bike tour guide.

If you are in the Mendoza area I highly recommend the Travel in Bike wine tour in Lujan. Stop in and say Felicidades to the new family for me!

Website: www.travelinbikecom.ar

Email: travelinbike@hotmail.com

Telephone: (0261)153530186/ 153530197 – 686*795/686*796

How to arrive?

You have to take Bartolome Mitre bus (#850) in the bus station, platform #57 or in Rioja St. (Across Alem St. To the south) They are in front of the Norton Winery.

Going the Distance

Alright so I am making a brief pause in my irregularly scheduled blog regarding my adventures in traveling to actually do some current writing. It does get a bit daunting when you have to play catch up with a blog. How does something that you created because you love to write become homework? Now that I am actually back to my writing after my brief hiatus whislt learning all things Brazilian, I should be writing away with my fingers racing across my "Tracy is too cheap to buy a real computer" HP mini. Instead I clean my room, search for jobs, stalk people on facebook and go out for drinks every night of the week just to avoid the homework of memories, people I have met and stories to tell that are piled up in my head. Why did I stop writing...well I will get to that just stay tuned to my sporadic blog.

In another attempt to avoid writing about my wine and bike tour in Argentina I downloaded the movie Going the Distance with Drew Barrymore whom I love and Justin Long who I would definitely go the distance for. Alright I admit it I am a sucker for Rom Coms despite the fact that I am perpetually single they make me all warm and fuzzy inside. It wasn’t just Justin Long who got me feeling the fuzzies this time though I actually got inspired to get off my ass and quit feeling sorry for myself. Drew Barrymore’s character is 31 years old and has returned to school to finally go after her dream at a journalism school to top it off.

The words of a close friend of mine have been ringing in my head since before I went for a job interview for a tour company, “If you REALLY wanted to be a writer you would already be one.” That was a bit hash and it still stings but feck if Drew Barrymore went back to school then maybe I should rethink things. I need to go the distance if I actually want to be a real writer and not a half ass blogger.

PS: Any Justin Long look a likes please apply here

Mendoza Bike Tour; The good the bad and the ugly of traveling in groups

A lot of people don’t understand how I can travel on my own but I really can’t understand how people travel in groups, they really make me frustrated. Nothing ever gets done or decided, its ages until people start moving; someone has to go to the washroom, someone needs to check internet, someone needs to buy a bottle of water, someone needs something to eat. Random adventures are less likely to happen in a group as well which I had been completely lacking this time around traveling.

I know I know it’s not where you are or what happens but the people who you are with that make an experience blah blah blah... I have preached this many times but Argentina was pissing me off, hostels were pissing me off and being a tourist was passing me off. I wanted an authentic Argentinean experience and I was getting sick of being a gringo and hanging out with other gringos. Yes perhaps I have been waking up on the wrong side of the bed in Argentina; actually I haven’t been really sleeping at all. I was still having this feeling of anxiety. I haven't been me and I have been having quite the poor attitude. I have been putting too much emphasis on wanting random adventures to happen, getting frustrated when they don’t happen but at the same time not really letting them happen.

This all came out when my new girlfriends and some other stragglers from the hostels and I decided to do our Mendoza wine and bike tour. We had two English girls, one Scottish, our American guy friend, two Aussie guys name Tim and Tom who looked like Prince William and two Germans I nicknamed the hobbits because they were short, hairy and stocky, although they were quite unfriendly and I would expect hobbits to be super nice and friendly. I was highly disappointed with their unhobbity ways.

We listened to the one English girl who decided the best place to do the tour was the less popular wine village of Lujan although I was recommended Mr. Hugo in Maipu by a good source. I prefer word of mouth and she was going by a travel agent but in the end she had her way and as you do in groups you shut your mouth and let the bossiest one take over. I was slightly seething especially when we ended up taking the wrong bus and no one knew where to get off or even how to get to this place. We got off at the end of the road where the bus turns around and started walking. I was seething even more, if we had gone to the other place like I had said then this wouldn’t have happened but no, we were in this obscure off the beaten path wine town where there is no tourist information. We asked several people where to go but to no avail. This could have been a prime hitch hiking opportunity but we were 7 people and two hobbits, there was no way anyone was going to pick us up.

Eventually we decided to get a cab so we split up. The Scottish girl, the prince Williams and I took the first cab and we didn’t think it would be that long until the others showed up behind us at the bike rental place that the cab driver was actually able to find for us. It seemed like we waited for ages, and they didn’t even have any bikes. I wanted to leave then and there take the Williams and the Scottish girl, ditch everyone else and take a taxi to the other town where they do bike tours, where I was recommended and where there are actually bikes! The Scottish girl was just so sweet and positive though it was still an adventure to her and it was important to stay with the group. She was smiling and having fun while I was fuming, I wish I was like her, I used to be like her what has happened to me? The owner of the bike rental place mentioned there was one other bike place up the road that may have bikes and he could drive us, we waited for our friends for a while then took him up on his offer. We found a super friendly man with his pregnant wife and more bikes than we needed. The others had arrived at the original bike place as we got there so the owner went back to get them.

I felt like a bit of an ass for taking off and wanting to ditch everyone. It worked out in the end and we eventually got our bikes and were set for a bike tour of the vineyards of Mendoza but first people were hungry. What! You’re kidding me after all this now we have to wait around because people want to eat, we were never going to actually go on his tour. My brief period of calm was interrupted by more seething. The owner of the bike rental told us right beside his house is a restaurant so we got him to hold the bikes while we went in.

We entered a different world, this wasn’t a restaurant but a shack of randomness. The walls had dead animals, meat hanging posters and pictures. The tables were surrounded by benches covered in animal fur and we were greeted by a man dressed in a black apron, a red kerchief around his neck and a black gaucho hat. He was something from an old Argentine cowboy movie. Apparently he was something of a legend, he loved meeting foreigners and sharing his wine and meat. He had photo books on the tables of his legendary asados with photos of him slicing dead animals. As his homemade wine came flowing in I relaxed and let go of everything. This place was incredible and the adventure was getting here. After everything that had happened and all the waiting around it all worked out in the end and here we were getting drunk on homemade wine in the craziest place that we would have never found if we went to the other more popular wine village. What has happened to me? I should know that things just have a way of working out when you are travelling; you just need to be willing to let them happen. As well IT IS the people you are with that make the difference and that make a good story. What would it have been without the hobbits?

Christmas in Mendoza and the Gift of Girlfriends

I booked a hostel online which is something I don’t normally do. I was paranoid I wouldn’t find anything decent for Christmas as well as the fact that I was dying from the heat of this country and needed a hostel with a pool. My anxiety of being alone for Christmas however took over and I ended up following a really nice English girl to her hostel which lacked in the pool department. She was cool, we got along well and I didn’t have a down payment on the other hostel so I figured why not spend Christmas with her.

I soon met friends of hers that she had met in Bolivia a Scottish girl, an English girl and a Belgium girl. We added an American guy to our mix who became the token male in our girl chats. I was feeling in good spirits again I was surrounded by a group of independent single traveling girls around my age which I was discovering harder to find as most travellers seem to be 5-8 years younger than me now.

This is the one thing I really miss when I am traveling; my group of girlfriends. The girlfriend bond is a very important one to have in our lives and we are very lucky we are able to have this type of relationship. Men’s relationship with other men usually revolve around an activity, it’s not too often that they will sit up all night sharing hopes, fears, and dreams with another mate over a case of beer.

Our girlfriends are reflections of who we are, they will be an understanding ear, a comrade in retail therapy, and they are honest and will give insight. Having a girlfriend makes you feel loved. It doesn’t matter if you are single or if you are having family problems, girlfriends provide you with love and support. As well with true friends no time or distance will ever affect that bond.

You can be an independent traveller who is able to make friends at every hostel or you can be traveling with your boyfriend who is always there for you but in the end something is always going to be missing, we need our girl time. I was very grateful to be able to spend my Christmas with a fantastic bunch of girlfriends. I had just met them but we got along right away and soon enough we were saying cheers to being single, independent women traveling the world and dishing our men stories.

Christmas is celebrated December 24 in Latin America so our chain of hostels put on a Christmas party. We didn’t have the traditional turkey and stuffing that comes from our countries but it was a nice meal with lots of Argentinean wine. They had a DJ playing pop, funk and reggeaton and gave out masks and shakers. This wasn’t enough entertainment for us so we decided to do the typical girl’s night out thing and make up dares. Ok I admit this is more like a typical 16 year old girl’s night out but I have never claimed to be mature. Fireworks went off at midnight while we saw how many Brazilian nipples we could lick... unfortunately they were all prawns.

I have never liked how commercial Christmas is and that’s why I can handle being away from home for it for the last few years but the one thing I do like about the concept of Christmas is being around people you love. Friends really are a better gift than anything else and I was happy to have the gift of girlfriends on this Christmas.