Final update from Argentina

After nearly 6 weeks of travel around Argentina, my visit to this rather splendid country is drawing to an end. In two days, I'll be heading off to New Zealand!

The last 2 weeks have seen us heading back north as we made our way from San Martin de los Andes to Buenos Aires. En route, we made a couple of stops - first, at the beautiful, laid-back, wine-lover's paradise that is Mendoza and second at the vibrant, fun-filled city of Córdoba.

Mendoza is a reasonably large city lying in the rain shadow of the Andes. It's a laid-back place - the broad, tree-lined streets make even the centre feel spacious and calm. Add to that the beautiful, lush plazas dotted liberally throughout and (in my opinion, at least) you're onto a winner. In short, I love Mendoza. It's one of the places I'd happily come back to time and time again, if for nothing else than to chill out in the brightly tiled Plaza España with an ice cream and a book.

Mendoza's real claim to fame is the outstanding quality of the wines produced in the region. We took a day trip out to Maipú (a short bus ride away) where there are a multitude of companies renting bikes out to sunburnt tourists to idly - and increasingly drunkenly - pedal between the numerous bodegas. Our all-too-brief tour took us to La Rural (where, along with the excellent wine, they have a fascinating museum with a superb free guided tour), Viña al Cerno (a tiny, back-to-basics bodega with superb chardonnays) and Tempus Alba (an incredibly friendly welcome, and very generous servings of all sorts of delicious reds). All were excellent, and I'd very happily have spent a few more days investigating the other bodegas too... Alas, for we ran out of time.

Back in the city, and there's plenty of wine bars to carry on with the tasting. Although we didn't try any wine there, the Vines of Mendoza looked like an excellent place to go - and the service from the experts at their wine shop (round the corner in the Hyatt hotel) was outstanding. Pablo, who served us, was exceptionally knowledgable about all the local wine, and even gave us a decent account of a bottle Keira had bought from another shop - including all the details of the bodega and chief wine-chap who created it.

We stayed 3 nights in Mendoza (not nearly long enough) before heading off on the overnight bus to Córdoba. Now, you may have noticed how earlier I described Córdoba as "fun-filled", and if you've read my other posting on 'fun' you'll know that I don't necessarily see this as a good thing. Perhaps I just arrived in the wrong frame of mind, or something, because I really didn't take to the place. After Mendoza, it felt cramped, dirty and busy. I'll leave it at that, because I don't think its fair for me to cast judgement just yet - if I come back to Argentina I'll give Córdoba another chance, then decide what I think of it.

So now we're back in Buenos Aires again. It's one of those cliché moments where I say how I can't believe just how fast the last 6 weeks have gone. I remember the day I arrived feeling apprehensive at the prospect of being away from home, friends and family for so long... and now I find that I'm off to the second leg of my journey already!

Next update will be from somewhere in New Zealand... Not sure where yet :)