Mendoza, Argentina

This week has been the highlight of our trip so far! First and foremost we arrived last Sunday at our lovely hostel where we instantly felt at home. It was really more of a home stay than a hostel since we were the only guests most of the week. This meant that Marta, our host, spoiled us rotten and treated us like we were her own kids! She made Harry eggs in the morning because she knew he liked them, bought us jelly and juice as an afternoon treat everyday and ploughed us with her homemade limoncello of an evening! It's fair to say we had our share of red wine whilst in Mendoza (since it is famous for it's Malbec) with our first helping at about 9am each day. Yes, lovely Marta also served up homemade red wine honey and other such splendours for breakfast!

Not only did our Argie mummy treat us like kings but she sat us down as soon as we arrived and gave us so many tips on what to do during our stay. We left the hostel that day feeling very pleased we'd chosen that week to see Mendoza since there was so much going on. Of course we immediately celebrated with steak and red wine for lunch.

The second notable thing that makes Mendoza so amazing is the scenery you wake up to everyday. The majestic backdrop of the snow capped Andes mountains constantly takes your breath away. The city itself is beautiful too. Having suffered a major earthquake back in 1861 it was rebuilt with wide tree lined avenues, big spacey plazas and a huge park.

On our first full day in Mendoza we booked a wine tour on which we visited three different wineries. The first was a very large commercial winery which supplies our shelves at home. We were walked through the whole process, taken into the cellars underground and most importantly, tasted some wines with an excellent lesson on smelling, seeing and tasting. From that moment on we officially belonged to the club of tw*ts that sniff, swirl and hold their wine up to the light when served in a restaurant.

The next two wineries were boutique, family run, organic producers. Producing wine on a much smaller scale these two wineries do not export their produce out of Argentina so the wine we got to taste was considered very exclusive. This did not stop Harry, when asked which one he would like a glass of, pointing to the bottle that she'd explicitly explained was their best and asking if she can open it for him. The answer was of course followed by a laugh and a NO.

Just as we were wondering whether to attempt to carry bottles of wine around with us for the remainder of our trip we were told a magical fact that sealed the deal. Organic wine, that is one with no preservatives, does not give you a hangover! Sold! We asked how much it would be to ship a case to England and frankly the answer was ridiculous...nearly £1000! We'll stick to carrying what we can thanks. The wine tour and tastings ended with the best meal of the trip. Our group sat down to a table full of about 20 different tapas dishes. We feasted ourselves silly and of course drank lots more red wine...an amazing day had!

The day after, whilst exploring the huge park we decided to rent bikes for an hour or so to get round quicker. Ha, oh what a failure I was. In the midday heat I was a liability and in hindsight was perhaps a little dramatic in my moaning. I was however suffering from 3rd degree burns on my neck and shoulders after selflessly giving Harry the last of the sunscreen on our hike in Cordoba. There is a photo of me smiling on a bike but I can assure you this is a very fake smile and I was shouting at Harry to hurry up and take the bloody picture.

The city was holding a festival on the Wednesday night which we were told had loads of food and drink to sample. Having not eaten all day (not out of hardship but because we were busy playing basketball in our hostel pool ) we were ravenous when we arrived. There was so much to chose from we decided to sit and have some wine whilst deciding what to eat. 3 bottles of wine later still no food and two rather worse for wear festival goers! All that lovely food and we ended up getting cheap hotdogs from a van. Oh well, little memory of it the day after.

The next night we were off out again as Marta had told us about a rooftop terrace where there was live music and wine. Far from the main tourist spot it took a while to find but on arriving we were glad we'd made the effort. We watched the sunset over the Andes before going for our biggest steak dinner yet.

We also booked up a full day horse riding in the mountains which was absolutely amazing. Up and down very steep terrain, wading through rivers and hacking our way through thick bush made it a very unique experience. Harry's horse seemed to have been selected just for him since it was so very like his rider, holding up the group by stopping every 5 minutes to eat. We were served a traditional gaucho lunch of steak cooked on an open fire followed by more horse riding in the afternoon. We met some lovely people and went home truly exhausted after such a great day.

We are now in Santiago, Chile where we'll be for the next week. As always, love to everybody at home and thanks for all of your messages. Keep 'em coming.

Nicola & Harry

Copa del Sh*thead scoreboard: NH 64 - 75 HF (international break)