Mendoza!!

So, I'm a little behind on my blogging. Two weekends ago we decided to utilize our three day weekend to travel. Ten of us bought bus tickets to Mendoza, and took a 14 hour bus ride overnight to the city. Mendoza is a town in the far west of Argentina, at the foot hills of the Andes, and is famously known as the WINE COUNTRY. Overall we had a great time planning, and going on our weekend vacation! Traveling independently was a great experience, and we managed to do so in a fairly small budget.

The bus we rode there was pretty niceee. It was double decker, and was like riding first class on a plane.

Vineyards and the Andes.City of Mendoza.
It was a lot more down to earth than BA.Winery! Look at all of that wine! This is one of the rooms that they store the wine in. There are window/holes in the ceiling so that light can come in to help with the fermentation process. We learned a good deal about this process. Its always weird to think that you are really just drinking really old grapejuice. The longer the fermentation, the finer the wine.Inside the cold dark chambers of the winery.

This place has supposedly gotten awards for its Malbec.
Learning the art of wine tasting.
First you observe the color against a light surface like a napkin, and then against the light. Then you swirl it to release the odors, and smell. Then you take a small sip and swish it around in your mouth to rid the acids from you mouth. Then your second sip is the good sip.

"Red red wine you make me feel so fine
You keep me rocking all of the time.
Red red wine you make me feel so grand
I feel a million dollars when your just in my hand"

Our little group. We met a guy from England and a girl from Poland. There were a bunch of European travelers in Mendoza.The Mendoza Group.Off to winery number two!
The second winery was an organic winery.
Here we got to see the actual vineyards, along with the place the wine is made.
Vineyardssss
The tasting and purchasing room!
Olive Museum.
Did you know: Black olives and green olives come from the same tree? Black olives are just more ripe when they are picked.
Tractor full of Olives.
Olive cleaning machines.
Olive oil machines.
DAY TWO: One of the best days EVER!
To the mountains! :D
Pretty Lake.
Gettin' ready to go white water rafting! In winter! Crazy!
Everyone is decked out in our gear before. We all had wet suits, jackets, gloves, helmets, and some of us were lucky enough to snag one of the few pairs of water shoes...everyone else had to wear their shoes with bags over them, which was very unsuccessful. Sorry guys. Left: Harry, Matt, Me. Right: Brady and Charlotte. Guide in the back.
Wooo!

The three rafts.

I don't think I will ever get over this picture. Thanks for that Matt, thanks a lot. WHAT A NICE PICTURE THIS COULD HAVE BEEN. :D hahaAll of us...somehow we survived. Despite the freezing aspect, it was sooo much fun!
During and after rafting was the coldest I have ever been in my entire life. My feet lost feeling, and I had a hard time walking. I don't know if it was because of bad circulation, or what, but it was crazy! I swear I wasn't just being a pansy...I really couldn't feel my feet against the ground or move my toes at all! So Char is carrying me here. Haha

HARDCORE.
Still working on those feet...Haha
Special Thanks Shoutout to Charlotte, Harry, and the Fireplace for their help.
:D
The classic taking a picture of taking a picture.
The best part at this point is that we aren't even half way done!

Hiking!
Haha. We had the funniest guide.
Notice the white stuff on the ground. I don't remember what it was called, but its some mineral like salt.
Hahaha we had way too much fun with those things.
The group!





On top of the world!Headin' back.



After the hike, Matt, Char and I drank water from the river. It was the best, most fresh tasting water I have ever had.
Me, rocking everybody's favorite fifth grade style...jacket around the waist.
The wet suits drying.

Repelling time! Pretty view!

Rachel repelling.
Rachel and I.Our last day in Mendoza was restful. We walked around the city and hit up some parks. This picture was taken while I sprawled out in the middle one. It was such a nice break to get out of the giant city for a few days.And...when we were eating lunch, a leaf landed in Harry's drink. hahahaha

The bus ride home wasn't bad either. We arrived in BA around 9am, and had class at 11, so we pretty much picked our stuff off at home and went to school. Our taxi driver got pulled over and was given a ticket on our way home from the bus station, which was real interesting. At first there was a policeman on foot that tried to stop our driver for speeding or something, and our driver decided to just keep going. A few minutes later, we were at a stop light and the same cop came running up and caught us. That cop was FAST! I guarantee you that most cops I've ever seen in the US would have never been able to catch this guy on foot like that. Anyways, I'm pretty sure he got a ticket, which is funny because this was probably one of the better drivers we've had here.

Basically, the weekend was a huge success, and I had a great time :)