8th November continued
We left kalue and went to explore wine cellars. The first on
we visited was Santa Amalia, this was our first visit to
an Argentinian bodega, we didn't know what to expect. We were given a guided tour
and tried several wines ,we left with 6 bottles of their best and were presented with what
was left of the bottle they had opened for us to taste, we then started asking where the
Salentien Bodegas were, and got sent in many directions...
We ended up in another bodega: Androver, the man in charge
was very excited about getting a visitor and left the work he
was doing filling damajuana's (gallon wine bottles), and gave us a guided tour, it
was small, quint and friendly, we bought a couple of "very expensive not so good" wine.
and left to find a camping spot we wanted to keep it relaxed today.
The roads in this area are beautiful, lots of vines, surrounded by roses ( we were later
told that they plant roses near the vines so that if there is a plague the roses are affected
first and they can be prepared with a remedy for the vines before it is too late and they
loose their crop), the roads are lined with big beech (?)trees and mulberry's.
That is easier said than done, I refused to go back to kalue as it had too much dust to
be with children, another beautiful green grassed camping was closed for low season, we
were sent to another one, also difficult to find, alas, it was private. After traveling
through a maze of little towns and seeing the most beautiful gas station ever: old
fashioned gas pump's in front of a lovely building painted sky blue, and three old men
in caps just sitting in the sun, I time that you wish you had your camara in hand, we
were directed to parque Chipango which is the camping municipal. This was a big
deserted wood with a tap to refill our water, we made a fire on the floor and used our
portable BBQ to make dinner, as many of you may have noticed that we loved being
able to BBQ every day and that we cooked little on the stove. It was a nice place to sleep
and very quiet.
The next morning we carried on trying to find Bodegas Salentein, while occupied with
this task, we found ourselves at the door of bodegas Chandon ,and it's garden full of
pansies, so in we went, it was a real giant compared to the cellars we had visited the
day before, after a guided visit and a glass of very cold champagne, we again
continued filling our private wine cellar in the back of the motor home. We bought a
couple of bottles for our friend in Playa and more for ourselves, we asked if they had a
cold bottle of their best so we could have a glass with lunch, and pout we went very
happy and ate a lunch in the parking. We popped open the
bottle, and WOW! It was delicious!
After lunch we had to wait until they reopened
to buy more of that delicacy.
We then carried on with Salentein, we really
wanted to visit this bodega as it had been very highly recommended by a friend in
Playa who imports wine from Argentina, other wise I think I had had enough of
bodegas for the year.
We drove 60 kms. Some people sent us up a mountain road saying the bodega was just
a little further, then we arrived at a Military point, they also told us just to follow the
road...so on we went passing some other bodegas and many beautiful vine fields, It was
lovely to see the brown vines shooting fresh green leaves. After driving for what it
seemed forever, we again asked a guy and he sent us back 2 kms to turn that would
take us back to the main road, then we would drive another 20 kms to the bodega, this
turned out to be true!
We came to an entrance made out of round river stones and a guard who would not let
us in, we made an appointment to visit the next morning at 10.
We then had to return to the village of Tupungato where we were told there was a
camping, we stopped at the tourist information office and got directions ( a more secure
option) and ended up very close to where we had started. After having dropped our
clothes off at a laundry.
The camping was lovely, it cost us 4.5 us, a river ran just beside our spot, it was full of
walnut and other big trees. The hot water only was operating from 6 in the evening, so
we had to wait a little for them to light the wood water heater, that was ok, we took a
walk and Alex taught Isabelle to climb trees.
We then returned for a shower (it was always more comfortable to shower at campings
than in the van, due to the lack of space, and the fact that we couldn't light the water
heater) the bathrooms were very clean, but full of fallen leaves from the lust vegetation.
We slept with the sound of the river.
9th November
We got up early, packed the van, and after picking up our laundry we finally made it
to Salentein.
When arriving at the entrance, we could see that it was a special place, and after our
guided tour, we were amazed, the whole place was like a museum! Paintings on the
walls, spiral staircases, walls of bottled wine, enormous wooden tables.. it was a dream.
We then drove on to the City of San Rafael where we stayed at the camping la posada,
just in front of the natural history museum, 6 us. While Fernando prepared dinner, I
went to the museum with Alex and Isabelle, 0.15 us, there were way to many stuffed
animals for my liking, and many stones to Alex's delight. The lady in charge
explained that Argentina used to be very green, but when the Andes formed, they
stopped the flow of humid air coming from the Pacific ocean, and the then green
landscape turned into the dry one we see now, this caused the dinosaurs to die.
We returned to join Fernando for another barbecued meal.
Continue
We left kalue and went to explore wine cellars. The first on
we visited was Santa Amalia, this was our first visit to
an Argentinian bodega, we didn't know what to expect. We were given a guided tour
and tried several wines ,we left with 6 bottles of their best and were presented with what
was left of the bottle they had opened for us to taste, we then started asking where the
Salentien Bodegas were, and got sent in many directions...
We ended up in another bodega: Androver, the man in charge
was very excited about getting a visitor and left the work he
was doing filling damajuana's (gallon wine bottles), and gave us a guided tour, it
was small, quint and friendly, we bought a couple of "very expensive not so good" wine.
and left to find a camping spot we wanted to keep it relaxed today.
The roads in this area are beautiful, lots of vines, surrounded by roses ( we were later
told that they plant roses near the vines so that if there is a plague the roses are affected
first and they can be prepared with a remedy for the vines before it is too late and they
loose their crop), the roads are lined with big beech (?)trees and mulberry's.
That is easier said than done, I refused to go back to kalue as it had too much dust to
be with children, another beautiful green grassed camping was closed for low season, we
were sent to another one, also difficult to find, alas, it was private. After traveling
through a maze of little towns and seeing the most beautiful gas station ever: old
fashioned gas pump's in front of a lovely building painted sky blue, and three old men
in caps just sitting in the sun, I time that you wish you had your camara in hand, we
were directed to parque Chipango which is the camping municipal. This was a big
deserted wood with a tap to refill our water, we made a fire on the floor and used our
portable BBQ to make dinner, as many of you may have noticed that we loved being
able to BBQ every day and that we cooked little on the stove. It was a nice place to sleep
and very quiet.
The next morning we carried on trying to find Bodegas Salentein, while occupied with
this task, we found ourselves at the door of bodegas Chandon ,and it's garden full of
pansies, so in we went, it was a real giant compared to the cellars we had visited the
day before, after a guided visit and a glass of very cold champagne, we again
continued filling our private wine cellar in the back of the motor home. We bought a
couple of bottles for our friend in Playa and more for ourselves, we asked if they had a
cold bottle of their best so we could have a glass with lunch, and pout we went very
happy and ate a lunch in the parking. We popped open the
bottle, and WOW! It was delicious!
After lunch we had to wait until they reopened
to buy more of that delicacy.
We then carried on with Salentein, we really
wanted to visit this bodega as it had been very highly recommended by a friend in
Playa who imports wine from Argentina, other wise I think I had had enough of
bodegas for the year.
We drove 60 kms. Some people sent us up a mountain road saying the bodega was just
a little further, then we arrived at a Military point, they also told us just to follow the
road...so on we went passing some other bodegas and many beautiful vine fields, It was
lovely to see the brown vines shooting fresh green leaves. After driving for what it
seemed forever, we again asked a guy and he sent us back 2 kms to turn that would
take us back to the main road, then we would drive another 20 kms to the bodega, this
turned out to be true!
We came to an entrance made out of round river stones and a guard who would not let
us in, we made an appointment to visit the next morning at 10.
We then had to return to the village of Tupungato where we were told there was a
camping, we stopped at the tourist information office and got directions ( a more secure
option) and ended up very close to where we had started. After having dropped our
clothes off at a laundry.
The camping was lovely, it cost us 4.5 us, a river ran just beside our spot, it was full of
walnut and other big trees. The hot water only was operating from 6 in the evening, so
we had to wait a little for them to light the wood water heater, that was ok, we took a
walk and Alex taught Isabelle to climb trees.
We then returned for a shower (it was always more comfortable to shower at campings
than in the van, due to the lack of space, and the fact that we couldn't light the water
heater) the bathrooms were very clean, but full of fallen leaves from the lust vegetation.
We slept with the sound of the river.
9th November
We got up early, packed the van, and after picking up our laundry we finally made it
to Salentein.
When arriving at the entrance, we could see that it was a special place, and after our
guided tour, we were amazed, the whole place was like a museum! Paintings on the
walls, spiral staircases, walls of bottled wine, enormous wooden tables.. it was a dream.
We then drove on to the City of San Rafael where we stayed at the camping la posada,
just in front of the natural history museum, 6 us. While Fernando prepared dinner, I
went to the museum with Alex and Isabelle, 0.15 us, there were way to many stuffed
animals for my liking, and many stones to Alex's delight. The lady in charge
explained that Argentina used to be very green, but when the Andes formed, they
stopped the flow of humid air coming from the Pacific ocean, and the then green
landscape turned into the dry one we see now, this caused the dinosaurs to die.
We returned to join Fernando for another barbecued meal.
Continue
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