Again the planning phase was pretty much useless. Well, that is not entirely true, since it's always a lot of fun for me. Nevertheless, after a short week in Chile, Antoinette and I are already headed to another country, when we were supposed to travel south along the Pacific. But leaving Chile is very easy, almost accidental at times, for the country is so narrow! A few hours by bus up the Andes east of Santiago, and we are already driving down to Argentina's wine country. The contrast from the rugged mountains of the Andes is striking, as the land becomes almost abruptly flat as we approach Mendoza. Hectares and hectares of vineyards surround a charming city, whose streets seem to be all bordered by tall trees and water canals. The first ones for their shadow, the latter simply to permit life in a rather dry area. Without the rivers coming down from the nearby mountains, the area would probably be nothing but a desert.
My first reflex as we arrive in Argentina is to verify a legend. The one that says that argentine meat is the best in the world. Sitting at a nice streetside terrasse, Antoinette and I order ourselves a Bife de Lomo, accompanied by a glass of house wine, a Malbec. Both are simply terrific, and I immediately get addicted to the meat. As for the wine, we will learn after visiting a bodega that Malbec is one of the best grapes around. Our trip through Argentina could hardly have begun better! The legend is true!
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