Rosario, Córdoba y Mendoza, Argentina.

Our last three stops were jumbled together in five days, as we sped through Rosario, Córdoba, and Mendoza. Rosario reminded me of Buenos Aires in the way that it still felt city-like, but it obviously was not as rowdy or bustling, so it had a much calmer atmosphere. Tasha and I rented bikes in Rosario to get a better feel for the city, as it was one of those places where it was too big to walk everywhere, but it would have been too expensive to take a cab to get a look around. Fun fact: Rosario is the birthplace of Ernesto "Che" Guevara, so we tried to find his former home, but it looks like it's been converted into a hostel now, which is rightfully named Hostel Che Guevara.

Out on the town with my rented bici overlooking the water and a barco

In front of the Monumental Nacional a la Bandera, which at night is lit up to resemble the flag of Argentina

Our second to last Argentinian city was Córdoba which had the second largest population in the country after Buenos Aires. New Years was relatively mellow as we ended up going out with some of our fellow hostel mates, but not much was going on nightlife wise because, as we found out later, this holiday is much more family-oriented than for us in the United States, where most of us tend to celebrate more with friends. Once the holiday was over, the city picked up again and we got on board to go on a horseback ride. Our tour guide Nico was extremely friendly and eager to ask us questions about life in the United States. We rode for three hours in the shadeless sun, which was followed by a typical Argentinian asado, or barbecue. So. Much. Meat.

I wish I remembered the name of my horse! :(

Our horseback riding pit stop at a statue of a mother with her children

Finally, we eventually got ourselves to Mendoza, one of the places I was looking forward to the most not only because I'd heard such awesome things from my friends who had gone before, but also because I was excited to get home and put on a clean outfit and take a nice shower. Three weeks of nonstop road travel will do that to you! The one thing that I couldn't stand was my bunk in our hostel: I was at the top of a THREE-person bunk. I had to be especially careful when climbing up at night, and that was without any consumption of any alcoholic beverages. Our Mendozan escapades began with a rafting trip down Río Mendoza, which in retrospect, should really be named Río Leche Chocolate, because that's exactly what the water looked like: chocolate milk. Our river guide, though at first skeptical of our Spanish, was soon impressed by Tasha's rafting, as she's a guide back home as well. He knew right from the get go that he had an expert in the boat. No trip to Mendoza would be complete without a visit to the vineyards, as Mendoza is the stomping ground for a huge number of Argentinian-produced wines. We took a local bus out to Maipú where we then rented bikes and proceeded to follow a map of the nearby wineries provided to us by Mr. Hugo, an icon in the bikes and wines industry.

Bikes are so common to visit the wineries they have their own "parking lot"

Getting a glimpse of actual grapes, something I couldn't do when I visited Concha y Toro in Santiago because of the time of the year

We stopped for lunch at one of the first wineries we passed, exhausted and famished. With a quick introduction to the different varietals available, we finished and continued on, moving to two other wineries to try torrent and malbec, two more unusual varietals that aren't quite your merlot or cabernet sauvignon.

A sampling of some of the Mendocino wines

An awesome trip. Not just Mendoza, but this entire Argentinian experience. I already can't wait to go back! And this is what they'll say when I return:

"Welcome," but with a play on words, "bebidos" being "drinks"