שפונדרה

I woke up Monday morning and took the same route to Hugo's rent-a-bike shop in Maipú. This morning I received a red bike and took it out for a test run. Except for the front wheel that was doing "eights" everything was ok and I continued on to Bodega Tempus Alba. I arrived at the winery at 11 o'clock in the morning and was told that they only open at 12. I rode to Vintandes again and found out that they don't carry out tours or tastings. I asked them why they have an opening schedule outside the gate if they don't accept tourists. By the other person's tone of voice I could tell that he didn't want to deal with me so he shot a couple of fast sentences in Spanish and hung up the intercom. Although it would be a long bike ride I decided to ride to Bodega Flichman.

After riding 15 km, I arrived at the guard house at about 12:05 PM. I asked the guard if they had tours at this time. He said that now is "siesta" and the next tour is at 13 o'clock. I tried to make him call somebody who speaks English so I could make my case much more convincing than in Spanish. The guard said no. I could tell that he was afraid to bother somebody during their siesta so he would not get fired. I tried to explain that I am only one person on a bike and not 50 people on a bus; but he wasn't convinced. I wasn't about to wait around for "siesta" to be over so I got on my bike and rode back to town.

להמשיך לקרוא ←

I woke up early Saturday morning and had my quick hostel breakfast. I walked across Costanera St. and on to J. Vicente Zapata Ave. where I hooked a left onto Rioja St. and caught the number 174 bus to Maipú. After a 35 minute bus ride I stepped off in Coquimbito right in front of the bike rental shop owned by Hugo and his family. I walked into a small yard with tens of bicycles for rent. While standing and listening to Hugo give a speech to a group of tourists I realized that I would also get one if I didn't act fast. In my broken Spanish I talked to Hugo's wife who noticed that I already had a map and was on my toes to get the heck out of there and start my bike ride. She handed me a bottle of water and a bike for exchange of 15 pesos. I checked my bike from A to Z to see that everything was working, climbed on and started my wine tour.

 I rode my bike for about 4.5 km on Urquiza Blvd. and turned left on Perito Moreno Road. After another kilometer I reached Bodega Tempus Alba but to my disappointment it was closed. I didn't expect my wine trip to start with such a disappointment. I continued down the road about 100 more meters and arrived in Bodega Viña El Cerno. For 15 pesos I received two tastings, a Malbec and a Cabernet Sauvignon, which could have been much better. I think they tasted better than they were because I was just so happy to just drink some wine that they could have given me vinegar. While I was paying for the tastings and my first wine bottle opener, Ricardo came over and offered another Cab from 2002. I would have to say this wine was definitely better, fruitier and rounder than the ones before. After feeling better from drinking wine I climbed back on my bicycle and backtracked to Urquiza Blvd.

להמשיך לקרוא ←