Lost in the Andes

Wine Page Inauguration

Through the years many have sought refuge in Argentina.  A famous movie quote was ¨...the Pacific Ocean has no memory¨.  In many ways this is true of Argentina as asylum seekers have found out.  However to be succesful one must not continue in the ways that put him on the run.  Butch and Sundance found this out for when they returned to bank robbing and holding up stages the were soon killed.

So too like a fly being drawn to the light I am continuing my facination with the fruit of the vine.  Check out the wine page where I begin to tell the story of the wines of Argentina.

We are still scouting out the territory and I wil update you later with more trials and tribulations of a Teaxs bootlegger lost in the the Andes.  So boost yourself up on the wagon for a ride South of the Equator.

¿Copa vino para usted?

Marco 

Best Wine I Never Had

The day trip to the mountains had been proposed two days earlier by our new found Argentine friends who have taken us in as orphans.  They speak no English and we speak very limited Spanish but it is very good for learning as they seem to have an endless supply of patience in repeating and slowing down the pace to accommodate our ignorance.  When they proposed a paseo on Domingo the  only thing I could figure out was a walk but since they said we would eat their as well it made no sense.  It became clearer when they said it would be in Montanyas  but we still weren’t sure what we were in for.

Early in the morning on the appointed day a large van pulled up and as we got in we were greeted by about 15 people made up of 3 families.  Besides our hosts we recognized another family who had lived in Florida for a while and had been very helpful to us because of their ability to speak English.  The children had gone out of their way previously to talk to us so we had brought them presents when we met last.  Their Papa as it turns out owned the van with his father and uses it in the tourism business but since it was his day off he kindly transported us all on the outing.

Not long into the trip it became evident that a lot of planning had gone into this excursion when our host stood with a sack in his hands and had the children pull out the contents one at a time.  As each small bolsa(bag) was pulled out the name on it was announced.  The whole bus would erupt in applause while the children laughed.  Then the regalo(gift) was opened by the recipient and passed around for all to marvel at.  The recipients included not only the children but everyone on the bus.  Mine was labled Yankee to the delight of everyone and even the children understood the joke and the squealed with laughter.  It was a key chain with a miniature futball (soccerball) on it which now has my holds my apartment keys.

Next a new bolsa was produced which had small pieces of paper folded up with peoples names.  The same procedure followed with the ninos picking out the names as everyone clapped and then jeered as the lottery winner was assigned a chore at the paseo: everything from cooking to cleaning.  Kristi’s assignment was to  make empanadas with an experienced cook while I had the lighter duty of mixing the salad.  I suspected foul play in the whole arrangement as it seemed the men got lighter duty jobs then the women but since I was in the former classification I kept my mouth shut.  I don’t know if this whole party trip was a cultural thing or just these families customs but either way what an entertaining trip.

We had been driving for a couple of hours away from the morning sun when we pulled into a small town in the mountains.  There the men got off the bus to negotiate for a guide and passage thru an military controlled area.  As a gringo I was kept on the bus as I would have only messed up both sets of negotiations.  Soon our guide and the men returned and as we continued on our way I notice a large jug of wine, maybe 5  liters, was pulled up from the back of the bus.  After we passed thru the controlled zone we soon arrived at a gate and a small farm house where the guide, our host, and the jug of wine disappeared only to reappear a few minutes later without the wine.  The gate was opened and about 10 minutes down a bumpy, gravel road we arrived at gorgeous spot by a mountain stream with large shade trees and a view to die for.

Then suddenly the bus was emptied, a kitchen set up, and the Asado(loosely translatedBBQ) prepared.   After a large meal the men fished, the women chatted, the children played and the gringos marveled at the paraiso(paradise) that was an Argentine Montanya Paseo.

They say flavor of wine is a combination of the taste and the experiences which surround the drinking of it.  I’m sure you’ve noticed this for instance when you have  wine that you  enjoy  with that special someone at a special place and then later you open a bottle of the same wine and sit down to watch the news.  It just tastes different.  Well in the case of the missing jug of wine that turned out to be the entrance fee, the surrounding experience and enjoyment received made this the best bottle of wine I never tasted, south of the equator.

Buenos Noches Amigos

I Was Wondering

First, let me get this off my chest.  We have not spent alot of time looking at places to live and have been rather irresponsible and just kind of goofing off.  But that is about to change (the looking at places part, not the irresponsible goofing off part).

Now for some musing on my part.  Why is it the farmers went on strike but we couldn´t get meat?  The ranchers weren´t on strike.  Turns out the farmers put up roadblocks in an argument with the new presidente over taxes so the deliveries couldn´t get through.  But we live right in the middle of the farm area that feeds the nation so they didn´t have to use highways to get to market.  We were vegeterian for a couple of weeks except for a meal or two at restaraunts with connections.

The strike ended and we were back to our carnivorouse selvs just in time for the first Polar Wave.  Eighty degrees one day 40 the next.  Lasts a couple of days just like the Blue northers in Texas

Why are restaraunts so cheap and cars so expensive?  Used cars cost from 10 thousand to a hundred thousand US dollars.  We celebrated our anniversary last night with another couple who also were married 30 something years ago this week.  We had a huge stack of meat grilled at the table with all the trimmings and a bottle of wine as well as a liter of beer.  Total bill for 4 people was 109 pesos or thirty dollars US.

Why are they building houses and apartments everywhere but their are no mortgages.  To buy a house you start making payments along with 20 other people, then after the first year a lottery is held and the one out of twenty gets a house.  Everyone keeps making payments until the next year when another name is chosen and this continues until year 20 when everyone has a house.  I´m not kidding, I couldn´t make up anything this bizzarre.  Of course you can buy with cash.

Why do they always serve soda with the coffee? Try it sometime after coffee(club soda) it leaves your mouth fresh.  I guess all the kissing everyone does down here its better not to have coffee breath.  How civilized.

So now you know how to solve the US Mortgage banking crisis, how to get rid of coffee breath and where not to buy your next car.  No where else can you get such helpful hints than South of the Equator.

Mi casa is su casa.

Marco

Dos Busses

It's been a long but fun week down here as we have been looking at property in the land named for the Latin name of silver.  Recall Element number 47 from the Periodic Table of Elements.  We have kicked around in Maipu, Lujan, and Vistalba, departments just south of Mendoza.  We have also been to the three or four towns that make up Uco Valley.  Next stop was San Rafael, a small farming community, three hours away and so we determined to take the bus in an effort to assimilate into the culture. (Everyone goes every where by bus).

First let me describe the city bus trip to Lujan in order for you to understand how our expectations were set.  The thirty minute ride begins as the huge beast screeches to a halt inches from the first person in line.  Every one hustles in and when the last person’s foot clears the curb the bus lurches forward in an effort to achieve light speed so that it can intimidate the other cars in its vicinity.  Then another screeching halt 3 blocks later and repeat.   Meanwhile on board all put their coins in the box and find a place to grab on.  Their seems to be no correlation between the number of seats on a bus and the number of people crammed onto the bus.  I find myself wedged; my wife on one side, a kid's backpack in the small of my back, and on my other side la senora who is so short that only the ends of her fingers curl around the overhead bar.  She has no choice but to depend on the strength of my grip on the rail as she braces against me for the ride.  No apology is offered: none is needed.  My wife said later the youngster in front of her smiled reassuringly at her as they shared personal space.

As we rode along I thought of the Aspens I had in seen in Colorado and how the root system of an Aspen grove was are all the same and all the trees grow from it.  It is said that the Aspen groves are among the largest living organisms because of this.  And now I was a tree in a larger living system with a common goal just like the aspen….survival and a place in the sun.  Soon we arrive safe and sound and get in a taxi for a day of scouring the countryside.  Lujan is great and has made the short list of “places in the sun”.

So with that learning under our belt we take a cab to the autobus terminal at 8 am with visions of the bus from Romancing the Stone in our head…you know the bus to Cartagena where Kirk Douglas jr and Kathleen Turner  end up riding with chickens and goats.  We walk up to purchase the ticket where there is surprisingly no line, pay the equivalent of 5 dollars and are sent to platform 34.  Because we had allowed an hour for the process that took 2 minutes we have a leisurely breakfast then go to platform 34 where a double decker bus shows up 15 minutes before our scheduled departure.  The attendant takes our bags and puts them under the bus and gives us a claim check then on to the bus we go and…...no chickens.

In fact not only no chickens, but the huge captains chairs recline further back than any plane I have ever been on.  Exactly on time the bus pulls away with no lurching or screeching as the air conditioning kicks in to insure my wife’s contentedness.  Twenty minutes into the trip the steward shows up with coffee, tea and cookies.  Next screens come down and a movie in English begins with Spanish sub titles.  As I relish the moment I stare at the Andes going by my window and I notice what has been there all along: the Alamosa trees or poplars, related to the Aspens.  And yet here each tree stood on its own reaching to the sun.  So I stretched out to my full length in the huge chair on the large bus and watched the Alamosas slip by.

San Rafael was nice however only the bus made the short list.

No perde el autobus.

Marco

A Place in the Sun

If your expecting some sappy story with a nice thought for the day try Reader´s Digest; maybe they have some dumb story about riding a bus or something.

¨Que paso¨you say.  Ah we have been busy looking at properties in an area the size of the Texas panhandle.  It seems every place we see we like and we are wearing out the phrase ¨Que lindo¨. The more we investigate and learn the more we realize we have to learn here.  And so being the decisive, know what you want and go get it types, we have delayed having to make a decision for 6 months by renting a house in a beautiful little town South of Mendoza City called Chacras de Coria.

The owner calls the house a bungalow and it is a guest house on a property that covers two large lots enclosed by a tall wall and fruit trees.  It's small but includes three bedrooms, kitchen,dining and living room.  It is very cute.  After we rented it we realized included in our yard are not only roses, flowers and fruit trees but also a Soccer field.  I guess mi espousa and I will now have a nightly futbol match before dinner.

Oh we are still looking but think it is better not to rush into anything or is that just another way to say we are lazy.  No actually it is our way of assimilating into a culture where life goes at a slower pace south of the equator.

GOOOOOAALLLL!!!!

MARCO

 Texas Bootlegger

View from Picnic Area

Refrigerator=milk case in glacier stream

The men fished

Preparations for Asado

I thought we would need a jeep for this road 

When the Sun dipped behind the Mountain it was time to go home

 Plenty of fruits and veggies

Winter comes for a couple of days

This 20 year old jeep could cost up to 30 thosand US

New luxury apartment building going up

Borrowed from SEQ.com

Get on the Bus,Gus

Aspens in Colorado by Ken Blackwell

Vineyard in Lujan

Poplars filter the afternoon sun in San Rafael

A line of Alamosas or Poplars on the ridge

Shot from Bus Window-Andes Vineyard in Fall

Maipu property -view from Vineyard

Maipu property -view from river

maipu property-pinot noir grapes.  narrow rows must be plowed by mule which comes with property. Kristi has had a lot of practice keeping a jackass pointed in the right direction

Uco valley property-nice view, malbec grapes.

Uco valley property-old winery not in use circa 1934

uco Valley property- After first frost.  harvest