Day 2 - San Rafael

Day 2

San Rafael

We arose early to catch our flight to San Rafael (about 1.5 hours flight mostly due wet of BA). This is at the southern end of the Mendoza region, which is the wine country of Argentina. We landed at a VERY small airport – we were the only plane there. Despite the fact that we simply walked off the plane and 50 feet across the tarmac to the airport “terminal” (it was more like the size of a convenience store), it seems to me that the San Rafaelians want to feel as important as other larger cities in the Mendoza region. So, they have the usual airport process whereby we went into the “terminal” and waited in a very small area at a baggage claim belt for our bags. I say we went into the terminal, but we simply went through one door and stood peering out the glass windows at our plane. The funny thing is … the plane was parked about 50 feet away and the baggage claim belt was about a 30 foot oval. Half of the belt was outside the glass window and the other half came into the building where we and the other passengers awaited our bags. So, 100 of us stood crammed in this tiny baggage claim area and watched through the glass window as they unloaded our bags from the plane, put them on a cart, pulled them up to the baggage claim belt just outside the window where we stood, turned on the belt which rotated into the crammed space and we all picked up our bags! I guess that’s what you do at an airport that perhaps has an inferiority complex.

Our driver from Algodon Winery met us at baggage claim and we walked 14 feet to the front door (note singular) to exit the “terminal.” We walked onto the sidewalk outside, and if you can imagine, our driver walked across the GRAVEL driveway to get the car from the “parking lot” to pick us up at the curb. It was a pick-up truck! We threw our stuff into the back and piled in. As we drove out the GRAVEL driveway, we saw the parking garage – a shed with a tin roof that had room for about 6 cars. We were off for the 15 minutes ride to the Wine Estates.

I have to say that I felt like I was back in Kansas – it’s very flat here and the warm, dry air and constantly blowing breeze are all reminiscent of our days on the Kansas planes. We went through the main gate and back a GRAVEL drive to a quaint little hotel that has about 8 rooms, all named for a particular grape/wine. I am in Malbec and Bob is in Bonardo, a wine that seems to be unique to this region. After getting settled, Pablo (the front desk) took us on a little tour of the grounds (breakfast room, pool, pointed out the golf course and restaurant in the distance) and then left us to our own devices. It was close to noon and close to 90° on its way to 96° (~35°C) (but it is a “dry heat” as they like to say), and we decided to take the ½ mile walk to the small restaurant for lunch.

Our quaint hotel with 6 rooms.

My room with private patio that looked out over the grounds.

Some of the grounds and the view from my patio.

We were greeted by Gaston (the head Chef) and one of his colleagues. We had a spectacular lunch as we looked out over the grounds (olive trees, vineyards, golf course), but the best part of the lunch was that it was slow and easy as we sipped on some of Bob’s favorite Algodon wine. We had Argentinian beef and potatoes and vegetables. Honestly, it was a bit difficult to slow down as I am always used to having somewhere to go or something to do. We ate, we sipped and we eventually had dessert – another first for me – Bailey’s Ice Cream. I surprised some entrepreneurial American didn’t come up with this idea – your dessert and after dinner drink all in one! When we finally decided to get up, it was 3PM !!!!!!  I am telling you it was slow and delightful to move at a totally different pace. I felt very European.

A view of the modest, but delicious food, restaurant at Algodon Wine Estates.

A view inside the restaurant.

A walk back to the hotel, some more leisure, a dip in the pool, some more leisure. We had to get out of the pool because we saw some dark clouds approaching with lightening. A Little while later the winds started blowing extremely hard and the rain started pouring down. It felt just like a midwestern thunderstorm. The odd thing is that the sun was still shining brightly enough to cast shadows on the ground from the trees. We watched a bit from the covered back patio and an enormous rainbow fully arching across the sky was revealed. An awesome sight – dark clouds, pouring rain, fierce winds and a colorful rainbow. Suddenly, the power went

OK, I am back online (15 hours later) to finish the day’s story. We did not need a big dinner, so we ordered 3 appetizers and shared them – kind of like tapas. It’s all really good food. On the walk back to our rooms, we stood in amazement at the night sky, the plentiful stars and … viola … we could see the Milky Way Galaxy arching across the sky. We were lucky that there was no moon to make the sky too bright to see all the stars. After that, it was good night Charlie.