seekingmygreaterperhaps

Hola! In October 2024 I was blessed with the opportunity to travel with some pretty great companions during my school’s October break! My Dad and stepmom Janet joined me in the southern hemisphere for a whirlwind week exploring the land of wine and steak. We visited 2 cities during this trip- Mendoza and Buenos Aires. I met them at the airport and we flew to Mendoza together.

The main reason anyone visits Mendoza is for the incredible vineyards and wineries in the region. Our reason was no different. We had almost 3 full days in Mendoza, and we cut our wine consumption with a day of adventure, but let me not get ahead of myself.

Welcome to Mendoza! We did the Classic Lujan de Cujo wine tour with Trout and Wine, and I was so excited to be able to show my dad especially what a wine tour should be! There are no small tasting pours at wineries in Mendoza (or in Chile, where I did my first wine tour), and it is safe to say we were glowing with more than just a light sunburn. The wine tour took us to Budeguer, Terraza de los Andes, and Mendel. We also had lunch (and more wine tasting) at Casarena. The food was delicious, the wine was amazing, and I am so glad we did the tour!

The next day we took an uber to Portrillos to go white water rafting with Argentina Rafting. I like a little bit of adventure sports, and these rapids were just the right amount of adrenaline for our crew. We even met a nice young woman on the wine tour the day before who ended up joining us, Alexandra. We are instagram friends now- ah how I love the world of traveling.

After an easy lunch at the beautiful facilities with Argentina Rafting… we ran into a small hurdle getting home. The uber to the facility was easy to catch, but an uber back was impossible. I tried like 7 times. So my Dad had to step in and save the day and buy us a spot on the employee bus back into town. It was a shared shuttle that they offered to us at the start of the day, but I was like- omg no the uber is cheaper. Well. Jokes on me because they knew what they were talking about. We made it back and all is well, but if you go… buy the transport.

Our final stop in Mendoza was an extended lunch and wine tasting at Zonda– a Michelin green star restaurant. The open kitchen was lovely, and we had a table against all the windows and it was really beautiful. Here’s some of what we ate during the 9 course meal:

• mousse of green peas salted with lemon, curry gelatin covering.
• beet root with Cajun mousse and nori caviar finished with dill
• carrot pasta with an orange yolk and baby carrot
• portobello mushroom wrapped with chard leaf and sesame oil
• empanadas with smoked wild board and a siracha, kombucha, and green apple sauce
• cheese plate of freshly made cheeses
• “Sunday in Argentina” was the main course- a ton of varieties of grilled meats with sides to share- a mix of greens from the garden, asparagus, artichoke with chimichurri, and more.
• Dulce de leche ice cream with flan foam
• and to end a hibiscus sorbet

Mendoza treated us really well. And it was fun because at every fancy restaurant during the entirety of this trip I told every waiter it was Janet’s birthday (because her birthday was during the week). The wine and white water rafting was a stark contrast to the bustling city of Buenos Aires.

A short plane ride later and we landed in BA.

Our first activity in Buenos Aires was a free walking tour (I usually find them through Guru Walks) where we learned about the bourgeoises of Buenos Aires and got the gossip from back in the day when the incredible architecture was built, and sometimes, why.

I love architecture, and walking around the streets of Buenos Aires with my family was really fun! I introduced them to the concept of a free walking tour, and that was great too.

I think I can confidently say the fanciest restaurant and fanciest meal I’ve ever eaten was at Trescha in Buenos Aires. (To my defense, when I looked up the price online in advance, I didn’t factor in the wine pairing… which doubled the cost.) This restaurant experience starts almost like a speakeasy, you roll up and there is just a door. Then it leads you to a very cute bar outside where you wait to be seated at this 10 seat restaurant. You surround the kitchen and watch everything being made right in front of you. At the end, they gave us a tiny book that listed out every dish we ate… so I didn’t take copious notes in my phone, and therefore can’t write about them now. But just know that we ate very well. The guy is piping basil ice cream into a carrot cone in the middle picture up there. Every single detail was thought of, and the chef and owner makes sure to meet each “table” throughout the very long service as well. Overall, an incredible, one in a lifetime, experience.

A first timer’s visit to Buenos Aires is not complete without a visit to San Telmo Market, so we made sure to pay it a visit after our super crazy Michelin star meal, because life is all about balance of course.

Something I hadn’t done the last time I was in BA was visit La Recoleta cemetery. After our walking tour, our group was convinced that we should go and pay a visit, especially when we could recognize some of the names of the “important” families. The mausoleums are in various states of grandeur, with most of them being incredible, and others being in states of disrepair. Everyone goes there to see Eva Peron’s mausoleum, but we walked around the cemetery for quite a while before we got tired.

In the evening I took Dad and Janet on a pizza crawl! This was one of my favorite things I did when I visited BA my first time, and I love the crazy pizza slice and cup of wine culture. We went to a few famous and old pizza places (like Guerrin’s above) before we were full, but not too full for ice cream. Luck would have it that we crossed the street and one of National Geographic’s “best ice cream in the world” was right there! Sempre gelato and all that jazz, it was delicious. The line was crazy, and for good reason!

(Note- this post and trip makes me sound like a fancy food chaser and that things have to have recognition… but that is not so. I am finding myself to be a foodie and enjoying the fancy restaurants, while also knowing that street food can be just as good if not better.)

On our last day as a full unit, we went to El Fogon, which is another multi-course meat meal of Argentina! YES! We had to make sure we got enough steak in, and this place was serving up all the traditional Argentine delights. My favorite was the provoleta, and the steak was definitely giving.

I said farewell to D&J and checked into a different hotel and was absolutely stunned by the view. It was in an old building with no AC, and a shared bathroom, but the room was so flipping cute.

I walked around near my hotel and the Casa Rosada and this cool bridge in the evening. I was just ambling around and being in the city, which was also a fun activity.

And on my final day… I checked another country off of my list and made my way to URUGUAY! I went to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay, which you can get to by ferry from Buenos Aires. It was so hot when I was there, and I was stupidly wearing jeans, so I went in and out of many of the shops. I found a great place for lunch where I drank that whole pitcher of sangria. The allure of Colonia del Sacramento is the historic roads and old buildings, so I just walked around basically the whole little town until it was time for my return ferry.

I took the ferry home, and made it back to my cute little hotel to return to Brasilia the next day.

Overall, this was a really pleasant journey through Argentina with my family! Thanks for reading, and see you next time!