The guy sitting next to me was about to blow chunks right before take off. He was a first time flyer and his two buddies across the aisle wouldn’t let it down. Don’t get me wrong, I love it when close friends fake dry-heving to get someone else to vomit but just not when the shrapnel is pointed in my direction.
Unfortunately for the excitement of this story, he didn’t throw up. Actually, once the plane lifted off from Buenos Aires en-route to Mendoza, Argentina there wasn’t much action at all. Despite the few minutes during and prior to take off the whole trip from Buenos Aires to Mendoza was pretty uneventful. We took off from the Buenos Aires National Airport (Jorge Newbery) and to be honest, it was a lot nicer than I’d expected. Everything was new, well organized and very easy to catch our flight via LAN Airlines to Mendoza Monday morning.
I was also really impressed with LAN as well. LAN has a great strategy for in-flight entertainment. They have those drop-down TVs every few seats and they played prank television shows from around the world. I think this is great for a few reasons, one it works for all languages and ages and two, it puts everybody in a good mood and allows them to bond with other passengers. I don’t know if you planned it but well done LAN.
Arriving in Mendoza turned out to be just as easy as our departure and flight. We walked off the plane, into the airport and our bags came in a door right next to us. From there we took a short stroll through the terminal and out to the main entrance where our Sheraton shuttle driver was waiting for us with a sign.
As we drove into the city the incredible Andes Mountains cast a shadow over the never-ending wine vineyards that filled the valley. It was especially beautiful because all the trees and vines were painted with red, yellow and orange leaves.
After checking into the second Sheraton of our trip, we peeped the scene in the lobby and lounge and then hit the town. The crazy thing was that as we were walking around the main plaza in downtown Mendoza we ran into the same 3 Argentine guys who narrowly escaped a mess on the airplane floor just a few hours before. We realized there wasn’t much going on and decided to grab a few beers at an outdoor patio in the middle of town. Some funny convos and a few beers later Dad and I parted ways with the guys to make plans for the week. A great moment was watching dad give some first time man-kisses as we took off!
We ventured into a few tourist-adventure spots to check out prices and ended up booking a parachuting adventure excursion and bicycle wine tour for Tues and Wed via International Mendoza.
For dinner we headed over to Cafe Davvero (San Lorenzo 230). It was cool because we ate a bit early (9:30) so we were the only customers in the restaurant at the time. It was just the restaurant owner running the front end and his wife doing all the cooking. He was an Italian guy who lived in France for almost 30 years and now was cooking everything from empanadas to curry. The food was great and his stories of life around the world was amazing.
Now early to bed for our parachuting adventure tomorrow…
