Relaxation Mode

Our long bus journey brought us to Mendoza – the Argentinian city in the heart of the wine country boasting the Andes as a backdrop. A gorgeous landscape!

Spa

In addition to the hundreds of wineries peppered along the outskirts of the city, Mendoza is also known for several natural thermal spas. So in the spirit of getting to know the area, we booked ourselves a room at a spa resort for a few nights.

The resort was a 40 minute drive outside of the city and we passed vineyard after vineyard along the way, whetting my appetite for a glass of wine. After our brief introduction at check-in, we got our first glimpse of the grounds…I was blown away. The way the pools were built into the existing rock, the river running along the property, the general aura of relaxation. I almost felt like I didn’t belong there…it felt so fancy! But we made ourselves at home pretty quickly. We spent the next couple of days walking around in bath robes, getting in and out of the naturally heated pools, sipping local wine, getting massages, and just enjoying the scenery. There were also saunas, one of them called the “grotto sauna”, which was carved out of the rock and naturally heated by the thermal activity below! So cool.

We also became especially acquainted with the “fango” station – the mud, supposedly packed with minerals, that was there to rub all over your skin. I’m not sure that it made my skin feel any different, but that didn’t stop me from covering myself head to toe every day.

Even if it was only for 2 nights, the spa was a welcome departure from our on-the-go site seeing travels of the previous 5 weeks. What a refresher!

Vineyard

After the spa, we headed back to the city. First thing on our list? Visit a winery! At the suggestion of a wine shop owner we met in Buenos Aires, we booked a wine-tasting lunch at a vineyard called Penedo Borges. It absolutely did not disappoint. The setup itself was gorgeous, sitting at a table with a view of the vineyard and snow-capped mountains in the background. Can it get much more romantic?

The lunch was surprisingly gourmet and each dish was delicious. They were heavy handed with the pours and they paired the wines very nicely with the meal. It all felt so luxurious, being served on that patio with such a view. We were there for hours, but it seemed to end way too soon. I could have sat there all day!

Mendoza

We had a couple of nights in Mendoza before moving on to our next destination. In the city we did what we do best, wandered around between our meals. We checked out the city, walked through some parks, and enjoyed a few restaurants.