We wandered around getting progresively more knackered carrying our gurt bags and found that most of the cheap and decent accommodation was all totally full. In the end we plumped for a slightly overpriced but quite nice place on the plaza, and paid up for the two nights we planned to stay.
We went for a wander and found quite a nice little town quite teeming with Argentine tourists , but not overly busy. As it was pretty much on the edge of a desert it got fairly chilly at night and Clair was glad that she had purchased some high fashion Alpaca leg warmers. Oh god yeah, check out those bad boys.
The region is know for its vineyards. There were lots of these signs around town. For some reason it bought to my mind some kind of disco for tramps. 'Come on down the Winotheque and don't forget your thunderbird!'
These cheerful fellas (well maybe not that cheerful) were wandering the streets on there own.
Yet another pretty plaza.
Clair loved these trees with their mahoosive spikes and strange fluffy fruits.
Whilst wandering around the plaza on our first day we noticed various crazy looking gringos and small children careering around on tandem bicycles with 2 or 3 seats. I thought this looked like a hilarious way to overcome our minor cycling issues where I generally want to go way faster than Clairy! We would then be able to had our to the various wineries a few miles out of town. Wine and cycling, an ideal combination. It took a bit of persuasion as I wanted to steer and this would mean poor Clairy would be stuck behind me having to trust me that I'm not going to crash into anything, but eventually she agreed. It was absolutely hilarious.
We headed out to the furthest winery first called Botega Etchart. There were masses of parakeets squawking about in the dusty dorment vines. Clairy got these great pics.
Even though it is the middle of winter, it was still boiling in the midday sun.
The vineyards stretched on for miles in the dry dusty landscape.
The local girls doing the tasting didn't speak much English, but pounced on our spanish phrasebook and found the essential phrase in any language 'I want to go to bed with you'. The wines were very nice and we bought a bottle of their Malbec.
Clair spotted this lovely huge pot outside the vineyard. We had seen a few signed by the same person and she hoped we would find place where they were made.
Back in town we dropped the tandem off and had a spot of lunch on the plaza. This chap was traisping up and down with his vast trailer of woven baskets.
Yet another very handsome lonely doggie fixated on us beside our table. I really shouldn't speak to them in Bendad's universal doggie voice, cos they just won't leave you alone once they've heard it.
Next we headed out to the Bodega La Banda, which was a super touristy winery with a couple of huge tour groups arriving just as we got there. We hung around to try the wines, and didn't actually think too much of them. Here's Clairy by one of their mahoosive barrels.
But just as we left the place we notice some huge pots next door, and sure enough it was Victor Cristofani's...Super giant pot maker!
We wandered in to have a look and the lady who ran the place came out and was super friendly. She gave us a guided tour and and explained how they were made from start to finish. She even took a photo of us with her gurt pottage.
Here are the two kilns used to fire the pots.The crane is used to remove the roof of the kiln.
The big pots can take from 3 to 8 days to fire.
A big trunk poking out from this kiln, firing still in progress.
The clay is made from local resources.
These guys were cheerfully finishing off a couple of pots while we were there.
The bottom halfs were made within the casts and the tops were then coiled on top.
Just bringin the tandem round. One of the most comedy things about riding the tandem was when Clairy felt we were going to fast or was a bit nervous that I was going to hit something she would jam her pedals to a stop, forcing me to stop peddling with the result that we very gently slowed down. I was glad that I had control of the brakes.
I didn't realise though that my back stuck out so much behind me that her face was practically inside it! Sorry love. Great picture though.
We passed a number of other vineyards that weren't doing tours. This one looked fairly grand.
Finally we headed back across town to one of the vineyards we had tried to visit earlier in the day, but it had been closed for lunch. This place was called the Bodega Felix Lavague, and was by far the most commercial of our visits in Cafayete.
Endless immaculately tended vines.
We attached ourselves to a tour that was just leaving and the guy running it spoke a bit of English. It was a very detailed explanation and he showed us all the buildings and machinery involved in producing wines on a large scale. Here are the 50000 litre fermentation tanks.
Down in deep dusky cellars the wines are aged in various different types of oak barrels.
Stacks of the stuff.
The building itself was quite pretty with well manicured gardens.
After the tour we got to taste the wines, and they were our favourites of the day. As most of the non-reserve bottles go for a measly 2 quid, we got ourselves a nice cabernet sauvignon and a white torrontes, which the Cafayete region is specifically known for. Both were really good, and the brand Quara is apparently sold in Britain so we're going to keep an eye out for it.
More huge pots outside the vineyard. These ones were much older however. The date says 1868.
On the cycle back to town we spotted this fully barking building. We had to get a piccy as its got llama on it!
As we were taking the tandem back I persuaded the rather bemused rental lad to get a pic of us. It was a quality experience and I totally loved it.
2 comments:
loved you and dog wij. perhaps he's trying out 'bloke whispering'.doubt if you've seen that program though . he obviously has.was clair screaming in your ear as well as jamming the pedals?xxjp
We've never done a tandem because of the same issues, who is in control??
Lovely sense of your day though and a dear doggie too.
xx
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