Mendoza



Sounds like a bargain!



From Santiago we took the bus to Mendoza, Argentina. The journey was scheduled to take about seven hours, but in fact took over eight as we spent getting on for two hours at the border.  It appears that the main problem was some band that were on the bus (not famous I don't think). I'm not sure why they had a problem, but they seemed to spend a lot of time at customs.  The route took us through the Andes once again, so there was good scenery on offer for much of the time, and the coach was comfortable, so the journey wasn't too bad.

Crazy lino at Mendoza Lodgings



Mendoza is wine country, which will no doubt explain to most of you why we have come here and why we have decided to spend quite a while here.  We like the Argentinian wines and it would just be rude not to give them enough of our time.  Not that we have chosen to visit the bodegas (winerys) themselves.  The trips out are fairly pricey for those of us on a budget, and we have concluded that the money is better spent in town drinking the wines.  There was an option to hire bikes and cycle round them, but after doing that once in Franschoek, South Africa, we figured that we may be OK on the way there, but after a couple of tastings we probably should not be allowed on the roads, especially with the way some people drive around here.  So we decided against that too, and stuck with drinking in Mendoza itself.

We did find an excellent place called Vines of Mendoza, which does wine flights and has many wines that you can buy by the glass.  It is a great place to try a number of different wines, especially when they have their half price times.  We went there a few times.

Jacuzzi in the ladies loo at Ocho Cepas



However in the main, we have found places to eat where the wine list is good and have worked our way through the winerys that way.  Most enjoyable.  We did rather like finding a bath in the gents loo at one restaurant called Ocho Cepas, only to then surpass that by finding a jacuzzi bath and ensuite dressing room in the ladies.



Cakes in Mendoza



We have wandered around the city, but there really isn't much sightseeing to be done here.  We have been tempted by the huge cream meringues and other cakes, but so far have resisted; not sure how long that will last though.



Eating & drinking under vines in Mendoza



The city was hit by earthquakes in the past and so when they rebuilt it, they created wide streets to contain the rubble from falling buildings, and big squares to act as evacuation points.  The result is that the central part of the city is very green and leafy, and it feels quite genteel.  We figure we could feel quite at home here.