Mendoza

We have finally managed to spend a whole day in town.

Mendoza, while a commercial city with few imposing buildings or stately architecture, is a leader when it comes to parks. It possibly has more city parks land per capita than any other city we have visited, and not just in Argentina.

One of the eight world capitals of wine, it is also the Napa Valley of the country. Wine tourism is king here, and wine bars and stores abound. We will be back in town in a week and plan to do a wine tour, but today we simply took in the city’s feel, walked its streets and enjoyed its parks.

People in Mendoza are super nice, as we have found them to be in the entire country. Locals are a mix of European stock and Mestizos, unlike Buenos Aires and Patagonia where the ratio is much higher in favor of Europeans.

They say that the city comes alive at night, when the young crowd comes out, but that does not mean it is quiet during the daylight hours. What it is not, is loud. It’s a relaxing place, possibly due to the heat (around 90 degrees F.), and the dependable sunshine.

There was a protest march today however, against some fiscal measures that the government is planning to take that would have some serious financial repercussion for lower-rank workers. Thousands of people came into town from all over the Puyo region, with banners and loudspeakers.

We keep being amazed at how Argentinians manage to keep the old along with the modern. Here are a couple of pictures from a few days ago taken during the return trip to Bariloche, of a restaurant where we had lunch. You felt as though you walked into an old western movie set, and it is real, not created for effect. And we see this everywhere. It was unexpected and a welcome discovery.

Tomorrow we’ll travel to somewhere completely different. Sweater definitely needed, and jacket most likely. Hasta Mañana.