Right from the moment we got on the bus we knew it was going to be a good trip to Mendoza. There were extra wide seats that reclined totally with a little bit that folds up to rest your legs so it´s pretty much like a bed. First you get a choccy biccie, then a bottle of wine (a small one), then some dinner, then another bottle of wine (well, you HAVE to ask don't you), THEN a glass of champagne (OK sparkling wine but after 2 bottles of red who cares), and then a movie with really good headphones...and yawn yawn, let's doze off..zzzzzz...then woken up for a light breakfast, a tea and then we're there! You don´t know the MEANING of bus until you've been to Argentina!!
Lovely picture
Mendoza is a lovely green, leafy city. Every single street is an avenue of trees giving the whole place a lush feeling. Apparently much of it was flattened in an earthquake so it was rebuilt in an orderly grid system, complete with wide streets and lots of plazas and parks in case of future quakes.
We missed the ski season by about a month (Mendoza is at the foothills of the Andes that cross into Chile) and so on our very first afternoon we hopped on a bus and were visiting wineries before you could say Cabernet sauvignon! A few glasses of vino, plus some delicious olive oil and sun-dried tomatoes later, we decided that Mendoza is a pretty cool place.
Sadly, our hostel was bloody noisy that night, so after a few hours shut-eye we were on a day trip into the mountains. We had expected a bit more walking about but it was essentially a drive and park and take a picture and drive some more kinda trip so we did snooze just a little as we increased our altitude and saw a pretty lake, a crazy yellow hot spring, and ended up drinking a hot chocolate at the last stop before Chile where it was just lightly snowing. As we were in shorts and light jumpers we didn't hang about but took our obligatory pics and were quite glad to be back in the city and the lovely warm temperatures back there.
Minerals in the hot water making a beautiful river edge
Last 2 days we've chilled out. There is an enormous park with a lake and a delicious-smelling rose garden, and we've acquainted ourselves with a number of Mendoza's coffee establishments, and the odd ice-cream parlour.
Despite travelling for nearly a year we still come up smelling of roses
It´s been a lovely few days and we are positively looking forward to our bus trip back to Buenos Aires tonight, and then on to El Calafate after that.
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