We've Arrived In Mendoza, Argentina

Our last days in Bariloche passed quickly with much time relaxing and reading. We enjoyed a chicken dinner because turkey was not available and really missed having a piece of pumpkin pie with the families! Emily’s children were kind enough to feed us virtual bites through Skype but somehow it wasn’t the same.

Two funny interactions took place during our final day in the beautiful town of Bariloche. While we sat briefly in the main square soaking up the sun taking in an ultimate view of the lake, we were approached by two women from Chile also vacationing in the tourist town. They were hoping that we had ‘fuego’, fire, to light their cigarettes. We didn’t have a match or lighter of course, being non-smokers, but one of them quickly picked up on our accents that we were not from around here. When she discovered we were from the states she was very excited and quickly became friendly with us! The hour we spent chatting was delightful and ended in besos for everyone!



Our new friends were in Bariloche with their 16 year old daughters with a school year-end trip with their class. We have encountered many such groups of students in Bariloche, this is a right-of-passage as students complete their school year successfully. Lucky kids!

After explaining to Keith sister Teresa via Skype on Thanksgiving how difficult finding our Thanksgiving meal stuff were I decided to take pictures of the supermarket we had been using in Bariloche. Keith decided to wait outside during the photo shoot, he was afraid I would be approached by management as I snapped images and I was. The manager quickly softened as I tried to explain how interesting it is for travelers to explore markets in different countries. He was convinced that I was amazed at their selection, quite to the contrary. Politely and being extremely culturally sensitive, I pointed out some of the differences. He listened attentively and questioned me about items that we couldn’t find here that are available elsewhere. My camera wasn’t confiscated luckily and I parted without police involvement. ☺



While the wine selection is amazing, there are no salad dressings, peanut butter, cheese variety, or any products such as Mexican, Chinese, and Thai… You can find pasta, oil, and a multitude of yogurts though and bread is cheap and tasty.
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Traveling by plane is the only way to see much of Argentina without suffering for days in the bus because of the routes through and around the Andes mountain range. We flew directly from Bariloche to Mendoza where we will spend a week.



Our hostel choice, reserved through the internet, proved to be several blocks away from the beautiful, green city center so we changed locations this morning after spending just one night at the Hostel Savigliano. The new place is directly across from the Plaza Chile, one many plazas here in Mendoza. Each bench in the block-square plaza is tiled differently with the name of a city in Chile, we had fun seeing the cities’ names we visited last month.



No this isn't where we are staying, isn't it beautiful! We did visit the casino inside yesterday where we enjoyed playing for an hour with 5 pesos, $1.25. It was worth the free sodas, we were up 50 cents at one point...guess we should has cashed in!



This city is a wonderful surprise. It was practically destroyed in the mid 1800’s and rebuilt with wide boulevards planted on either side with trees that are now huge and provide great shade and beauty.



We took an open-air bus tour yesterday afternoon through a huge park and to the top of Cerro Gloria to see a view of the city and a monument celebrating the independence of both Chile & Argentina.



Siesta time shuts down Argentine business from 1:30-4:00 pm each day, very European. Since it’s Sunday nearly everything is closed today. Life seems slower here than at home which Keith loves~ he knows how to nap! Luckily I have many plans to make for our upcoming months of travel to keep me occupied. Ciao for now!