Diplomatic Mendoza

... It was delicious! Day three was spent walking around the city. Angie and I were going crazy over this huge market-craft fair they had in the main plaza. It was fantastic. Mike is such an amazing sport about these type of things! Day four we got a chance to meet up with a friend of mine from Mendoza and her and her boyfriend took us whitewater rafting. It was funny because it´s late fall, and we thought there would be no water and that we would not get wet. So ...

... but nothing spectacular and Rose came within a "whisker´s distance" of stepping on a decomposing rat!!! We had a great lunch nearby - delicious chicken risotto and a massive glass of red wine for 18 pesos (about 3 quid!). We wandered back into town headed to a Heladeria (ice cream shop) in the square (Argentinians seem to love ice cream there are these places everywhere!). We then went to a cafe and practiced more spanish. All in all a very low-key relaxing day, which ...

... during the middle of our dinner. It was pretty funny as the waiters scrambled to hand crank the awning over the table. Of course we were on the farthest end of the awning. Good thing I have 2 hands....one to shield the Malbec and one to shield the steak. We grabbed an after dinner drink before picking a spot to meet the next morning for a wine tour. On our walk home Tulli and I decided to pop into the Hyatt to check it out and perhaps swing ...

... stuck in traffic you can kill time getting cultured. How cool is that? The parks are also very nice. Again, themes taken from Spanish cities. Finally, the funniest thing was a shop selling car batteries. The guy had a female mannequin to catch the passerby's eyes.. you know, because the first thing you think of when you see a mannequin is "car batteries"!

... Our guide, a very knowledgeable young lady, explained how they originally picked each grape individually, not in bunches. The grape pickers were migrant Bolivians & Peruvians (as they still are today). The quantities were not great in the early days because the wine was not for general consumption but just for Holy Communion & consumption by the priests (strickly for quality control purposes, you understand). Grapes were ...

... for the community, and something we certainly lack in England . . . well that and the lovely weather! So, today we had the first of our 2 Vineyard trips, both trips are with a company called Trout & Wine (they also organise fishing trips), and the tours are very small, no more than 6 people plus a guide, and go to some of the best vineyards in the region. There were 4 of us on today´s tour, plus the guide Adam, and its one of the most enjoyable trips I have ...

... better price than I had seen on the internet, so I decided not to book. Though I would have, had I been dealing with the receptionist ... One of my pet peeves about traveling in Argentina, is that nobody can ever break a 50 or 100 peso bill. Though only worth about $35 CAD, a 100 peso bill is a pretty large sum of money here. Why the hell do the ATMs only give out 100 peso bills if you can't use them anywhere? It'd be ...

... causada en la base de muchas formaciones a ras de suelo dejando la parte posterior sin apenas derroche y dándole forma parecida a la de los de hongos We are in Argentina and is a land of wines and Mendoza the place for antonomasia; besides continuing with the delicatessens of the country we paid a visit to the Ischigualasto Park, 6 hours north of Mendoza, a natural park famous for his rock formations not for his animals ...

... for a buffet style meal.<br><br> <br><br>Katie &amp; I started off with a plate of (delicious) pasta, she moved onto fish while I hit the meat grill, and there was so much else to choose. <br><br>In fact, there were parts of the offer that I didn't even FIND, like the Chinese food which some of the others had on their plates! <br ...

... like much from the front a small house and a gate. I went up and rang the bell and this guy Julian opened the gate. Julian looked like a biker dude with tattoos all over his arm, now I am thinking I have to spend 2 1/2 days here ****. It turns out he was really nice and that this was his lodge, dont judge a book right. He went up to he room and asked if it was OK or do you want to see another, The first room was nice big king bed private bath tv. I ...