Hola, Our last few weeks here in Mendoza have been great. The week of Vendimia (a.k.a Harvest Festival) was packed with parades, traditional performances, incredible food, and the election of the Vendimia queen. It was interesting to see how Mendocineans celebrate their heritage and the kind of importance they place upon the grapes. We also got ...

Over the past two weeks, as we have been discovering Mendoza, we have also been indulging the Argentine food. There is not a lot of seafood, as Mendoza is somewhat landlocked. Instead they barbecue, and they do it well! The ¨parrilla¨ is like a dream come true. Over a low-heat, smoldering grill the meats are cooked to a perfection we had not kn...

The real world closes in. I've already had emails from job agents. When are you getting back? Do you have an up-to-date CV? Oh. Has it come to this already? Twenty years of schoolin' and they put you on the day shift. Again. But there it is. Gnawing away, rodent-like, at my last few days. But never mind. I'm in Mendoza. Wine-country. There's eve...

Mendoza is one of the biggest wine producing regions there is. What does this mean to me??? Niamh was loving the trip to the two winery´s where we got some free wine and looked at barrels that can hold over 58,000 bottles of booze. You´re supposed to taste the wine and empty the rest back into a plastic container, but it was bottoms up every tim...

We arrived today after a tedious trip overnight on a VERY small seat. I didn´t sleep much. But...breakfast was good. Anyway...we got to Mendoza I thought my bag had not arrived because of my flight change in Miami, but luckily it was there. I did have to have a rather detailed conversation with the flight attendant though, regarding the whereabo...

All avenues are covered by the shade of giant sycamore trees that protect the inhabitants from the heat. The city is surrounded by vineyards and the mountains beyond look down on what is Argentina's biggest wine region. The main red wine producing grapes here are the Malbec and the Cabernet Sauvignon and as we were visiting during La Vendimia, t...

Having bought my passage to Mendoza at the last possible moment, I boarded the bus wondering what excitment the new city was going to bring. Slowly but surely getting close to Bariloche, my first destination in Patagonia my head was swimming, for the first time, with thoughts other than those of flying. I found myself constantly preoccupied with...

Villavicencio is where they bottle Argentina´s big mineral water brand, but I have to confess to not having seen a great deal of springs... The road from there into Mendoza was straight, paved and fast and it didn´t take me long to roll the 50km into the provincial capital. I spent Monday having a look round and it really is a very beautiful cit...

Okay for those who are wondering, this is not the "eat your way around the world" tour, even though our first two posts may indicate that.... Mendoza is a great little city with tree-lined streets, wide sidewalks and a patio on every block. 1L beers for $1 make it very easy to let the afternoon slip by in the hot sun. None of that for us on our ...

We were right, the coach journey through the Andes to Mendoza was worth doing in day light. If nothing else we seen Aconcagua, at 6962m it's South America's highest mountain. Mendoza is seems pleasant. It's hot, mid thirties, with wide shady avenues and a proliferation of pavement cafes