Wiji ate the foam stylee swiss role that was also full of 'cat ham', against my advice...
We survived the journey of mainly straight roads, but a lot of stops...not really a direct service then! It was funny waking up every now and then with a new set of people around us! I had the totally original idea of using my sleeping bag...it was toasty.
We arrived early the next morning and headed in a taxi for the Petite Hotel...it was that for sure! A nice room with orange candlewick bed spread covering a sunken banana shaped bed...but the radiator worked and we had cable for chodding it up! The receptionist reminded us of Shelia from 'Shameless', she was always on the verge of hysteria in a faux over excitement...it was hard to keep a straight face! The breakfast buffet was a challenge, everything was in miniature including the cutlery. It was like trying to put cornflakes in a thimble. mad.
The Lonely Planet describes Mendoza as being 'hell without the trees'. A bit harsh really even in winter...the sycamore trees were pretty, even with crispy leaves. We were looking forward to the wine tasting sessions that we would be doing from here. Mendoza produces 70% of the countries wine!
The street museum, with nightime illuminated signage.
Streets were massive and all tree lined. Nothing got going before 11am really, and then shut for a really long lunch (how rubbish is Britain?). Argentines were out in force well into the night at cafe's, bars, restaurants and generally on a mega shop at the many craft stalls in all of the five plaza's. They were also eating medialuna's (tiny sweet croissants) and cafe con leche's at all time of the day...never mind the 95% of the population that are always drinking maté. Many Argentines carry a portable maté tote bag to stay on the move with...very amusing. Some maté cups were even fashioned out of cow hooves! Who would want that? Probably the same kind of person that wants an elephant leg as an umbrella stand...
How much will it cost to send this home? There were soo many Fiat 500's around, it was brilliant! Even easier to park than a Micra.
The Plaza Indepencia at night with fountains on mass. It was fully busy and lined with lots of great craft stalls...Mmm...I'm thinking about a bespoke leather handbag purchase!
Wiji, naturally was thinking about Artesania Ice cream! Helados Ferruccio Soppelsa was highly recommended and had been making ice cream since 1927. They even had a few sinks for clearing up the inevitable mess that was created by serving up, (by British standards), about four portions per person...even to children...the madness!
A hugely popular Parilla...people even queued for miles around the corner. Inside old men in dad jumpers were entranced by the meat selection as they waited in line, befor nipping off to the harvester style buffet bit next. I LMAO through the window!
There were lots of sunny street cafe's...nice even in the middle of winter. Argentines seemed to lunch forever, not that I blame them, I used to do that with Lorraine at Original Style!
Lovingly souped up! Lol. I prefer the original look the best.
Plaza Espana looked lovely in the early morning sunshine. There was a lot of tiling, including this hand painted tiled mural that charts what a nuisance the Spanish made of themselves. There were loads of fountains in all the plaza's too.
Some other nice touches in the plaza that Wiji particularly liked.
Banco Hipotecard Nacional had impressive embelishments.
We enjoyed a very chilled and drunken time in Mendoza and were glad we visited it. We did think of Uri and Einat and their photos of winetasting while we were here (they didn't seem quite as damaged as we were).
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