It's our first full day in Mendoza and use it to explore some of the downtown area.
We have an early breakfast followed by some online tasks. I reconfirm one of my earlier online searches and see that unknown to us at the time, we have booked our stay in Mendoza to coincide with their largest festival - Vendimia. I search for the local tourism office and see that it is a few blocks past Plaza Indepencia.
Late morning we begin walking. When we approach Plaza Italia we stop for a coffee at a sidewalk cafe. Like many of the cafe's this one offers a desayuno (breakfast) of coffee and a pastry. There's a powdered sugar dulce de leche filled beauty that calls to us. The server wants to bring us four, since we're ordering two coffees, but we insist on only one.
We have an early breakfast followed by some online tasks. I reconfirm one of my earlier online searches and see that unknown to us at the time, we have booked our stay in Mendoza to coincide with their largest festival - Vendimia. I search for the local tourism office and see that it is a few blocks past Plaza Indepencia.
Late morning we begin walking. When we approach Plaza Italia we stop for a coffee at a sidewalk cafe. Like many of the cafe's this one offers a desayuno (breakfast) of coffee and a pastry. There's a powdered sugar dulce de leche filled beauty that calls to us. The server wants to bring us four, since we're ordering two coffees, but we insist on only one.
Buzzed up on sugar and sweets we continue our walk to Plaza Indepencia. It's a nice park with benches and fountains which are turned off at the moment. Past the park we walk a few more blocks to the tourism office where we learn more about the festival, areas to see in Mendoza and excursions in the area. We're advised to use one of the local tourist agencies to attend one of the evening events for Vendimia.
Lunch sounds good so we go to Avenida Sarmiento, a pedestrian mall with many small restaurants. As we are dining I glance at a small tourist agency kiosk and see a sign for Vendimia. We stop by and book with them for the Sunday evening performance. They will even pick us up at the apartment.
We stroll over to Mercado Central, the main meat, fruit and vegetable market for the city. But it is after 1pm and the vendors will not open again until 6:30pm as they are eating their lunches and taking siesta. On our way home we manage to get a little lost and go in the wrong direction for four or five blocks, only to have to retrace our steps. Part of learning a new city!
After a siesta we walk to the main travel agency to pick up our tickets to Sunday, walking through Plaza Chile, another nice neighborhood park. Walking through Mendoza reminds us of European cities with their tree-lined streets and frequent public parks or piazza's.
After a siesta we walk to the main travel agency to pick up our tickets to Sunday, walking through Plaza Chile, another nice neighborhood park. Walking through Mendoza reminds us of European cities with their tree-lined streets and frequent public parks or piazza's.
In the evening we return to Plaza Italia for our second attempt at the festival. This time there is an opera singer on stage. All the little booths lining the plaza are food vendors, many the various Italian organizations in the area. The fare is the same as what we see at the summer Italian festivals in the U.S. including bombers (Italian sausage served on a bun with sauce and peppers), pizza, pasta, cannoli and gelato.
All this walking should help counteract the food we've eaten shouldn't it?
All this walking should help counteract the food we've eaten shouldn't it?
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