Olga, the housekeeper for our wonderful Bariloche apartment waves to us as the taxi pulls away at 7am. We leave behind the city of chocolates and fly to Mendoza, Argentina's wine capital. Unfortunately most flights require a stop in Buenos Aires and ours is not an exception. We arrive in Mendoza at 3:15pm and after a 20 minute taxi ride we are at the apartment.
We buzz Avenida Maunuel E Saez #460 and our hostess Marcela comes out to greet us. Our apartment is the second story of her home. It's a 2 bedroom, one bath which looks like it will work just fine. The living space includes a dining table and there is also a small table outside. An innovative metal staircase leads up the the apartment from our separate door at street level. The staircase also can be lifted to provide access to the backyard patio and pool area which we share with Marcela.
Marcela speaks basic English and we try a little bit of our Spanish as she walks us through the apartment. Then she places a call on her phone and I am speaking with her daughter Victoria, who further explains things to me in perfect English and answers our few questions. Marcela makes sure I have Victoria's cell number and also her son's number for any questions we may have during our stay.
After a short rest we walk five blocks primarily along Paso de los Andes to the Vea Supermercado. The tree lined streets are all paved and pretty clean. Every few blocks there is a small green grocer and close by a kiosko. The Supermercado is well stocked with meats and vegetables, a real change from Bariloche where the markets were hit-and-miss on meat selections and very limited on produce.
By the time we arrive home and quickly put the groceries away it is almost 7pm. We are starving and we want something substantial. This could be a problem. In our previous cities in Argentina many restaurants do not open until 8pm and we have read that in Mendoza it may be 8:30 or 9pm. The apartment is just two blocks to Avenida Arístades, a major restaurant and bar area so we walk in that direction.
Marcela speaks basic English and we try a little bit of our Spanish as she walks us through the apartment. Then she places a call on her phone and I am speaking with her daughter Victoria, who further explains things to me in perfect English and answers our few questions. Marcela makes sure I have Victoria's cell number and also her son's number for any questions we may have during our stay.
After a short rest we walk five blocks primarily along Paso de los Andes to the Vea Supermercado. The tree lined streets are all paved and pretty clean. Every few blocks there is a small green grocer and close by a kiosko. The Supermercado is well stocked with meats and vegetables, a real change from Bariloche where the markets were hit-and-miss on meat selections and very limited on produce.
By the time we arrive home and quickly put the groceries away it is almost 7pm. We are starving and we want something substantial. This could be a problem. In our previous cities in Argentina many restaurants do not open until 8pm and we have read that in Mendoza it may be 8:30 or 9pm. The apartment is just two blocks to Avenida Arístades, a major restaurant and bar area so we walk in that direction.
El Mercado restaurant is open and has a small patio area. It looks nice and they also start serving dinner at 7pm. Yeah! The food is very good.
After dinner we stroll down to Plaza Italia where a festival is being held beginning at 8pm tonight and tomorrow. There is a stage setup with a military band about to play and there are vendors setup all around the square. We start to walk along the square and within 10 minutes it is raining. I pull out my rain jacket but William opted to leave the umbrella at home. After all, this is Mendoza where it is only supposed to rain four days during the month of February.
It begins to rain harder and it obvious that the festival will be interrupted. We begin our nine block walk back to the apartment. After four blocks it is pouring. William eyes the bar Vinitos y Birritas and although we had enough to drink with dinner and are still very full, decides it's a good place to stop to get out of the rain. The staff is happy to have at least one customer and when William says he wants a cerveza they bring him an Imperial - a full one liter bottle. Oy! They eye me with skepticism when all I want is aqua con gas. The rain lightens up about the time that William declares he's had enough, leaving a good portion in the bottle. We continue our walk home in the rain. It's after 10pm when we arrive and Marcela is just preparing her dinner - a typical dining hour in Mendoza.
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