First Stop - Mendoza

On the approach to Mendoza.

The first stop on Roadtrip 2016 was Mendoza, Argentina.  Mendoza is a little over 1000 kilometers from Buenos Aires, so let's estimate that at about a jillion miles.  The first day's drive was the longest day on the road of the whole trip.  And it is not the most scenic drive.  Think of driving through Nebraska and Kansas, but without all the excitement.  The only thing that spiced up this drive was the traffic stops set up to impede traffic on the major highways.  We generally do not see too many of these in Buenos Aires, because the federal police that patrol Buenos Aires have better things to do.  However, the local police in San Luis Province for example, most of whom apparently attended the Barney Fife school of policing and time management, have nothing better to do than stand on the highway and stop cars, look at their documents, and then let everyone continue on anyway.  Such is life in the provinces, apparently.

Anyway, after being allowed to leave San Luis province and return to civilization, we knew we were getting close to Mendoza because the vineyards began to appear more frequently.  Mendoza is probably the area of Argentina most synonymous with wine production (although the people of Cafayate and even Fin del Mundo might have something to say about that).

Chillin in Mendoza.

But Mendoza is not solely wine.  It is also an important historical city.  The founding of the city dates back to the sixteenth century and prior to that indigenous tribes called Huarpes and Puelches lived there.  The layout and architecture in the city is indicative of its colonial past.  The city is organized around a main square called "Plaza Independencia" with several other squares throughout the city.

First you climb the orange thing...

...then you slide down, then run around to the orange thing.... (repeat until you can repeat no more)

The Plaza was near our trio's hotel and they found it to have lively nightlife.  While HBomb concentrated on his opportunity to play on the playground in the Plaza well into the nighttime hours (there were kids still ARRIVING to the park at 10 pm), Anne and Mark took advantage of the craftsmans' market and what appeared to be a free Christian Rock concert also taking place on the Plaza during their stay.

 During the day time, our trio ventured around as much as possible, checking out the mosaics at the Plaza Espana, located a few blocks away from the main square.

After getting properly culturated in the Plaza and Squares of Mendoza, Anne, Mark and HBomb took a cab out to one of the many bodegas in Mendoza.

Fish!

The bodega was called Tierras Altas.  Our cab driver increased his fare (but dramatically reduced his tip) by driving past it and wasting a good 10-15 minutes looking for it before stumbling upon it.  Once we arrived, we received a warm greeting from the waiters who appeared to be related to the owners of the bodega (it's a family business).  HBomb was not prepared to be seated for lunch immediately, so our hosts provided him with some small pieces of bread to throw to the fish that lived in the pond on the grounds of the vineyard prior to sitting down to lunch.  Then, they served a nice lunch, provided a variety of wines that had gone from vine to bottle to cellar to our table without ever having left the grounds for Anne and Mark to sample (we mostly stuck to the reds).  They even provided a specialty of the house, malbec ice cream, for us to sample.

Honestly, ice cream made from wine with wine sauce is pretty darn good.