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After a 14 hour bus journey we arrived in Mendoza feeling surprisingly refreshed, the 'cama' reclining seat option had been a good shout.
Things didn't get off to a great start when we walked 20 mins in the wrong direction from the bus station, lugging our bags in the blazing heat (I blame Tom's map reading skills, he blames the street names all being very similar). Even with sweat dripping in our eyes we immediately noticed how much cleaner and generally nicer Mendoza felt in comparison to BA. One cobbled pedestrianised street, lined with restaurants and trees felt particularly European and charming.
Our hostel was in the centre of town and a nice splash of luxury as we had our own room and our own bathroom. It was hardly the Ritz but it's surprising how much your standards change within a week of travelling (the fact they provided towels so we didn't have to use our own 'shammy leather' type travelling towels was another bonus).
We spent three relaxing days and nights in Mendoza. A lot of time was spent in the glorious sunshine in the city's many squares and not surprisingly also surrounding bars.
We decided one afternoon to go on a 'wine bike tour' around the many vineyards of Mendoza. The title itself promised alcohol-fuelled fun on a bike, what wouldn't be to like? Well it turns out after a lot of waking, many explanations about how wine is made, we only got to sample one sip of wine at each location. The alcoholics in us weren't best pleased, but what we didn't have in alcohol we made up for in speed on the 6km bike ride. Tour de France was mentioned a couple of times such was our skill.
On our last full day in Mendoza we decided all this relaxing in the sun and cycling had been a bit too strenuous, so we went to Carrefour to pick up supplies for a picnic and set off to the big park, just west of the centre. This in itself was no mean feat with temperatures over 30 degrees and the amount of food we were carrying with us. A lazy few hours later we went for a wander around the park and soon realised the map we have of this park (all 420 hectares of it) isn't quite right. We're a bit disorientated, but that's nothing new so we carry on walking and stop for a drink a while later. The man running the little cafe starts talking to us in fast Spanish, and while we are experts in ordering wine and beer in the local lingo now, this stretches beyond our capabilities. He doesn't appear to speak English so we just put this down as another one of those conversations we won't understand, and go to walk away. He carries on and starts doing sign language... Something about 6pm and then takes his wallet out his pocket as pretends it is snatched. Then it clicks that I read something in the guide book that this massive park can be a bit dodgy at night...but from his concern it looks like we'll be getting mugged at 6pm on the dot! After a slightly speedier than normal drink we make a move as it is now 4.45pm and we're in the middle of the park, but in which direction to go we're not sure. Eventually we make it out the park in the nick of time and head to the nearby bar street to 'recover'.
The weather and ambience in Mendoza have made it a pleasure but now off to the next stop, Cordoba, where we're hoping just one meal won't have ham and cheese as its main components.
Overnight bus number 2, here we come...
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