Mendoza

For Semana Santa, I went to Mendoza, Argentina. As always, pictures to come later. A quick rundown:

6/8-ish hour bus ride overnight w/ a stop at customs - it's cold up in the mountains. Didn't sleep much, because I talked to Rebecca a lot and such. Stayed at Life House Hostel - crazy guy at front desk cracked me up. Went horseback riding for the first time - it was quite exciting for me, because I was actually doing it, after the first part anyway when the 11-year-old boy who went along, led my horse. Rebecca nearly died a couple of times though - kind of scary. The scenery was amazing - we went while the sun was setting - beautiful. Went to the zoo - beautiful as well - everything's very lush in Mendoza even though they're in the middle of the desert - they have a very good irrigation system. And animals were out of the cages as well - craziness. Ate well - was silly - made up words like viñar, and asked roommates if they brought their own sheets. Went on a bodega tour - bodegas are houses with property where they produce something, I think - we thought it was another word for vineyard/winery/viña, but it's not. Anyway - we visited 2 wineries and an olive oil place. Very cool - I kind of know how to taste wine now. Met up with Nate from Hendrix - we kind of met in the middle, since he's studying in Buenos Aires on one side of the continent and I'm in Valpo./Viña on the other coast. His was a 15 hour bus ride, though - a little bit longer. We found a Mexican restaurant and ate there - good times. It was good, although not exactly authentic Mexican, of course. I think I drank a whole half of a bottle of wine, though because we split a bottle for dinner - craziness. Shopped around at all the little outdoor artisan shops that are in the main plaza and down one street - bought a few things. Bus ride home was during the day, so I took lots of pictures. We came back on Easter - kind of weird, but after eating, showering, and sleeping, I went to Mass that evening at the church nearest my house - it was nice.

I think that's it - oh, and our bathroom got really nasty because hostels aren't quite like hotels, where they come in and clean each day - I don't think - or maybe we were just there during odd times. And we got a leak in one of our pipes.

Oh - and there was a tango show/wine tasting at our hostel, which we caught a bit of while we ate a little bread, fruit, cheese, and wine picnic in the dining room.

All in all, a splendid time, I must say. Very relaxing.

Oh - one more thing - we attempted to go to spa to get massages, but couldn't find it. We think it was one of those red-light-district "saunas", though because part of our group found it and they told them to come back at 8pm, and when they insisted on doing it then (since there weren't any other clients there occupying the table/chairs and what-not), it wasn't worth much - magnets placed on different parts of the body, and a little bit of massaging - hardly anything on the back, even. Good times.