July 29, 2013

Lots to catch up on so we’ll go ahead and back track to our second day in Mendoza.

Saturday – We were still feeling somewhat lazy from our travels so we had a slow start to the day. We got up around 10 and enjoyed some breakfast at the hostel. We continued to lounge around a bit knowing that our only concrete plans for day were an asado at the hostel at 8pm. We decided we’d wait on the wine tours since the wine would probably be flowing pretty heavily later that evening. Instead we spent the day getting to know the city a little bit and exploring some of the parks.

We took off around 12:30 and headed for Plaza Independencia and Parque San Martín. We strolled through the streets of Mendoza until we reached Plaza Independencia. This is the main central square in the city. Not too different from any other city park but we were excited to be there so we stopped for a quick fountain photo opp. We continued up the main drag which changes names about 5 times so I won’t bother listing those. Anywho, it’s a very nice walk which is broken up by a couple little plazas lined with restaurants and nice apartments.

Our leisurely stroll took us further up the street with many names until we were greeted with the grand gates of Parque San Martin. Unfortunately they happened to be very dressed down due to construction but even with the plastic wrap they were beautiful. Through the gates we went up Del Libertador.

We worked our way to the north-west corner of this hugeeee park until the amarillo trees were no more and it started to look a little more like the desert we’d been hearing about. We walked by the zoo which was quite unimpressive… mostly goats, llamas, and donkeys

We kept walking in hopes of finding Cerro de la Gloria which supposedly had a nice view of the city. Before finding Gloria, we happened upon a kiosco and decided we’d better grab a quick lunch before I got hangry. While scarfing down our salami and cheese samies we watched all the fútbol fans set up their tailgates in preparation for the match later that evening.

Next we scrambled up Cerro de la Gloria to check out the view. Not too impressive but satisfying none the less. We worked our way back out of the park and watched as buses of fans poured through the gates towards to stadium. We headed home and scooped up a bottle of Fernet in preparation for the night’s asado.

When we got back to the hostel we decided to commit to a Sunday activity and signed up for the “spas”. Not usually our kind of thing, but everything is closed on Sundays and we figured it might be a nice hungover Sunday activity. We were told they were hotsprings nestled in the mountains and the trip out there came with an incredible all you can eat buffet. We were sold.

Enter Brent…

So upon arrival, we find people being rather tame given the circumstances. We were promised an asado to end all asados, for it was Mike’s (the owners) last night working reception. This is significant because he opened the hostel in I believe 2006 and here we were for his last night. Quite an accomplishment on his part; seven years strong and Hostel Loa is frequently rated in the Top 10 hostels in Latin America by various hostel booking sites. Anyways, so we get back to the hostel with our Ferny and Coke to find it rather mellow. People are taking their time and lounging. While we waited, a couple of Canadians checked in with Mike, got into their room, and immediately started complaining that the sheets were dirty and demanding free nights, etc. etc. Mike dealt with it like a boss and the night rolled along anyways. Eventually Mike’s wife, Celeste, arrived with the meat. MMmmmm delicious Argentinian meat. We were graced with beef skirt steak, blood sausage, short ribs, and much more. After pretending to know everything, I proceeded to drink my beverage and watch as the Mike brought the grill to life. Really not too impressive, but cooking for longer than you think you should over a medium heat with really good meat will yield some impressive results. There were sides and salads aplenty and we all had a blast. At some point a roommate brought out a bottle of scotch and we all toasted to a great night and to Mike’s last shift. I set the bar high with some drunken nonsense that people seemed to rather enjoy but was essentially the “To here, to now, to [insert pronoun or preposition here]…” standard but everyone was sufficiently inebriated for it to come off as original and meaningful. After others stumbled through, Holly finished strong with, “Here’s to clean sheets and dirty Canadians” and everyone got a good laugh. I was proud. Afterwards, I got very photographic and stole Holly’s camera and figuratively took one million pictures. See below. And with full belly and aching head, we went off to sleep and rest up for a day of leisure. Que flippin’ fantastico.

Mike with Celeste’s grandmother’s grappa.