Walking tour, bikes and vineyards oh my

Stacy and I have really enjoyed Mendoza. It is so walkable and bikeable (bike lanes everywhere), General San Martin park is amazing, complete with hiking trails with monkeys! The adjacent zoo let’s them roam🤷‍♂️

A few days ago we rented bikes, no disasters this time:) and went to a winery which was lovely. We also did a walking tour (visited a bunch of different plazas, which you’ll see pictured, plaza Italia, Espana, San Martin and Independence) of the city which was awesomely focused on history. Our tour guide went into the founding of not only Argentina, but many of the countries of S America. It was fascinating.

He also spoke about the dictatorship Argentinians (also known as the Dirty War) fell under in the late 70’s and early 80’s and how 30,000 Argentinians were “disappeared.” Most of the disappeared were political dissidents. A symbol of resistance became the hoodies worn by women in the Handmaid’s Tale, which is actually an upside down diaper symbolizing their lost children.

Women would march in the streets protesting the government asking them to return their children, while the men were inside. According to our tour guide, this happened because despite the brutality of their dictatorship, it was still considered to be unseemly to hit a woman in public, while it was completely acceptable to do so with men. So women took the lead.

We did some wine tasting and touring, always great. The wineries are all so beautiful, down to the buildings, the vineyards, and the barrels. This winery had some barrels crafted like eggs. It was great and finished the evening with one more Asado meal. Great day/s.Read more