Adios Mendoza

When we first arrived in Mendoza ten days ago, our impression of the city was rather "meh". We didn't find the city particularly attractive. The buildings were neither old and charming nor sleek and modern, but rather drab and utilitarian looking. There were exceptions of course, but they were so obviously exceptions whenever we came across them.

That being said, the longer we stayed in Mendoza, the more the place grew on us. We found the people very kind and patient, and we admired their stoicism in light of the hopeless economic situation they face daily. The more we walked, the more we discovered charming areas where we would consider staying on a future visit. The tree-lined streets reminded us of Vancouver while the arborial canopy shaded us from the blistering Argentine sun. Vancouver's North Shore Rocky Mountains seem puny compared to the magnificence of the snow-capped Andes we saw in Lujan de Cuyo.

On our last walk about town on Friday, we stumbled upon an interesting looking building and ventured inside only to discover the ceiling was filled with domes, windows and panes of intricate stained glass. As it turns out, most of the city was flattened by a 7.2 magnitude earthquake in 1861, which explains it's lack of historic buildings. It appears that at least one building survived.

We ate surprisingly well. Looking back, there wasn't a single meal we didn't enjoy, whether we were going swank or just having an inexpensive nosh amongst locals.

And then of course, the wine. So much wine, so little time. We didn't even come close to scratching the surface of all that was on offer. We're already thinking, "What a pleasure it would be to come back."Read more