We spent most of Jan., Feb. and March in Mendoza.
This is the main pedestrian mall near the central square. Although the area around Mendoza is a desert the streets of Mendoza are lined with trees and they grow a lot of fruits and vegetables in this area, not to mention this is the most important wine region in Argentina. The water comes from the snow melt in the Andes. Some of the canals and water ways through the city were build by indigenous people before the Spaniards came.
This is a view from the window of our first apartment. Mendoza is in the foothills of the Andes but too close to the them to be able to see the snow caps of the Andes.
This is Plaza España, our second apartment is just on the other side of this park. The tile work makes this a really nice square, one of five in the center of town.
This is San Martin park, a huge park in Mendoza. There were live concerts on the weekends for most of time we were there in preparation for the wine harvest (Vendimia).
We signed up for two hours a day of Spanish lessons while we were in Mendoza at a school called Intercultural. The school was very international, France, Canada, Australia and the US are represented here. This was a dance class to learn chacarera, one of several folk dances in Argentina. The guys all chickened out except me ...
Fridays the school usually also had an asado before the folklore class. The guy in the tie was the teacher this week (and the cook). He was great, we saw him everywhere in town, anytime there was a folklore dance. The woman at the far end of the table is Laura, Miriam's instructor who we became pretty good friend with. The young guy on the left is from Switzerland, Laura is talking to a woman from Germany. It is kind of interesting when the language everyone uses to communicate with is not your own.
The last night we were in Mendoza we took my instructor, Diego, and his girlfriend out to dinner. It was really sad to leave Mendoza because of the people we made connections with.
These are a few pictures of our second apartment. Much more expensive than in Tandil but a bit nicer and with internet, maid service, etc. Here is the living room.
It has a huge kitchen.
And a huge bathroom.
This is a MacDonald's billboard in Mendoza. You gotta love a country where they serve boutique wines with your Big Mac.
These sugar packets are proof definitive that the Forinash family immigrated from Argentina.
