Post by Grubb. The downtown center of Mendoza, a twenty-five minute walk from where we’re staying, has a central plaza, Plaza Independencia, and four surrounding plazas equidistantly apart. Square San Martin honors the general who successfully liberated Argentina, Chile, and Peru from Spain. As far as national heroes go, he’s quite the dude. No one…
Watch your step!
Post by Grubb. If my first impression of Bariloche was that it looked like a Patagonian Lake Tahoe, coming into Mendoza reminded me of the San Fernando Valley, a wide spread of low buildings among the irrigated greenery of an arid plain at the foot of the Andes. The acequias lining the streets (where one…
Acequias, veredas, plazas
Post by Ella. Agustín, a shampoo boy and self made guide by day, rock musician by night, led us on a 2 hour walking tour of the center of Mendoza. We were his only customers on this tour. My brain exploded with Argentine history and political doings. More on that to come. Grubb will expound,…
The city awakes
Post by Ella. Our apartment is on the 14th floor of a relatively new building. The windows could use a little outside cleaning. Nonetheless, there is a view.
A walk around the neighborhood
Post by Ella. Mendoza = a province. Population 2 million. Mendoza = a city in the province which is also the capital of the province. Population 1.2 million. In area, Mendoza province is roughly half the size of New Mexico. The city, settled in 1561 by Spaniards from Chile, is a tourist draw for wine…
Patagonia behind, wine ahead
Post by Ella. Travel morning. Up before the crack of dawn. I’d booked a taxi for 4:45am. By 5:15 we were at the airport. The first ones. The guards were just waking up. Security screening not open until 5:30 they said. Which came and went. At 6am the screeners showed up. We were first in…
El Piso and the Promenade
Post by Grubb. (Bariloche) On Tuesday we made dinner reservations at El Piso, a narrow, unassuming restaurant along Ave. San Martin in Bariloche. Squeezed behind a tiny coffee shop in a back room that had six small tables, this little restaurant had a five star reputation among traveling gourmets. It didn’t open until eight, so…
Contrasting Conquests
Post by Grubb The westward expansion of Argentina wasn’t finalized until the end of the 19th century when English arbitration got Chile and Argentina to settle on the Andes determining the border between both countries. The Jesuit explorer and friend of the Mapuche natives who suggested the Andes dividing line was Perito Moreno. In honor…
A scattering of photos of Bariloche
Post by Ella
The ever receding trail head
Post by Grubb. Searching my AllTrails app I found a trail labeled “moderate” that was midway between the Aerosilla chair lift and where we’re staying. I downloaded the directions. After we were unloaded from the lift and fortified by a cappuccino (for me) and a smoothie (for Ella), we caught a #20 bus and went…
Flash card animal talk
Post by Ella During our day tour along the seven lakes (see Never ending water post), guide Matthias kept us entertained by telling us about the wildlife found in the area. He has a deck of 5 x 7 laminated cards. He held up each photo and then passed the card around. I noticed that…
Truchas!
Post by Grubb. When I was growing up in Los Alamos and pursuing my juvenile delinquency, whenever the cops showed up someone would shout, “Truchas! Truchas!” and we would make like a trout and try to slip away. Here in Patagonia I look for Trucha on the menu. The first time I ordered trout for…
Never ending water
One of the many natural sights in the Bariloche area is the string of seven lakes which stretch from Bariloche to San Martin de Los Andes. The lakes nestle up to the Andes to the west, which is also the Chilean border. Interesting story about how the Andes were designated as the border. A lot…
Musical roads
Post by Grubb. Northwest of Bariloche where islets finger off from Lago Nahuel Huapi there is a promontory with a grand hotel called Llao Llao. The view from the forest surrounding the hotel was worth getting off the #20 bus to hike up a dirt road that had a weathered gray pointer with the barely…
The full panorama
Post by Ella Bus #20 took us up to the Aerosilla Cerro Campanario, a chairlift up to breathtaking views. The bus was full but again, our advanced age got us seats. A typical bus stop is a shelter made out of corrugated metal with a clever cut out so one can watch for the approach…