Mendoza and into Chile

So it has been quite some time since we have gotten around to the email. We spent about 3 days in Cordoba and we didn´t do too much. The shops all close for the afternoon and then reopen around 5pm so it leaves a bit of a dull afternoon. Then there was an election while we were there so again things were closed, and also there was a Sunday somewhere there too and oh you bet things are also all closed! We did enjoy sitting in a few cafe´s to sit and relax and lots of window shopping.

We continued on to Mendoza which is a smaller city for about 112,000 and very beautiful. There are lots of green spaces within the city and a man made lake with loads of park area. Although being ¨winter¨it is more like a fall day, with sunny afternoons. Some of the leaves have turned coulour or fallen while others are still green, but it is still quite beautiful. In the background are the mountains and surrounding the city is vineyards. We did venture out on a wine tour to 2 wineries, 1 olive oil factory and a chocolate factory. We learned more wine history and the art of wine making and tasting. It is amazing to see the quaility of a good wine vs a cheap wine although the wine here is very cheap to our standards. Many of the small wineries are family run for over 100 years and are very passionate about their quality of wine.

We took a sick day yesterday and it was much needed. I had quite the cold and Dennis had other bowel concerns.

We were not sure if we were going to make it too Chile as when we arrived in Mendoza the border was closed due to snow in the mountain pass. It remained closed for our stay, but just opened up again so we took a day bus out to Valparasio, Chile. It was a nice change to have a day bus and it was a beautiful drive through the mountain pass and lots of little ski lifts along the way. It was a funny coincidence that we eneded up taking the same bus with 2 dutch girls that we had done our salt flats tour with weeks before! As we descended on the Chilean side of the mountains it was not long until we were out of the snow and there were cacti covering the hills. Once down there were fields of orchards, vineyards, palm trees and most things are still green!!! We found a less expensive hostel...as everything is quite pricey and are very excited to explore tomorrow. We had a quick glance at the ocean as we drove to our hostel while the sun was setting with a beautiful pink sky silhoutting large cargo ships out at sea.

We were quite starving when we arrived so we headed out to see what we could find. Just a few blocks away we found a ¨quick¨ food as the pubs were not serving any food at this time and were very smokey. So ordered 2 things off the menu and see what we got. So a completo, basically is a footlong hotdog smuthered with guacamole, cheese sauce, and tomatoes for about $2. The other thing was a steak sandwhich with the same toppings.