"Mendoza, land of sun and good wine"

Photo 1: TROLLEY TOUR!! Environmentally friendly, too. (electrically powered and provides public transportation).

We spent 35 pesos (roughly $10USD) each for a city tour at night, in which I had to translate for my parents. On top of that, they didn't take us to lit places, so we couldn't see many things which was a real shame. And we only got off once to take a picture. It was a little silly, I might add. I spent 1.10 pesos (barely $0.35USD) per person to take my parents on a personalized tour (courtesy of myself) of real Mendoza via trolley. "A student's tour" says my host mom (because it's super cheap and it's a glimpse of an exchange student's daily life).

Photo 2: Fountain of the Americas in General San Martin's Park. This was the only stop we took on that somewhat pointless night tour. It's gorgeous though, eh?

And so I offer you a quick tour of the city.

A little history--Gen. San Martin liberated Argentina from the Spanish. He's a pretty big deal here. In Mendoza, he's highly respected because he had a house here and raised his army here. Also, he crossed the Andes from here to Chile. We have a man-made park here in Mendoza that is gorgeous and by the mountains. I mention that is man-made because there is very little vegetation native to this desert climate. Below is a picture of the gates to the park, which were a gift from the French to the government of Mendoza -- my mom pointed out that the French like to give gifts (e.g. The Statue of Liberty).

Wine is exquisite here and this region specializes in Malbec (a red wine). I'm not a sommelier and I don't know much about wine, so I can't describe as if I were one. However, it's quite yummy and I do suggest it. For those who are not wine drinkers, there's always the water here (ask my mom about it because she raves about the water).
Photo 4: The water comes from the Andes Mountains in the Mendoza region (Villavicencio). My mom is not bringing back wine; she's packing mountain water. (Note the artistic quality of the photo above, brought to you by yours truly).

Red meat was cut out of my diet for approximately 11 years and I didn't mind it. Then I arrived in Argentina. Cows are not meals, they define sustenance. Beef to eat, and quality leather to wear. I can't even imagine what the average consumption of meat per capita is in this country. Yet, there's no obesity problem. On the contrary, there's an eating disorder problem thanks to skinny South American models. Below is an example of a 750 gram T-bone steak my daddy ordered (I bet it could feed a whole agency of models).

Mendoza has plazas (little parks) so people can relax and enjoy nature (man-made nature, of course). In some of these plazas, local artisans display and sell their handiworks and crafts.

Photo 6: Plaza Independencia at night. This plaza occupies four blocks and is the center of five smaller plazas (think of the 5 face on dice).

Photo 7: The artisans in Plaza Independencia. And my dad because he likes being in every picture.

Photo 8: Edificio Gomez. On the 10th floor, there is a restaurant-wine bar where we dined. Swanky. Mendoza is on a really big fault line (and unfortunately, I found that out shortly before I left the States) so there is law that states a limit of how many floors can be built (more or less 15 or 16 floors). For that reason, you could see for miles around the city from this building. I was actually able to see lightning storms 3 hours away (or so I've been told).