Mendoza Day 3
We had plans to eat dinner at a restaurant called 1884 last night, but its located at a Vineyard about 10 min outside this city. Finding a taxi the night of the Vendimia festival proved impossible!! We ended up eating dinner at a great restaurant walking distance called Lasal. The food was very good - I had a really delicious seafood risotto, probably one of the best risottos I have had in Argentina. Seth had a steak accompanied with goat cheese, a salad and sundried tomotoes. The service was great and the wine sommelier was very pleasant. He helped us chose a delicious bottle of Merlot to accompany the meal.After dinner we got caught up in the big "Via Blanca" (white way) parade which canvased the town center. This is the big Vendimia parade in which each of the queens of the different regions of Mendoza is presented along with her court on their floats. The parade goes on for several hours and was repeated again today (Saturday). The big decision of who will be crowned the La Reina de la Vendimia (The queen of the wine harvest) will be determined tonite. This happens during a big ceremony that takes place at an outdoor greek style amphitheater in San Martin Park. We have tickets to the repitition of the event tomorrow (Sunday night). Tonite's event was completely sold out.
We spent the day on a trekking tour of the Aconcagua Mountain National Park. The Aconcagua Mountain is the highest peak in the Americas (6,962 Meters above Sea Level) and is part of the Andes Mountain range. This was quite an adventure... what was supposed to be a 3 hour bus ride each way turned into a 5 HOUR ride each way (the park is 175 km from Mendoza). We left at 630 this morning and just returned at 930 this evening! But it was worth it. Our guide Mario was amazingly nice and our other companion on the trip was Ivana, a young lady from Mendoza. Neither of them spoke any english so we really had the chance to test our spanish. We saw beautiful mountain ranges with lakes and valleys that had been created by glacier movements.
We also visited the Puente del Inca (Inca Bridge) a part of the Inca trail. This natural bridge runs over the Cuevas River. There is a former luxurious hotel that is on the site of the bridge. It was built in 1925 and destroyed by an avalanche in 1965. Each of the rooms of the hotel had its own bath that was filled with thermal waters - considered to have therapeutic effects. The baths are still there today and anyone who wants can soak in the water.
The day was was definitely a once in a lifetime experience. Worth the 10 HOURS we spent on a bus today weaving through mountainous roads with amazing views. Tomorrow we will spend a half day on a horseback riding tour. Tomorrow night we are planning on checking out the Vendimia festival.
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