Robert and I had a great time in Mendoza, Argentina. Over the course of the last week, we went on a wine tour, did a trek in the foothills of the Andes, ate a LOT of steak, drank a LOT of wine, wandered around town, and rented a car for a two-day side trip to Barreal.

A small story behind the picture you see above. The weather didn't completely cooperate on the day of our trek so you can`t tell that we are on the summit of a mountain (neither could we). Our guide said, ¨it is customary for hikers in Argentina to take their picture with the cross whenever they reach a summit...of course unless they are Jewish.¨ At that, we both started laughing pretty hard, immediately grabbed the cross, and insisted that we have our picture taken by our confused guide.

We got out of Mendoza on Friday and Saturday and drove up to Barreal, about three hours north of Mendoza. The town is among the most picturesque I have ever seen. The town of several hundred people is nestled in between two mountain ranges in the Andes. Autumn is in full swing down here and all the poplar trees were shedding brilliant yellow leaves. The area is home to three observatories because it has some of the clearest air in the world. We felt pretty lucky because the town hasn´t really yet been discovered by tourists; we only saw three other gringos there in two days.

The food in this city is incredible. We ate at the same restaurant--Don Mario--twice and probably would have done it again had there been a single inch left in our small intestines. Robert´s steak (on the right) was eight dollars and weighed in at just under two pounds! This is not a country for vegetarians. Alas, our trip is done. Robert has headed back to his desk job in Washington and I am onto Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, and three weeks in Brazil.


As always, click on the last picture--the one of the beer bottle--to see some more pictures of our trip in Mendoza.

Mendoza, Argentina