The trip takes around 6 hours by bus. We shared a minibus with a group of worldwide young christians in mission. Well, it was not as bad we thought it could be... We passed right through the Andes, across ice-topped mountains, rivers, lakes, the argentinean pampas. Another photo album at the end of the post. However, one of the most thrilling moments is crossing the border. Apparently any non-processed goods of animal or vegetable origin are not allowed to cross the border. The christians had a lot of fruit and we convinced them that they would have to leave it at the border. They shared it with us to not throw it away and in the end they didn't even check the bags... Nice move from our side, but they weren't that happy!
As a city, Mendoza doesn't have much to see. It has a huge park, a couple of nice squares and that's all. But the culture, the lifestyle, the meat and the wine are a different story. It is possible to have a "eat all you want" parrilla for a fixed price of 4 Euro. The wine is unique, with some endemic flavours, and we are talking about mid-priced quality wines for 8 Euro a bottle. The lifestyle is a perfectly natural bohème, while in Chile it can feel a bit forced sometimes. One night we went to a good-looking restaurant quite early to eat something before dinner and taste some wine. We started talking with the waitress (naturally, as she was pretty cute) and while she was calmly opening the bottles we soon found out the argentinean cultural level. From the recent problems with the meat producers strike to the current argentinean political scenario, passing by the education policy, she showed herself interested in and aware of everything. Moreover, she was a 
university student, as all the rest of the restaurant staff, in her first year of psychology. Education in Argentina is for free, which contributes for an amazingly high cultural development. In the end, we drank 3 bottles, had a huge tabla for snacking and then ate a big steak for dinner for around 16 Euro each. Impressive!We came back during the night and had to face the freezing cold of the cordillera again at the border. Well, one of the narcotic brigade dogs didn't like one of us and he was kindly taken to a room to be searched for drugs, naked... Shit happens!...
3 comments:
E um tango?? Foste à Argentina e não dançaste um tango?? :p *
Eu perguntei, mas o que se passa é que a tradição do tango parece ser quase exclusiva de Buenos Aires. Aqui junto à fronteira é mais comer à bruta, ou seja, dispensa os preliminares (o tango).
Desiludiste-me, pá! Apenas abri o teu Photo Album à procura do moço nú a ser revistado pela Polícia, e afinal.... Olha, como dizia Moisés "Não cobiçarás a fruta alheia"
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