Mendoza Pics and Highlights

So we are finishing up our stay in Mendoza, and we have to say that by far this was our least favorite place. The food was, in general, awful, (I got a very hairy lamb-we are talking clumps, people- the other day) the city was kinda boring, and in general we were not overly impressed with the place. That being said, we did manage to make our own fun. One day we went to the water park, where they supposedly had thermal spas. This actually meant very dirty, tepid water that lots of people crammed into. But, what the hell, we joined them.The water park in Cacheuta. That water? Yeah. Not hot.
Levi liked the foliage.
I don't like this blogger sometimes, it took me five tries to get this picture up, then it put it up twice, and now it won't let me erase it!
Foxy
Again, the program...ugh! Anyway for Valentine's Day we went on a tour of a couple of bodegas, and this is from the second place we went wine tasting, totally out of order...more in a sec.
Levi enjoying a super pancho at the thermal spas. I took a bite...Newsflash: it's a hot dog.
Mendoza is known for its wine, especially the production of Malbec which can be found in bountiful plentitude throughout Argentina. There are 960 wineries in Mendoza, and 114,000 hectares of vineyards, but, get this, not 1 wine bar in all of the city where you can actually try the wine! See why we were, like, not impressed by Mendoza? I mean, come on!!!
Levi showing off his wine tasting skills. "I smell a hint of chocolate, maybe some cinnamon, and, could that be raspberry? Or tobacco?"
Wine
Fruit crusher-blender thing
Wine in the tasting room
Very important lady here, the one we all pray to for good crops and decent wine. This is the Virgin of the vineyards.
Last but not least we ended our Valentine's Day with a romantic dinner, and halfway through the power went out, so we had a really romantic dinner by candlelight. Ah Mendoza...
So this wraps up our trip (sigh). As we tried to pay for our room today, where we owed 600 pesos, the lady insisted-insisted-that we only owed 500 pesos, even after we got out the calendar, explained that she had miscalculated and counted on our fingers. She finally got out the receipt and wrote in giant letters PAGADO and underlined it, would not take our money, so I guess they are having an unadvertised promotion, stay 5 nights get the 6th one free??? Crazy. Last night kicked off the big yearly festival so we got to see that, lots of beauty queens wearing their crowns hoping to be named Miss Mendoza 2006, lots of booths with food and crafts, but, again, not more than 2 with wine. Isn't that nuts? The mayor needs a trip to Napa or something, see what they should be doing... Overall the whole thing has been amazing, we have seen so much, met so many people, tried so many new things and even found a new favorite animal! We are definitely ready to be back in Buenos Aires,though, with a home and a closet, not just a backpack that has this smell...you can't describe it but you can't get rid of it either. We have had many adventures and I am ready to start on a new one soon, but after a little rest. In a few days Liz and Christy will be here, and I can't wait to have them visit, then it's back to work. Well, all good things must come to an end, but for me this was definitley a great adventure and for Levi, hopefully the start of a lot more adventures and travel.