Argentina...

Well, we are finally back from our venture in Argentina and let me tell you, it was truly an unforgettable experience. I think it was very much like a chapter from one of the "A Series of Unfortunate Events" books. Don't get me wrong, we had some good times but as Justin said; "Argentina lifts us up just enough to smack us down again." To be fair what happened was a combination of bad timing, poor planning, forgetfulness, unfortunate decisions and unfortunate happenstance.

Let's go through it shall we: We left on Thursday morning at around 7:30. The bus ride from Chile to Argentina was awesome. We got on the top level of this double decker bus which provided us with a quite view. We drove through the Andes which was breathtaking.

The windy road used to ascend the mountain.

We arrived to Mendoza in high spirits. The city has many old and cool looking houses and buildings. Many of the streets had tall trees lining them and their foliage reached together like a green ceiling. We made it to the plaza located in the middle of the city. It had fountains and metal coverings on stone walls and a museum and theater under it. Every night crafters and artisans gather to sell and make all sorts of cool things. Many of them were skilled. From there we went to our hostel which was 30 seconds from the plaza.

We left the hostel and decided to walk and see a statue that Bradley read about and wanted to see. We knew that it was in a park nearby and we did not know how the buses worked. It took about 40 minutes to walk there. The map was not proportionate and we ended up spending 2 hours walking around lost in this "park". It didn't seem like a park at all due to the random roads with nothing on them and the water treatment plant and the hospital. Oh boy, we were frustrated and tired. So we finally went back to our hostel defeated.

On the bright side we went to an excellent restaurant afterward. Argentina is known for their steak and La Florencia did not disappoint. We have been a little starved for meat here in Chile so it was especially appreciated. Justin, the most carnivorous of us, was in meat heaven. We went home in good spirits.

There were many excursions available: horseback riding, rafting, zip-lining, mountain climbing, hiking and more (all in the beautiful Andes). There were also many wineries and museums and a cultural center that we wanted to visit. Too much to do in only two days!!

We decided to take a so-called 20 minute bus ride to the wineries and then rent bikes and ride to each one on Friday. We were so excited! The only ATM near our hostel had a huge line and was not even open yet. So we decided to go and get money at the city by the wineries, Maipu. So we took the "20 minute bus ride" for a hour and a half . Three people said they had only one ATM in the whole town. We went to that one ATM and it was closed. After paying for the bus and the bikes we only had a little Argentinean cash. Surely these big wineries took credit cards, right? So we spent the whole day biking to places that did not take credit and then to the ATM that stayed closed. We got to go to one winery. We took the tour which took forever but at the end we tried 3 wines. They tasted great. Also riding around the wineries was pretty and fun. On the bike back Bradley crashed in a three foot culvert filled with water. He scraped his hand, knee, and feet and broke his toenail and camera. A very sad day for Bradley.

We decided to go Italian for dinner since we have heard and read that they have great Italian food because of their strong European influence. La Tomazzo did not represent. The service and food were abominable. The waitress even noticed this and added the tip into our check so we couldn't change it!

Now for Saturday. We decided to see Bradley's statue and then go to the museums, art galleries and cultural center. Our bus was leaving around 11:30 pm so we had plenty of time. We figured out the buses and took them to the base of the hill that the statue was on. We climbed up and enjoyed the view of the Andes. The Statue was also very impressive. From there we we went to the cultural center of Mendoza. The building was gorgeous.

It was also closed. Guess what, the other museums were closed on saturdays as well. Closed on saturdays. We could not believe it. In fact everything was closed and we couldn't even go shopping. There weren't any people anywhere. How were we supposed to know that Mendoza is a ghost town until 7:30 at night? Is that an Argentinean thing? So nothing was open and we walked randomly from 11:30 to 8:00. We took two naps in two different parks. We did not want to be disappointed again so we went to La Florencia again (which opened at 8 by the way). It was excellent again. We then shopped at the artisan's market on the plaza for gifts and the like. We were in reasonably good spirits after that and very ready to get out of Argentina and back to our beloved Chile.

At 10:06 we left the hostel and headed for the bus. Then, just to be sure, we decided to check the time of departure...

It was not 11:30 like we thought and talked about for 5 days since we bought it. The bus was scheduled to leave at 10:00. We all felt like idiots (rightly so). So we stayed another night and booked the bus at 9:30 that morning. Also, once we got to the border, customs took 4 hours! It was ridiculous. Instead of getting home at 4 pm we got home at 8 pm. 

So we got unforgettable memories and some good life experience.  :)