Wine Country

---

Here we are on the western edge of Argentina in the beautiful city of Mendoza. It's really dry around here with very little rain so they have built an impressive system of ditches and irrigation stuff (i don't know what to call it!) which delivers water all over the streets. The roads are all lined with trees, but too bad they have no leaves this time of year. Gotta love winter.

There's not a whole lot to do in the city itself. We went for a walk around yesterday to see the fountains in the plaza de independencia. We even went to visit the Municipal Aquarium. Cost all of 75 cents to get in. It was pretty sad, but there was a huge, cool turtle named Jorge. Also some pirhanas and lots of other fishes and some frogs. Pretty drab but worth checking out since we're obsessed with animals. There's a zoo here but it is closed. We also booked a wine tour and relaxed for a while. All in all a catch up day with no big plans.

This afternoon we're heading out for a tour of two wineries and a chocolate factory. mmmmm chocolate. Then we're hoping to book some white water rafting for tomorrow afternoon. Apparantly the water is really cold this time of year but who cares! It'll be fun anyways. The closest either of us has been to real rafting is the ride in Busch Gardens in Florida. So we are doing it. Plus I can't convince Jacqueline to do the paragliding haha

We also need to figure out where we're going from here. We want to be back in Buenos Aires by the 12th or 13th so we can see the sights we missed before, make it over to Uruguay for a day or two, and also visit with my relatives. I have relatives in Argentina - doesn't that make me cool? haha j/k But anyways we think we're going to head over to the coast of Chile to Valparaiso or Vin del Mar to lie on the beach for a few days. It's winter so hopefully the beaches will be pretty empty. Either way some relaxation is in order - we're all citied out and have been pretty much non-stop every day. Hopefully we can arrange the buses today and maybe even find a cheap flight back to Buenos Aires to save another 18 hour bus ride... But at least on the bus ride over we'll be crossing the Andes and get to have a look at Cerro (Mt.) Aconcagua - the tallest mountain in the Western and Southern Hemispheres. Cool stuff.

Miss you all

See you July 18th!

---

Comments

[Mom]

Great Trip
Sounds like you and Jacqueline are having a wonderfull time. I get tired thinking about the long bus trips. Hope you haven't bought anty suits this time(ha, ha, ha) Take, Care Love Mom