Advertisement
Published: April 18th 2005
Edit Blog Post
Don't say ice-cream, say Soppelsa
Soppelsa allegedly make the best helados (ice-cream) in Mendoza. Rory agrees. Tuesday 12th to Friday 15th April 2005 : More breakfasts in espanol
A bit more adventurous, asked for two coffees and two chocolate drinks with breakfast. The chocolate drinks are ‘submarinos’, hot milk with a piece of chocolate dropped in it. The following day instead of croissants I ordered tortitas which I had seen on café breakfast menus. They were not a success, being fairly heavy small disks of bread. We had some at the language school later in the week and they were much lighter and palatable.
More lessons. The school changed classes, the two guys in ours moved to another class of two, now it is just us, la familia Greenwood. On Friday Rory and I stayed for almuerzo (lunch) followed by someone playing traditional tunes on guitar. The lady did not turn up but the wine was good, and I learned a fair amount of background to the Argentine economic situation. Rory can still remember Carlos Menem, the convertibility law and the rise of Eduardo Duhalde. Look into it, it is fascinating. What made it more immediate was discussing it with Argentinians, some of whom remembered family income being cut by two-thirds and having no meat, only
A stroll in the park
Deb, Owen and Rory in el parque San Martin in its Autumn glory soya beans to eat.
Various walks around the avenues , squares and shopping areas. Trips to the Parque San Martin. A massive area of green space with leisure facilities and an intricate irrigation network (as has the town centre, using the dammed snow-melt from the Andes). Apparently the park is not just for leisure, it also has a significant role in keeping the neighbouring city air relatively moist compared to the surrounding scrubby desert.
Loads of inexpensive internet cafes about, found one that will plug my pc into their network , though they had to change my pc to work to a specific address. No problem, they did it with a smile.
Saturday 16th April 2005 : Snake and Caballero time
Left lazy Owen in the apartment. Off to the Serpentario and Acuario with Deb and Rory.
Serpentario small, modern and relatively expensive for Mendoza, but some impressive living snakes, lizards and spiders - including many from the Iguacu area we were in not long ago ! Deb waited outside.
The aquarium was a more traditional public facility, showing its’ age a little. Many of the exhibits were from Brasilian and Argentinian rivers and
el Parque by Renoir ?
... or did the camera slip ? were surprisingly large, and very different to UK river fish. They also had a rescued marine turtle Jorge who was too big for his tank, though they seemed to be in the process of rehousing him.
Back to the flat for a bite to eat, then off the hills for a ‘Cabalgata’, that is a horse ride or trek.
We set off in a minibus with Carolina from the language school, ‘Loli’ who seemed to be the organiser and also a driver. A short ride around Mendoza to pick up too many other people - pickup truck tagged along for the surplus. Then out of town, the road climbing for 25 mins or so. Turned off onto a gravel track for several kilometres and we’re there. Where ? Not sure actually, somewhere close to Potrerillos I think, in the foothills of the Andes. Try www.kahuak.com.ar for more detail.
We all smothered in sunblock and were given instructions how to hold the reins, start , turn and stop the horses. Simple ! Then they brought the horses along. The saddles and stirrups were not as I expected. The saddle felt like a metal frame with foam rubber ,
a rug and a sheepskin thrown over. The stirrups were recycled car tyres.
Off we went. We were at the back with one of the locals chivvying the horses on. Mostly it was straightforward as the horses followed each other. Even so we were a little slow and I lost sight of the one in front and of course did not turn when I should have. I managed to turn the horse round and negotiate the first of many narrow rising tracks on the sloping hillside. We all did OK though I lost my stirrup-hold several times. The stirrup and riding style is such that your legs are quite high up and you only really use the front of the foot which is a bit of a strain until you get used to it.
After about an hour we stopped in the shade of one of the hills. Loli handed out tortitas, water and mate. Yerba mate is an infusion particular to Brasil, Paraguay and Argentina. You add hot water and sugar to the leaves and sip the brew though a metal straw. Apparently it is a very social activity. To me it tasted like sweetened tea drunk
boys on swings
swings are popular all over the world through my Dad’s tobacco pipe but strangely it worked and I had a refill.
Various photos taken, and learned a new word ‘borongo’ used to make people smile for photos. Sorry I cannot publish the meaning as my Mum is reading this.
Back on the horses and down the hill, with Rory looking like a rag doll bouncing up and down and side to side. By now the sun was completely behind the hills and most of us put extra tops on though Owen donated his to a chilly young lady who had not come prepared. Back on the bus and returned to Mendoza in the dark with the other passengers (mainly young Brit women) discussing the relative merits of men from different countries.
Quick meal in the apartment then fall asleep watching Pierce Brosnan Die Another Day on cable.
Sunday 17th April 2005 :
Slow morning. Tried to find out from the man on reception whether there was a Grand Prix today, and if so is it on TV. He did not know, his advice was to flick around the channels every hour or so.
We continued with a stroll round town trying to find
the Espacio Contemporaneo de Arte which has an exhibition ‘El senor de los dragones’ featuring Gustav Cabral, famous for his fantasy art. Found the place but not open until 4pm.
Stopped at a pasta place for food, drink and to read Uno , one of the two Mendoza dailies. There was no mention of a Grand Prix, either in the sports pages or the TV section.
Back to the apartment to do homework for tomorrow.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.044s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 6; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0217s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1mb