Mendoza is a modern city full of wide, tree lined streets. Although it is a big city, on Sunday mornings it is almost deserted, as it is any day during siesta time. Even though autumn has begun in the southern hemisphere Mendoza is still hot, and a siesta mandatory. On the roads leading into the city trucks are laden with fresh fruits and vegetables bound for the many small Fruterias and the larger fruit distribution centers.
The fruits and vegetables are fresh and delicious, tomatoes are perfectly ripe, and sold in bulk on roadsides and out of gardens for salsa de tomates. There are plums, peaches, watermelons, white melons, squashes, corn on the cob, green with freshness, as well as apples, onoins, spring onoins, sweet potatoes, potatoes, and many other vegetables.
The city is overlooked by some of the biggest mountains in the Andes, and you can follow in their shadow to the small vineyards, wineries, and olive groves that surround the city. Cycling or driving you can skip from winery to winery, enjoyign a short tour and a generous tasting session. Most famous for the Malbec wines in the area, there is the opportunity to taste differently aged wines side by side, slowly developing an awareness for the tastes of age.
When the wine and sun begins to go to your head you can head to a traditional restaurant serving food slow cooked in a clay oven, often in a light wine sauce, covered in vegetables and served with ubiquitous potatoes (native to the andes).
Us in front of one of the smaller waterfalls; Salto Bochetti.
