mendoza

a mere 13 hour bus ride away from buenos aires is mendoza. mendoza is famous for adventure tourism, skydiving, horseback riding, its proximity to the andes, wine, and among the traveler circuit, the opportunity to rent bikes and ride among the different vineyards, participating in various tastings. this is also an opportunity to drink before noon--something especially prized among the traveler circuit. hahaha).

this was my first solo trip. i talk a lot about traveling alone, but realized i had never actually done it. i moved to argentina alone, yes, but setting up one's life in a place is different than traveling. anyway, i decided that i would do a trial week, to see if i liked traveling by myself or if it would get too lonely. i ended up loving it, and it never even occurred to me to feel alone because there was so much going on.

well, most of the time. when i arrived, it was a) a sunday afternoon b) during siesta time c) on election day, so when i had a walk down the main street as soon as i got there, it looked like this:

i think this dog had the right idea for how to spend the day in the town square:

this art museum was closed, but there was something about it i liked.

there's something nice about being alone, at least for a little while. i could stop and take pictures of strange things if i wanted to. in buenos aires, there's SO MUCH to look at all the time. the sides of the buildings always touch, and each one is a different style and color, and all are posted over with ads and billboards; cars and buses crowd the streets, there are vendor carts and magazine stands all over the sidewalks, and always people, people, people. so when i got to mendoza i started to notice patterns--the squares of the sidewalk, the stones in the drainage ditches, the spacing of the trees they planted a long time ago. it all seems very planned, in comparison with the chaos that is buenos aires. here's the main square.

and this is an interesting metal sign in plaza independencia.
i think it says ciudad de mendoza, or something like that, below it. can't remember.

and here are the famous gates to the enormous park up north. i had coffee just behind these gates in a place called "caballitos de marly." marly's little horses. a charming name for a cafe.