Mendoza, Argentina

I would like to talk about my hometown. I was born in Mendoza.

Mendoza is a city in the west of Argentina, in the east of the Cordillera de Los Andes.

After a big earthquake in 1861 the city was built around five squares.

The biggest square is Plaza Independencia and the other ones are strategically located: Plaza España, Plaza Chile, Plaza Italia and Plaza Independencia. They stand out by their symmetry.

 Plaza Independencia

Plaza Independencia

The weather in Mendoza is arid and dry; with hot summers and cold winters.

There is a special wind that blows in Mendoza from time to time, it's called "Zonda". It starts out on the other side of the mountains, in the pacific Ocean and it is cold and wet. When it blows through the high peaks, it makes it rain and snow, so by the time it reaches the city, it's dry, hot and brings a lot of dust.

Can you see the dust at the end of the street?

Due to the proximity to the mountains, sometimes it snows in the city so you can take good pictures. The next ones are from my neighborhood:

Autumn is the best season in Mendoza, because of the color of the trees is amazing.

If you drive almost one hour from the city you will arrive to Potrerillos. It's a district of Luján de Cuyo with a big artificial lake. The landscape is beautiful.

Near the city centre there is a big and famous park called Parque General San Martin. 

Inside the park you can find a lake, a theater, a museum, the University, a golf club and the zoo.

One of the most attractive things in that park is the big gate at the entrance, which was bought from Paris.

Another interesting thing that you can find in the park are two horse sculptures that are replicas of ones already existing in Paris.

One of the two Horses of Marley

On Sundays is when people usually go to the park to jog or drink "mate" with family or friends.

"Mate" is the national drink in Argentina. It is an infusion that tastes like a bitter tea.

About Argentinian's gastronomy I can say it's delicious. 

People in my country enjoy a lot eating meat. The most popular food is "asado".

It's similar to a barbecue, but the meat is not cooked over flames but over embers, so you have to spend one or two hours to cook the meat.

Another typical food are "empanadas". They are stuffed bread or pastry baked filled with meat. They are eaten as starters before an "asado" or pasta or pizza.

Mendoza is famous because of its excellent wines. Along the route you can find several vineyards. . The most recognized wine is Malbec but a Cabernet Sauvignon is great as well and there are some also others like red Merlot, Pinot Noir, Tempranillo  or white grape Torrontes and Chardonnay.
Nowadays people can enjoy many wine routes around the city that will take you to several different vineyards.

If you travel to Mendoza by Chile the views from the plane look like this:

The negative  side of flying from Chile are the turbulences on the plane. If the wind blows hard, the plane shakes like a cocktail being prepared!