Mendoza Centro

During breakfast I read up on things to do in Mendoza and then we decided how we were going to travel the next few days.  It was decided to return the rental car and take up the services of George whom John J made contact with upon recommendation of the lodge we are going to tomorrow.  He will get us a van and driver.  

Our morning stroll took us through Independence Plaza in the center of Mendoza.  There are four other parks at the four corners off the square that commorate the various peoples who occupy Mendoza.  A pleasant pedestrian shopping area found the girls trying on leather jackets and other shopping while the men walked and waited.  My tour book highly recommend a wine bar that has wine paring under the tutalage of a sommlier who selects the wine from their cellar rather than a menu.  We were seated at a round table made from an old wine press in a small room where all four walls held wine racks. Our lunch at Azafán took almost three hours but was a wonderful experience and great food.  Naps were necessary after that big lunch!

The custom in most of South America and especially in Argentina is to have lunch between 1 and 2 pm and then dinner after 8 PM  In fact, most restaurants don't open for dinner until 8 or 8:30.  But since we had such a large lunch we found a place where we had wine and tapas plates.  Even then it was near midnight before we fell into bed.