Last night was seriously the best meal I've had in so long! Nothing against Argentine food but empanadas, lomo, and milanesas seasoned only with salt can stir an appetite to a fixed point. Our "Hostel Stoupa" (combo of soup, stew, and pasta) was cheap, healthy, filling, warm, tasty, and so much fun! We seriously just threw random ingredients in a pot and hoped for the best, and with 2 botellas de vino we were warm and happy!
So now, I'm on a tiny stuffed van, camion relleno I just named it, on the rough and tumble road to Chile. But yesterday... didn't set an alarm and thus didn't get the Sleeping Beauties out of bed and out of the house until noon! But I really didn't mind actually. Mendoza is such a quaint sleepy town anyways and I'm on vacation... so there! We rented bikes and rode around the city fro the afternoon... Now, as peasceful as Mendoza is, and as romantic as biycling through Parque San Martin sounds... it was alot of frickin work! Not to mention navigating through Argentine traffic without the necessary agression to maneuver the roads. It was an experience!
Still, the air was crisp, the city was linda, and the speed was liberating. We found Parque San Martin, which is honestly bigger than the city itself, and trudged up the steady incline to Cerro de la Gloria, a giant hill with a view of the Andes and a panoramic of the city below. It has a striking monument to the Armies of the Andes who fought a battle between Chile and Argentina. The statue depicted 2 armies on horseback facing each other peaceably, while on top a libertador and his compatriats strain forward into the fray with a huge Angel shotting our ahead of them weilding the broken chains of bondage and oppresssion. It really left an impression on me.
Last night we and our Chilean roommate Phillipe went out to this buffet... SO MUCH FOOD! I stuffed myself fatter than the suckling puerco they had in peices roasting away on the asado. I was so excited to have an endless supply of choices! Vegetables! And beans! And non-meat food with flavor! So they rolled me home, where I read my emails with a smile and crawled into bed.
And now, we're driving through the Andes pass... red dirt, white snow, blue sky, and a brilliant sun. We passed some wold horses, who are probably so at one with their liberty they don't realize how lucky they are to live among so much belleza. There were a couple of shrines with candles and flowers on the side of the road... that's how you know your in a Catholic country... but then again, what better place to encounter God? That profoundly unencompassed question mark that draws our eyes upward to the heavens hidden in cookies and cream mountains.
Demasiado para palabras...
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