Monday, January 1, 2007

¡Feliz Año Neuvo!


Mendoza is in a desert along the highest peaks of the Andes, and, in fact, the world. It is insanely hot here. Humid as well - even at night it is still well over 30 degrees. Fortunately, the streets are lined with giant Sycamore trees whose leaves lend a welcome relief from the burning sun. To deal with the heat you walk in the shade, stop a lot in the many plazas and eat delicious helados (ice cream). You also scope out the closest bar or cafe with air conditioning and stop in for one of whatever is on the menu.
For New Year´s Eve we got together with a few friends we met back in El Bolson - fellow Albertan´s Colleen and Carey - and went directly to the first air con bar we saw. A few mugs of cold ´chop´ (draft beer) and it was back into the night with a backpack of now somewhat warm Bianchi champagne, jugo naranja and some hard (soft) cheese. We popped the cork early and found a nice spot in Plaza Independencia, the biggest plaza in Mendoza, which happened to be right across from the Hyatt Plaza hotel where they were having quite the bash. Throughout the day we had heard soft pops and pows across the city from firecrackers, but come midnight we didn´t need a watch as the sky lit up with fireworks and the air filled with the sounds of explosions - some literally making us duck for cover! Around 2am we got back to our hostel which was in the middle - literally - of a party started at 8pm. We managed some shut-eye and woke up to 2007 feeling refreshed and ready for Chile. We wish you all a great start to 2007 and we look forward to sharing it with you!

3 comments:

jon said...

hey guys, sounds like a beautiful night and a great ring in to the new year. happy 07!!

frenchy said...

you guys look so happy, and i'm so glad to hear about how awesome your trip is going. i'm jealous of your new year's eve too, it sounds so lovely.

happy new year to you both!

Mel said...

I am glad that you both had fun...I ended up sleepig through mine...but I was super tired...*shurg*...Ce la vie...