Don´t Cry For Me, Argentina!

Sorry for not getting these pictures up earlier, but Pablo and I went to Mendoza, Argentina last weekend! We ended up having to go to, um...well, let´s just say "renew my tourist visa" since it is only good for 90 days. That ended up to be a bit more complicated then I wanted and we ended up (thanks to a stupid bus driver giving us false information) changing our bus tickets and leaving at 10:30 Friday night. Driving time to Mendoza is about 6 hours, but it took a little bit more time because we had to pass through customs at the border (at 2 am). We got into Mendoza about 5:30 and illegally exchanged some money into Argentine pesos and hopped into a taxi to take us to our hotel. It was soooo nice! It was as American as I could have hoped for!
The next day we went for a nice little stroll through downtown Mendoza. Here´s a picture of us at lunch.
Mendoza is a really calm, town and it was so clean! I think that I am just used to dirty Santiago, but it was really a calm little city. (Did I mention they have a Wal-Mart?!) The food was amazing too! Everyone who says that the meat is better in Argentina was RIGHT. It was so yummy! My favorite Argetine food was the Dulce de Leche. I have never eaten anything so creamy! Here´s a nice little picture of Pablo in the old school phone booth in downtown Mendoza.
On Sunday afternoon we ate at this fancy yet delicious restaurant, Don Mario. We have heard so many good things about the barbeque in Argentina, and the rumors are true. We ate the best slice of meat I have ever had. The restaurant was really fancy so we didn´t take a picture inside, but waited to leave. If my belly looks huge, it´s because I had just finished eating!

For those of you who have seen my attempts at Photography, you know that I have a thing for doors. I don´t know where it comes from. But as we passed this door, I had to take a picture. All the different houses in Mendoza were small but so clean and well kept, fresh painted, etc. It was so cool to see them so clean! (The opposite of Santiago)
This picture above I like to call, The Long Journey Home. Wow, the drive was worse during the day on Monday. We had to cross The Andes, and that was an aventure! We started off the drive home with a nice little protest on the freeway. Don´t worry, they were just burning garbage across the freeway. But we took a little detour and then were on our way home. Going up and then back down those huge mountains...don´t think I will do that again for a long time! We did have to wait for about 2 hours in the border again, so here is a picture of Pablo at the top!
All in all, we had a nice relaxing time. We got to swim at the hotel, take naps, eat yummy food and just chill!