Mendoza (only 4 weeks late)

During Semana Santa (Easter weekend, where I got a few days off school to celebrate) a few friends and I went to Mendoza, Argentina. Mendoza is a western province, located next to/in the Andes Mountains and Chile. It is the largest, and most well known wine producer in Argentina.

We took a bus there; it was 14 hours. The trip there and back was fine because we were able to sleep, chat, watch movies, and look outside the windows at the landscape of who-knows-where Argentina. I also brought some of my textbooks to catch up on my reading for school. The buses were bigger than usual and had large chairs that could recline almost all the way so I felt like I was kind of in a bed. Anyway, I was able to sleep about as well as if I were on an airplane, maybe even better since there was no turbulence.

We didn't try all of these wines, but we would like to! They were set out for people to buy after touring a winery.

Me, posing in a vineyard. 

We stopped our bike tour of various vineyards to eat lunch on the side of the road. Don't worry, there was plenty of space between us and the 3 or 4 cars that passed by. 

Snow-capped mountains towards the end of summer. These are the Andes, basically the only thing separating us from Chile. 

More mountains, aren't they pretty?

Me, Brandi, Rosalie, and Sydney after we went white water rafting down the Mendoza River. Easily the most fun thing I did all weekend (rafting, not picture taking, but that was fun too). The water was freezing, so of course Sydney and I sat in the front of the raft. When I wasn't paddling or getting splashed, I saw an amazing view of the mountains. No pictures for you since my camera isn't waterproof.

This little thing is part of a larger stone monument to commemorate the friendship between Chile and Argentina. I think it's supposed to be both flags twisted around each other. Taken in a cute little park in Mendoza city we spent most of Sunday relaxing here and in the hostel while we waited for our bus to arrive. It was Easter, so the city was shut down.