Chillin' in Mendoza

On Wednesday March 27, we decided to take it easy exploring Mendoza and chilling out.  In fact the password for  our B&B's (Casa Lila) "WIFI" is "chill out".   It was a gorgeous sunny day- high 31C, but a nice dry heat.   We started the day with a run around the lake in beautiful Park San Martin. Alano did 8.7 km and I did around 6.5

 Here are some pics from Casa Lila.

Alano if front of the stairs to our room in the top left corner

The walkway to the door to the street  (door at far end of pic)

One has to be careful walking in Mendoza as there are channels for water on each block and as most are dry, one has to be alert so as not to fall into the channel.

Typical drain with stepping stone across it

The houses are very interesting.  Many are one story in this neighbourhood.

House nearby

We decided to check out the four squares that are each two blocks equidistance from Plaza Independencia, the main Square.  Each is unique and each has a fountain in the middle (clever strategy for possible earthquakes and need for water).  As the former city of Mendoza was destroyed in the 1861 earthquake, the city that was created after is referred to as the "New City" (1863).

The first square we visited was Plaza Chile, which features a number of sculptures heralding the friendship between Argentina and Chile.  In fact, when the Spanish came to this area the border between the two countries did not exist and it was Spaniards from Chile settled in the Mendoza area.

Bench with reference to Los Andes (link between Chile and Argentina)  
One volcano we saw the other day was half in Chile and half in Argentina

Fountain in Plaza Chile

Immortal Friendship-- San Martin and O'Higgins
Argentina/Chile

On our way over to the next Plaza we saw the oldest Basilica in Mendoza dating back to 1875.

Basilica de San Francisco

We then stopped at Plaza San Martin, where there is a huge sculpture dedicated to San Martin, the liberator of Argentina.  Many sculptures have additional commemorative plaques added over the years.

Close up

Sculpture with lots of commemorative plaques

We then walked on to Plaza Espana, an especially beautiful plaza.  This plaza featured beautiful tiles and an elaborate sculpture and fountain.

Fountain in Plaza Espana

Detail from mural

Sculpture and tiles

Plaza Italia was the last of the four squares we visited.  It used to be called Plaza Lima until 1918 when the name was changed to Plaza Italia.  There are a number of sculptures dedicated to Italy, which was the source of many immigrants to Mendoza during the beginning of the 20th century.

Plaza Italia

Large sculpture

Plaza Italia

It was very relaxing to tour the four Plazas.  We took time to sit on benches and watch the street life.  From downtown we walked back to our neighbourhood and had a late lunch at Kato Cafe.

Alano with his cafe

Checking out the WIFI

We then stopped for a gelato/sorbetto at Ferruccio Soppelsa, an ice cream store specializing in Italian style gelatos.  Alano had pistachio and dulce de leche.

Alano with his gelato

We went back to the B&B for a short rest and then headed out to Plaza Independencia.

The City of Mendoza sign was lit up in colour.

We then wandered into the Museo Municipal de Arte Moderno Mendoza which was the site of a free concert, all part of the Festival Internacional Musica Clasica por los Caminos del Vino 2013.   There are a number of concerts taking place around town and in the vineyards from March 23 to April 7.  The  concert we saw featured three young pianists  (Pianistas Joyenes en el Museo).  We stayed to hear two of them.  One was excellent- played a Schumann sonata and a piece by Debussy.

Julian Camps from Buenos Aires- excellent

The crowd at the concert

We then went for a quick bite to eat (so quick that we forgot to take pics) and then back to Casa Lila.

A chillin' day.