ARGENTINA Mendoza, the city

Essentially we are in desert country so it is gloriously hot. Intensely so at mid day for a few hours and I have never felt the impulse to siesta so much. Despite the heat the city is green with irrigation from the Andes. Lots of parks, large trees and places to sit in the shade.

 There are elaborate fountains which are turned off at siesta time! The park one block from my hotel was thronging with people at 10pm last night, with at least 100 craft stalls, but almost deserted at 10am this morning.

I found the tourist information, asking in Spanish, and was sent to a tourist outfit where the girl spoke perfect English and I booked for some trips.
Then lunch where the waitress was Canadian and I had Milanesa, a typical Argentina meal, beef with ham, cheese and a tomato sauce over.
So, I am very pleased with my first impressions of Mendoza but it does not feel that different to Spain.
I went on a City tour in the afternoon. An earthquake destroyed the City in 1861 and there is a portion of a church that survived but you can't really see much for scaffolding!

There is a park where the city was, because the rebuilding took place several blocks away. The square that is near my hotel is the centre and there are 4 more parks a block away from each corner so we have spaces to run into if there is another earthquake!

There is an impressive monument to San Martin, who liberated Argentina and Chile, and there are great views of the Andes from that hill top which overlooks the City.