The Italian influence in Argentina is something that will probably be even stronger in Buenas Aires, but even in the mountain city of Mendoza it is striking. Many of the young men around here look like they are straight out of the old country, with the curly, silky black hair and Roman chins. Sometimes, it is hard not to answer people in Italian, given the Italian-like cadences in the Spanish of many people.

Something you will never see in the U.S. -- the opportunity to stick your arm a cage full of cougars at the local zoo. That is no problem in Mendoza, Argentina, where the zoo is really ingrated with nature, and where the liability lawyers are apparently scarce.

It is so refreshing to see that there are still some foreign places where the idiots are not completely insultated from the consequences of their actions. Ever wonder why George W. Bush, before becoming President, never traveled outside the United States? Now you know ;-)


The number of vistors at the Mendoza Zoo was extemely low, with almost no children. So the animals were unusually playful -- very unsually playful for a zoo. The Mendoza Zoo is tiered up the side of a hill at a gigantic park, which has a great population of wild birds. It was really cool. One of the lioness was roaring, appareantly at what was going on at a near by cage -- the world´s oldest rythm, at lion-level amplification. .






A barber in Mendoza left what Gary calls a rat´s tail on Rick´s hair. I am going to keep it as a souvenir of Arengtina!

Protestor have blockaded the roads in and out of Quito, Ecuador, just one week after we left it. They have also taken 15 soldiers hostage and forced the resignation of the Interior Minister! Boy, we can´t leave a country alone for just 5 minutes!!

Here in Argentina, watching Patagonia´s glaciers crumble is big sport. The news carries highlights, and sometimes live feeds, of enourmous chunks of ice falling in the water to the shouts of partying tailgaters. Yep, President Bush, global warming is just a left-wing canard.

Dancing in Mendoza? We have been flabergasted by the lack of nightlife here. Despite being a big, populous city, Mendoza seems very conservative. We have walked all over town during the last week and have never seen a bar or nightclub.

Finally, last night, Rick hung out in the park with several transsexual prostitutes. They took him to a fantastic, eclectic dance club. So now we know.

Today, Rick has a tequilla hangover and has take the Fiat back to the rental agency with a flat tire, dented rim, and major scratches.

After we got some bad advice from the tourist office in Uspallata, we decided to return to Mendoza via "the drive of the year". Which is an unpaved road with 365 hairpin turns and spectacular scenery. We were told it was not a difficult route and small cars have no problem making it. Wrong. We set out in our rented Fiat and found after about an hour of driving in a geologically fascinating desert environment that the road turns into mostly sand with formidable hills. Well, Gary being one not to be deterred easily when faced with driving challenges, attempted unsuccessfully to continue onward, dispatching Rick to get behind the Fiat and push. One flat tire and several minor scratches later we gave up and (Rick) drove back on the paved route. As Rick so optimistically put it: "Nothing ventured, nothing gained."

We are in Uspallata, Argentina, a small moutain town on the Argentine-Chilean border. Its claim to fame is that this is the area where ¨Seven Days in Tibet" was filmed. The slogan on Uspallata´s welcome signs is ¨the city of the movie.¨ In climate, landscape, and flora, Uspallata is suprisingly similar to Grand Junction, Colorado, in the late summer, which is the season here right now. Uspallata is just below Mount Aconcagua, 22,841 feet, the tallest mountain in the Western Hemisphere. We made a short visit to one of our favorite Mendoza wineries, Bodega Weinert where we sampled and purchased some of their varietals . After a typical lunch at a "tenedor libre", an all you can eat buffet with more beef than you can imagine, we drove around some of the vineyards but were unable to visit any more of them without advance reservations. As we said before, Argentines take their afternoon seistas VERY seriously.


Our wonderful, wonderful housesitters, Charles and Richard, sent us a recent photo of Miss Bonnie, who is getting lots of exercise. A blow-by-blow account of Bonnie and her new toy is on a new feature, Miss Bonnie´s dog blog











At first glance Mount Aconcagua does not look particularly impressive despite being nearly 23,000 feet above sea level, but then you remember that the park entrance is higher than any of Colorado´s tallest peaks. This view is from the south side and very near the border with Chile. The south side is reported to be nearly impossible to climb, so most routes to the summit are from the north side.... and no, we did not attempt to climb it.

We´re renting a car tomorrow and heading for the wine country that neighbors Mendoza. So far, the wine here has been excellent and outrageously inexpensive. The ice cream shop across the street for our apartment has Malbec flavor, as well as two other wine flavors! We should be able to post some photos of the Mendoza wine country on Wednesday.