Having arrived in Mendoza mid-morning we checked into the hostel and spent the afternoon strolling around the town.

We'd heard mixed reviews of the town, various earthquakes mean it is a relatively modern city with few historical sites. The centre certainly lives up to this review, think any medium sized town. However the walk out to the Parque General San Martin on the edge of the centre revealed streets of large, individually designed houses of various styles. You question the taste of some of the owners but a lot of them are quite stunning. There's definitely some money here.

The park itself is lovely. And full of the toned and beautiful well-to-do folk of Mendoza jogging or relaxing in the lakeside restaurant/pool/sports club. More tennis clubs around the edge of the park confirm the wealth here present.

Heading back to the hostel we walked down a long street lined with very nice bars and restaurants. Clearly this is a town that likes a good time. We headed back there that evening for a drink and dinner. Despite being a Tuesday evening most places were busy - especially from 10pm onwards as we headed to bed! Argentinians dine and party very late.

The next day we were booked in for a tour and wine tasting lunch at the highly recommended Bodega Ruca Malen. This is a small family owned winery producing less than a million bottles a year. The food and wine more than lived up to expectation, absolutely delicious, although I'd have liked to have sampled more wines to check their matching of food to wine, heh heh.
The food, the wine and the heat just about did us in and we chilled at the hostel for the remainder of the afternoon. Life in the home of Malbec is hard!