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 | Mendoza Local Customs | Tips 1 - 10 of 21 |  |
 Typical 'Empenadas' &
Argentine Wine by Bwana_Brown
For our in-room meal on our luggage-less first night in Mendoza, I walked to a nearby restaurant and ordered meat (piquant) empanadas 'to-go'. Back in our room, we washed them down with some of great Argentine wines that we had bought earlier in the evening at a small store. We seemed to prefer the juicy meat empanadas, and usually ordered them for a quick snack at airport restaurants while waiting for our flight departure, and even at lunch one day in Mendoza. They only cost a couple of US$ for 6 or 7 of them. Leave a Comment
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 A Typical Deep Street Ditch by Bwana_Brown
Recognizing a good thing when they saw it, the Spanish further adapted the system, allowing this desert region to sprout with vegetation. Their introduction of various grape varieties led to the development of Argentina's burgeoning wine industry.
The city of Mendoza is characterised by large ditches along both sides of most of it's streets, to funnel any water to where it is most needed. There are also major concrete storm channels passing through the city, sometimes marking the boundary of one area from another. Even though it was mid-summer when we were there, we saw one of these big channels flowing madly with water from somewhere! Leave a Comment
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 Mendoza Street Scene by Bwana_Brown
The bark on the trees reminded me a bit of eucalyptus in that it is patchy, but it does not have the 'ragged' look of a eucalyptus. They have an amazing canopy of leaves, fulfilling their main mission of shading the streets. After all, the average summer temperature in Mendoza is near 35 degC (95 degF)! I was pleased to hear that the city keeps a data base on each tree to ensure that it is kept healthy and trimmed as necessary for public safety! Leave a Comment
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 Cold Drinks at Our Favourite
Sidewalk Cafe by Bwana_Brown
At noon and into the early afternoon we saw many groups sitting at tables just having a cold beer or wine as they talked. Beer generally comes in large bottles in Argentina, although small and mid-sized bottles are also available. I found that, sitting in the heat, it made much more sense to just go with a large (almost 1 litre) bottle. The cost was usually about A$5 (US$1.80). The employee coming out the door, with his blazing window BBQ pit to the left, gave me a big smile when he realized that I had just taken his picture!
Maybe this helps them along with their afternoon siesta between 1-5 PM when many of the shops close! Leave a Comment
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Tattered red streamers and flags fluttering in the breeze above little red-roofed shelters contrasting brightly amid the intense green fields of the Uspallata Valley were the first thing to catch the eye. Closer inspection revealed a motley collection of broken toy cars, messages tucked into bottles, red candles and plastic flowers, an odd assortment of seeming rubbish mixed up with small crosses, all gathered together in what was obviously some sort of shrine. They fascinated me but the girls at the hotel shrugged their shoulders when I asked what it was and said they didn't know.
A sign saying "El Gaucho Gil" at the next one we saw gave the first clue and a quick google soon told the story.
Antonio Gil, 19th century gaucho-turned-bandit has become something of a cross between a local saint and Robin Hood figure to the poor and dispossessed of rural Argentina. A folk healer whose refusal to fight in a provincial civil war made him an outlaw, Gil was known to rob the rich to help the poor. After his execution (unjust maybe, a pardon seemed likely) a legend grew that attributed the miraculous recovery of a young boy to his intervention. More "miracles" followed and the shrines proliferated, all distinguished by their red flags and streamers and the small offerings people leave behind - candles and long red ribbons from those praying for a safe journey; cars and models of houses and such from those seeking more tangible improvements to their lives.
A huge shrine has grown around the place of his purported execution in Corrientes and thousands flock to it each year, but its these wayside shrines that are quite touching with their mixture of poverty and hope. Leave a Comment
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With only 7 to 8 inches of rain a year, Mendoza's wine industry survives in a desert due to a system of irrigation first developed by the Huarpe Indians long before the place was colonised by the Spanish in the 16th century. Just as the Indians channelled the runoff from the snow capped peaks into a complex network of irrigation channels to grow their crops of corn and vegetables, the wine growers even today use a complex system of irrigation canals that run though the vineyards to provide their vines with a precisely controlled supply of water that ensures optimum growth and yet protects the grape berries from becoming water-logged and fragile.
The combination of low rainfall, low humidity and high elevation combined with this method of flood irrigation keeps fungi and other agricultural pests at bay, allowing the vineyards to be free of pesticides with many being completely organic. A large, cheap labour market (many itinerate workers come to Mendoza from Bolivia at peak times throughout the year) allows the continuation of labour intensive vineyard practices such as the opening and closing of the individual channels and even hand picking at some vineyards that are long-gone from other wine-growing areas around the world. Leave a Comment
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You'll see the old custom of growing a rose bush at the end of a row of vines in places in Mendoza. White roses at the end of Sauvignon Blanc, Torrontes, Chardonnays and the other whites, red roses for Malbecs and Merlots, Cabernet Sauvignons and Pinot Noirs. Not every row of course - there's far too many for that - but around the cellar door areas and the public parts of the vineyards they make a pretty show. They served a purpose other than simply being pretty though - roses are even more susceptible to mildew than vines and the rose bushes were rather like the canaries in coal mines - they gave a warning to the grower. These days, sulphur sprays keep mildew at bay very effectively, and it's never been a big problem in Mendoza's dry mountain air anyway, but it's a nice tradition and it certainly makes for a few nice photos. Leave a Comment
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 by TheWanderingCamelLeave a Comment
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 Cheers Compadre by Gaspar&Floppy
The lyrics of the tonada are very poetic and usually talk about love to a woman, love to the own land or about enjoying life with friends.
The "cogollo" the part of the tonada in which the singer/s dedicate the song to someone, when the song finishes, that "someone" must pay the tonaderos with a glass of wine and the rest of the public can do the same. Not to pay a tonada or not to accept the glass of wine is considered really really impolite. I've seen many tonaderos finishing their shows just for not being "paid"
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 Plaza Espaņa by Dicomo
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