Mar. 11 – A day in Mendoza

We have a quick, complimentary breakfast in the restuarant adjacent to the hotel, during which we experience a brief and mild earthquke!.  We drop off a load of clothes with the hotel staff for laundry service, and then start calling dealers looking for front tires.  We locate a tire store that has our size, and we ride there and get them.  then we go a few blocks to a garage and get them installed for $2.00 USD each!  While we are there, I notice that a portion of my rear sub-frame is cracked in three places, and looks ready to fall apart!

We ride back to our hotel, and I strip down the bike to it’s basics.  While Levi heads out for an afternoon on a wine-tasting tour, I go to a ‘solderadero’ and get him to heliarc the cracked aluminum frame member back together.  He does an excellent job, for about $14 USD.

Mendoza is a beautiful city.  It is what I imagine Paris to be like, without any Frenchmen.  Lovely tree-lined streets and boulevards, parks and public squares, restaurants and sidewalk cafes, museums, shops, everything a tourist could want or need.  Wonderful year-around climate as well.   A truly world-class city and a great place to visit.  I had a wonderful afternoon!  This is one city I would consider returning to for visit again.

Later that evening, when Levi returns from his tour, we walk about the town searching for sunglasses to replace his broken pair, and for dinner.  We walk to a recommended ice-cream shop for a sweet treat before returning to out hotel at last.