I waited until the afternoon to take a short hike around Mendoza and book a tour. It turns out that around 98% of Mendoza City is shut down on Sundays including many restaurants. I was hoping to book a tour today, but all tour shops were closed as well.
I decided I would hike to the four parks that are strategically placed evenly around Plaza Independencia.
I first stopped at Plaza San Martin that was under repair.
I kept going and stopped at Plaza Espana which had a lovely monument and ceramic work in this park. To my surprise, the fountain had purple water here as well.
I continued to Plaza Italia that had a few statues and two fountains that were not operating.
I made my way to the Aristides Villanueva Street which is usually quite a busy street especially at night. They have many restaurants and bars on this street. I walked to the end of this street which butts up to the General San Martin Park. I then worked my way back up Avenida Emilio Civit which turns into Avenida Sarmiento.
I found a highly recommended restaurant Estancia La Florencia.
As I was placing my order, the waiter indicated it was two for one. He brought out a new bottle and poured me a glass and then left the bottle. I thought I better check for clarity and used my translator to ask if it was not 2 glasses of wine for the price of 1 and he informed me that it was 2 BOTTLES of wine for the price of 1! Wow! Wine is really cheap here! I like a good glass of wine, but wasn’t sure how I would do drinking a full bottle … well, it did go down pretty smooth. LOL
The wine and steak were perfect! A great combination, however it would have been wiser to share that one bottle with someone. Ha!Ha!Ha! At the end of the meal they brought the other bottle of wine out in a bag to take home. It was a very nice promotion.
As I left the restaurant I made my way towards the fourth and final park, Plaza Chile. This Plaza also had a fountain with purple water.
After researching, they dye the water a purple color to signify the center of wine country. The water is dyed this color during Vendimia. The Fiesta Nacional de la Vendimia is an annual event in Mendoza and is one of the most important festivals in the country. It is a celebration of wine and winemaking and has become a huge tourist attraction. I will have to consider this the next time I visit Mendoza.