La vida de Mendoza

Some cold, grey and rainy days in Mendoza have lead us to seek out indoor entertainment. A visit to the bodega (winery) La Rural yielded a tour of their dimly lit museo del vino. Here we were informed by our guide (whom we also helped to decipher some american pop lyrics!) that until 30 years ago they had real coopers working there producing some googleplex of wooden barrels given their annual production is now 10 million litres!

The hamlet at the centre of the winery region had only one restaurant within walking distance, but fortunately Casa de Campo was terrific. Proud of their heritage, all the meals are locally sourced and traditionally prepared. We dined on canejo al horno de borro (rabbit roasted in a clay oven!) Neither of us have eaten lagomorph before, and I certainly wasn't expecting a delicious feast of lean white meat, with a distinct absence of lead shot, unlike Marty McFly's first taste of the bunny in 1855. Los canejos were purchased by the restaurant from a nearby farm where they can roam. Dessert was helados artesanal de higos (craftsman's fig icecream as translated proudly on the menu). This was a real treat, with preserved figs drizzled in syrup served beside the craftsman's icecream, containing more of the fig. The figs are grown on the property and they make the icecream themselves. What a great place.

Walking to the museum in the centre of town we spotted a group of police officers sheltering from the rain. In a fit of good sense by someone high up in the force, the Mendoza policia patrol the beat on bikes. I haven't yet seen them run down a thief or engage in a high speed chase, but it just seems so sensible and such a good example for everyday people, as opposed to say, eating doughnuts, being obese and incompetent. Exam question: compare and contrast the influence of the popular image of the police force on the populace of Mendoza and Springfield, USA.

This May the city of Mendoza has a huge free arts programme running. We went to their museum of modern art today and were treated to 3 exhibits. The first were vibrantly coloured, animated paintings distorting real objects. My favourite was a spectacularly original take on an old theme (for docs anyway!). An artist has created cardboard cartons which fit together to form organs of the human body. The plans for each were included on the wall beside, just as you expect in the directions accompanying a carton used to transport documents. I like imagining the culture jam of setting up your courier box only to find it is actually a giant pair of lungs. The final exhibit was Emily's favourite and it featured a vast array of mixed media pieces, mostly black and white, with serpiginous lines, and unwitting resemblance to Emily uncle Tim's abstractions. The entire time our visit was accompanied by the beautiful sound of a soprano and her piano accompanist practising for an opera performance in a week's time. I have tried to upload a wee video to demonstrate the organs, both vital and vocal.