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| Park pooch at San Rafael, Argentina |
We spent
a week exploring Argentina, sightseeing and eating our way across the
province of Mendoza. There are amazing wineries, fabulous restaurants, and dogs
of every size, shape, colour and variety.
Using
the Petit Suter Hotel in San Rafael as
our base, we investigated the surrounding area. Situated
in the semi-arid southern region of Mendoza province, San Rafael has a
population of around 170,000 inhabitants. It’s a vibrant community with lots of
amenities, including several gourmet restaurants. A wide and delicious selection
of only Argentinian wine is sold in every corner store. No imports allowed.
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| Wine, wine and more wine! |
While exploring the various communities, we saw a well-balanced
interaction between the residents and the street dogs. Strays usually stake out
their territory by napping in doorways of restaurants, stores and gas stations.
Many locals stop to give the dogs a bit of food and a pat on the head. The snowy
winter months would be harder for the animals, but right now the strays are in
good condition, with no sign of scrawny moms scavenging for food so that they can
feed their babies. This is one of the most dog-friendly countries we have ever
experienced.
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| Gas station dog gets a handout |
As mentioned in our previous articles, the roads in
Argentina are well-maintained, but directional signage is very scarce. It makes
for interesting daytrips.
We’d head out with a destination in mind, only to
find ourselves in a completely different hamlet.
As long as there was flavourful
food and tasty drinks at the end of the adventure, we were happy.
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| Plate-sized hamburger |
In one instance, we headed south-west from San Rafael towards
El Nihuil via highway #173 and instead arrived in the town of General Alvear on
highway #143, a good bit east of our original destination. That gave us a good
laugh while we searched for a local restaurant that was open for lunch on a
Saturday.
Again, we stopped at the corner gas station, asking for suggestions.
Just a block away was a local eatery serving dinner-plate-sized hamburgers and
litre bottles of Andes beer.
The food was tasty and the owners were friendly. The
street dogs politely waited for handouts.
Another afternoon,
Carlos, the owner of the Petit Suter
Hotel, suggested that we drive twenty kilometres west to the next village, Veintecinco de Mayo (25th of May)
and have lunch at his favourite restaurant, the Villa Bonita. The route was fairly straightforward, enabling us to
find the eatery without traversing the Andes in search of the village.
We enjoyed a hearty meal of meat, stewed and covered with a pastry crust.
We enjoyed a hearty meal of meat, stewed and covered with a pastry crust.
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| Hi! Want to share with me? |
My body
was craving dark green veggies – broccoli, spinach, and asparagus. Lawrie, on
the other hand, was as happy as a pig-in-poop with the menu choices of meat,
meat and more meat.
I bundled up the leftover beef and carried it back to the
gas station dog near our hotel. He was a very happy mutt that day.
A few days later, we
were headed back north to Mendoza City, the past week having passed in a blur
of food and wine.
On our way north, we veered into the Salentein winery for one
last chance at purchasing our favourites. On the off-chance, we asked if we
could have lunch in the restaurant. We hadn’t thought to make the normally
required reservation.
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| Salentein Winery lunch. |
Fortunately for us, the young woman who manages the
bar and restaurant remembered us from the previous week. She said she could squeeze
us in – yippee!
Another amazing lunch served
with delicious wines and an outstanding view of the snow-capped Andes Mountains.
It was a darn great
way to end our adventures.
Hasta Luego from Paradise
Cheers, Lynda & Lawrie
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