South America 2024, Day 7: Mendoza

Welcome to my 1st full day in Argentina! Mendoza’s population barely makes it into the top 50 largest cities in Argentina. But its metropolitan area is the 4th largest in the country. As with my next 2 stops, Mendoza was just a one-night stop on my bus trek to get from Santiago to Buenos Aires. The area around Mendoza is South American’s largest wine-growing region, which is a big draw to the area. As I don’t drink alcohol, I wasn’t tempted to visit any vineyards or sample the local wines. I had a very simple agenda for my day in Mendoza–to walk around the city and enjoy its many plazas. And that’s exactly what I did.

Plaza Chile

Before heading out for the day, I checked out of the hotel and stored my bags. Then it was on to Plaza Chile–a symbol of Argentina’s friendship with Chile.

Argentina’s “*inmortal*” friendship with Chile is further memorialized by the statue of Chilean hero Bernardo O’Higgins and José de San Martín. José was an Argentine general who was instrumental in the fight for independence from the Spanish.

Plaza Italia

Continuing with the friendship theme. Plaza Italia symbolizes the friendship between Argentina and Italy. About 62.5% of the population of Argentina has Italian roots.

There’s a lot going on in this fountain feature inspired by Dante’s *Divine Comedy*. To the right of the rear of the boat, you can see the 3-headed dog Cerberus, who guards the gates to Hell.

Unusual sculpture in a fountain in Plaza Italia. It appears to show a woman riding a horse that is in anguish. There might be tree roots coming out of her too.

Hey! What’s a Spanish monument doing in Plaza Italia? Of course I’m kidding. This is a copy of the Italian *Capitoline Wolf* sculpture of the she-wolf suckling the mythical founders of Rome–Romulus and Remus. I saw a version of this the previous year in Segovia, Spain.

Plaza Independencia

Plaza Independencia is the main central square of Mendoza. The other plazas I visited on Day 7 are arranged symetrically around it.

Modern luxury hotel Park Hyatt Mendoza maintains the 19th-century Spanish-colonial façade of the Plaza Hotel, directly opposite Plaza Indendencia. (There was some road work going on when I was there.)

Plaza España

Plaza España shows how, despite a war of independence (commemorated by nearby Plaza Indendencia), Argentina and Spain are now friends. It’s consider the most beautiful of Mendoza’s plazas.

The marble upper part of the large monument in Plaza España. The woman on the left represents Spain. The woman on the right holding grapes represents Argentina and Mendoza. The ship in the center represents Columbus’s 1st voyage. The farm worker and oxen represent the area’s fertile land.

The lower part of the monument is a frieze in painted ceramic. I believe the section here represents the founding of the City of Mendoza. But I could be wrong.

This section of the frieze shows Columbus pointing at India. Or so he thought.

Plaza San Martín

Plaza San Martín is the only 1 of the 4 plazas situated symmetrically around Plaza Independencia that’s not named for a country that’s a friend of Argentina. Instead, it’s dedicated to Argentinian hero José de San Martín, whom we saw earlier next to Chilean hero Bernardo O’Higgins in a statue in Plaza Chile. Both of them were instrumental in their respective country’s war of independence from Spain.

Equestrian statue of General San Martín in the center of the square named for him.

Parque Bernardo O’Higgins

Yet another tribute to Chilean hero Bernardo O’Higgins in Mendoza. We are in Argentina now, right? Parque Bernardo O’Higgins runs for several blocks on the eastern edge of central Mendoza on a north-south axis.

Bust of Chilean poet-diplomat and Nobel laureate Gabriela Mistral.

One of the statues along Parque Bernardo O’Higgins.

Ruins of a church built by Jesuits in the early 19th century.

The ruins of the Jesuit church sit at the northern end of Parque Bernardo O’Higgins. The church was destroyed in a massive earthquake that devastated Mendoza in 1861. It’s actually thanks to the recovery from the earthquake that Mendoza now has its symmetrical layout with beautiful squares. The church was replaced by the Basílica de San Francisco, which we saw earlier opposite Plaza San Martín.

Monument to popular Argentinian tango musician Aníbal Troilo.

I had spent the whole day walking. At the end of my sightseeing for the day, I took the bus back to Plaza Independencia, where I had dinner. Aníbal Troilo stayed with me while I waited for the bus.

But here’s where things got a little weird. I was getting nervous that the balance on my transit card was getting low. I walked around the streets on the perimeter of Plaza Independencia and found a shop with the SUBE logo in the window. But the clerk was unable to add a balance to my card. I found out later that this meant that she was out of credit with the transit agency. But at the time, I got very perplexed. Of course there was also a language issue. I walked around Plaza Independencia, but I couldn’t find any other shops with the SUBE logo sticker in the window. I took a bus back to the bus depot where I went to the shop where I had gotten a card the previous evening. But the shop was closed.

Well, I couldn’t stay at the bus depot and wait for my bus to Córdoba later that night because my bags were still at the hotel. So I took another bus back to the center of town, picked up my bags, and had dinner. (It wasn’t as great as my dinner the night before.) Then, fearing I was out of credit on my transit pass, I got another bus back to the bus depot. My fear was not unwarranted. I didn’t have enough credit for the bus ride. I was a little at a loss for what to do. All I could think of was to say “I’m a tourist” in Spanish to the driver. I guess that was enough because he just waved his hand in exasperation. When I got to the depot, I said “Gracias” as I got off the bus. I made sure not to roll the “r” because I wanted the driver to know I really was a tourist and not just someone trying to pull a scam. Yes, that’s how my mind works.

So, I got my overnight bus at 10:10 pm, and I was on my way to the next stop along the way to Buenos Aires.

[Factual information is primarily gathered from Wikipedia, so you know it must be true.]