Scotch Mist

I sincerely hope that my anorak has had its last outing....well, I suppose the rain has drowned the mosquitoes at least.
We did have the most wonderful night bus trip from BAs to Mendoza; I cannot tell you how brilliant it is being tucked up in your reclining flatbed seat. Ours were front row, top deck. A stewardess brings you wine and food (okay - food wasn't so brilliant but it's a small criticism) before you settle down. You slowly rock your way through the countryside - occasionally coming to and being lulled back to sleep by the sway of the bus. I got a full eight hours...

                           BAs bus station...that board really does have a destination called Eldorado....

We even woke to sunshine and having found our way to our Hostel wasted no time booking in for a bodega tour. It was so good just to be able to sit in warmth and appreciate the countryside....but it was short lived.  Our tour guide had said  'It hardly ever rains in Mendoza...we have the same amount of rain here in a year as Buenos Aires has in a week!' They'd not taken the Hoblyn effect into account....As we travelled home, the clouds massed and the thunderstorms came about midnight.

                              The barrels at Bodega Lopez.....we had a very nice Malbec to taste

                                            Grape skins, not wasted but used in cosmetics

                                                                   Rain on the way

So....today was one of 'Scotch Mist' - quite topical as we'd met Stuart from Inverness in the Hostel and also watched a homage to Rangers football team (subtitled) on the hostel TV whilst eating supper tonight...
I donned my anorak and went for a 2 1/2 hour walk around Mendoza's huge park  - where I spotted someone else who appreciated rain....

Lesley was hitting the shops - she went out for a pair of sensible trousers and ended up with a catsuit with leopardskin top.....There was one arcade that deserved a picture for being totally misnamed...

So, we decided that grey was not the way - and booked our bus over the Andes to Chile for tomorrow morning.....so far, the forecast shows lots of sun symbols - but I do hear tales of fog in Valparaiso...Lesley tells me not to even talk about it....