Mendoza

Mendoza is a pleasant city and it's WARM here. I woke up today and I went on the taras of the hostal and stretched out and breathed in the air and listened to the birds singing. I am defrosted. It's winter here so it's pleasantly warm. In the summer it's very hot in Mendoza. When I got here yesterday I was so tired that I just went straight to a hot spring outside of the city. It's a nice complex of swimming pools, sauna, and jacuzzi. Part of it is roofed and part is outside. It was wonderful to sit in the jacuzzi with the mountains around and sky above. In the whole complex there were only three people from Mendoza and Gabino from France who came on the same bus I came. He is an engineer working with the marine oil spill response program - very interesting. We spent a long time in the pool talking and just plain soaking in the therapeutical water. In the evening I talked to the people from the hostal and we got to bed at about 3 am - another great place with a great crowd of people. Today I walked around the city and enjoyed the nice architecture and encounters with happy dogs. I also ran into Greta, a girl I met a few weeks ago in Buenos Aires. I can't believe in the conincidences which happen in my life lately. When we were parting in Buenos Aires she was going north and I was going south. It´s amazing that we ran into each other like this. We had lunch together and we are going to see a movie tonight. Tomorrow I will see if there are any cultural events here and on Thursday I signed up for the high mountain trekking. I talked to the guide today and it seems my winter clothing and the sleeping bag is enough so I will go to a peak of 5,000 meters. I was so tired when I got here yesterday and today I am full of energy again. The hot spring works wonders!