B E A Utiful in Mendoza

I just managed to lose 6 consecutive games of Chess. No, I don´t have lots of extra time on my hands or anything, it just seemed like the appropriate game for the last 2 hours to partake in...and Yes, some of the games lasted under 5 minutes. Pitiful. I had higher self-expectations than that.
Ahh, Mendoza. Yes. Safe to say this is my favorite place I´ve been to thus far in my travels. Perfect size, 150 thousand people...parks every few blocks, great outdoor cafes that between the hours of noon and 3, and 9pm til 4 am, the streets are lined with chairs and people sitting outside. Its irresistable to grab a seat and join the lounging experience.
I´m also gaining an appreciation for the Siesta- At first, I was quite frustrated that everytthing is shut down from 1230 til 530...since this is my peak operation time...but now I realize its so friggin hot, and people need their naps. I have taken quite a liking to the midafternoon nap, which sometimes results in the waking up, eating breakfast-lunch, and then taking a 3 hour nap before starting the late afternoon.
Now, some of you may think that I am not doing anything, but, this is far from true. Yesterday, I sat at a cafe for 4 hours and indulged myself with a bottle of Malbec Wine, and Icecream. And than I cooked dinner after a lovely late afternoon swim, and short shopping excursion. I felt quite accomplished. Sometimes, I even go to a museum or two...
Today, ah, today... hoy vamanos rafting. White Water Rafting, if you will. Actually, the river is a lovely shade of brown that resembles chocolate milk, so I prefer to call it Chocolate Rafting. It was grade 4, which means the rapid are quite...rapídy. It was a terrific day. I have officially turned into Heidi, AKA MOM, as I make snacks for the road...including grapes, peaches, a sandwich, and of course, a wet napkin for my sticker fingers. Our raft was all ladies, and we certantly dominated that damn river. We paddled forward, backwards, jumped to the left, and heaved ourselves into the center on command. Although, the command were in Spanish, and I was in the front....at one point our guide yelled for all of us to jump to the center as we hit a rock, and I apparantly was in lala land...and started paddling forward. Oops. But I didn{t fall. Now taht I look back, there was a nother point of the day when I was in teh back of the boat when the guide must have thought I was going to fall over because he lunged at me and pulled me into the boat. Ha. Ah well. It was a beautiful day, clear sky, and we could see Cerro Aconcagua....the highest mountain in all of the Americas whcih is located right outside of mendoza. Really amazing to look at.
Today, after I go to bed for the night, and than wake up....will be New Years Eve. And what better things are there to do on the day of NYE than bike to a winery and taste some samples? I can´t thinki of anything that tops it....if you do, please, post a comment and dispute.
Fireworks are starting outside, and I can no longer concentrate on a computer.