I've never been to a festival like this one..

The grill that we ordered dinner from

There were probably close to 15 stands like this one roasting meat all day..

Generally Chileans and Argentines do not regard each other so highly but in Mendoza, there is a huge Chilean population. We were lucky enough to be staying in Mendoza while they were celebrating the 200 year anniversary of Chile’s independence (September 18th 1810). It was insane.. Plaza Independencia (the main plaza), just two blocks from our hostel, was packed with over a thousand people and a concert for three nights. Every foot of grass was covered.. with tables to eat at, open grills with 24 hour roasts, asados, with people dancing, salsa, tango, everything. Chilean flags were in every direction. Benjamin, Kathryn and I headed over around 10pm and stayed till midnight when the concert finished and shared a huge portion of roasted meat for dinner. Benjamin is still saying, “BEST MEAT I’ve had in Argentina.” They roasted the meat slowly and had it turning all day but it wasn’t dry because of the sauce that they were continuing to put on it. One of my favorite moments from the night was when I was getting salad and the guy next to me asked in Spanish if I was Chilean.. Whether there were not a lot of tourists at the festival or there are a lot of redheads in Chile, it was exciting.

Kathryn and Benjamin finishing dinner, the concert in the background

Benjamin and I in front of the Plaza