Friends meeting!
It is Friday afternoon. After a hard week of working and studying, the weekend is just around the corner. Dusk is falling in Mendoza and it invites me to relax and enjoy great moments with friends. Around seven p.m. I finish washing my car and start planning what I will do during the night.
After taking a bath, I call my girlfriend and, as usual, she has no idea where to go. Suddenly, I remember one of my favorite places: “El Cerro” drive-in cinema. It is located in a perfect spot near General San Martín Park. What I enjoy the most about it is the wonderful view of the city that its location offers. Do you want to see?
View of Mendoza at night
So the plan is set. We make some sandwiches, grab some coke, cookies and blankets in case it is cold, and head towards the cinema. Mendoza’s downtown looks gorgeous at night. The street lamps illuminate pedestrians talking to each other, groups of friends chatting cheerfully, families walking together, or eating in one of the excellent restaurants that you can find.
Aristides Villanueva Street
We are driving through Arístides Villanueva Street, one of the main streets in Mendoza. This is where people of all ages gather to spend time with friends and have blissful moments. As we pass through one of our favorite food places, “El Palenque,” we decide to stop and have dinner (We still have time before the movie starts.)
The place has a distinct style, very rustic and traditional. It resembles the pulperías of the 18th and 19th centuries.
El Palenque Restaurant
My girlfriend and I order the same dish we always order, the amazing lomitos, in my opinion, the best ones in Mendoza.
![Sándwich de lomito_thumb[2]](https://myhomemendoza.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/sc3a1ndwich-de-lomito_thumb2.jpg?w=300&h=198)
Lomito, one of my favourite meals.
Around 12.30 our friends text us and invite us to go to Iskra, a club in San Martín Sur Street. My girlfriend, who loves dancing, is down for it immediately. I am not a good dancer, but I can always follow her, so I say yes. It is 1.30 a.m. and the streets are packed with young people. This is the “rush hour” when everyone is heading towards clubs to enjoy the night.
Iskra, a club in San Martín Sur Street
We meet our friends at Iskra’s entrance. The place is completely crowded. The great and varied music, the flashing lights, and the nice environment make Iskra the perfect place to hang out with friends and dance during the night.
At 5 in the morning we leave the club and decide to finally go home to rest. The night has been long. When I get home and see the Sun slowly rising over the horizon, I cannot believe it is a new day already. This night has been one of the happiest of my life.
my home mendoza 
This post was very fun to read; you really painted a vivid picture of a Friday night in your hometown, with all of its sights, sounds, and tastes. I can’t believe 1:30am is “rush hour” there! I am usually in bed and asleep by that time, even on the weekends. The pictures in your post are gorgeous. Mendoza looks like a beautiful city, and your description makes me want to visit sometime!
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Thanks for your comment! Yes, the party time is very different in Argentina compared to te USA. I am glad you enjoyed the post!
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Wow. After reading this post I question why you left! Sounds like an awesome time and place to be. Maybe I will consider going one day in the future.
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This post makes me want to hop on a plane to Argentina right now! I love reading about the cultural differences. It must have been quite the culture shock to arrive in Carlisle and find out our bars close at 2am! The photo of Mendoza at night is breathtaking, the food looks fantastic and the nightlife sounds so fun! I am definitely adding it to my list of places I must travel to. Thank you for sharing!
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This post was GREAT! I felt like I really got to experience the night of a true Argentinean. I love how late you were out too! Makes a really convincing argument that your night was a blast. It’s so interesting to me that dinner and a movie are just the beginning to your night. Over here I feel like that would be a whole night whereas on another night we would go to the bars. I guess in Argentina you guys can combine them all!
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I really enjoyed this post. It is really cool to see how different cultures spend their weekends because the weekend is something we really look forward to in college. It’s crazy how different it is! You go out so much later than we do and come back so much later than we do. Here, I usually am out by 9 and in bed by about 2. I think it’s really interesting. You must get so tired! I also love all of the pictures you included. Mendoza looks beautiful. I especially like the picture of the restaurant. It definitely looks like somewhere I would enjoy going.
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