Mendoza - The vineyard of Argentina

Mendoza is the perfect holiday destination with plenty of cheap shopping deals, a great nightlife and some top class restaurants and cafes. Oh and it just happens to be the world renown capital of Argentina’s wine industry. Here you can cuddle up with a vintage or taste the latest gold medal winning wines, and all at ridiculously cheap prices. Most of the restaurants and cafes will serve the best the local region has to offer and you will find yourself making as much room in you suitcase as possible for more bottles to take for the trip home. While you are here you can’t just stop at one or two Vineyard tours, and should instead go on a “Vineyard crawl” and drench yourself in the wine industry (and its tasty products!). The city itself is full of beautiful Plazas and parks which is surprising since the city is also in a desert region. But the city and outlying vineyards have a huge artificial irrigation system which you can see running down the path and roadsides. Also as a final note, if you aim to arrive in February you are likely to time your trip with the Harvest Festival which is great excuse to enjoy even more of the beautiful wine!

Brasilia - The custome made city

Brasilia is not your typical South American city and has only been around for about half a century. The city was the dream of then President Juscelino Kubitschek and the shape of the city resembles a bird with its wings outstretched. You will notice very quickly that this is a city planned in every way to the sections for the hospitals to the shopping districts. The shoping district is brillant for anything you are looking for since it is all located in one main section. You might find this a bit sterile but we found this city a wonderful example of modern archetecture. The Square of Three Powers is where you can see the three seats of power in Brazil, the Congress, the Presidential Palace and the Supreme Court. If you head midway up the centre section of the city you can find one of the most interesting modern buildings in the Brasilia Cathedral. The cathedral has several curved pilars that stretch upward and are supposed to represent a pair of hands outstretched to God. Apart from all the quality archetecture, the lake is also a man-made construction. Paranoá Lake is designed to reduce the effect of the dryer months but is also offers so fantastic sunsets of the city.