WE´RE BACK IN KANSAS, TOTO

TRIP TO SAN CARLOS DE BARILOCHE

The bus left Retira in Buenos Aires on time at 1:15PM, and arrived on time in Bariloche at 10:45 AM the following day.

The trip was uneventful. They fed us two times on board, and the last time at a stop about 8AM. The bus was big and quite and comfortable; however, having now experienced it, I don´t particularly look forward to the ride back on a yet to be determined date. They ran several movies in English with Spanish sub titles, and, in preparation for the trip, I purchased four new paperback in BA. I didn´t even finish the first one.

I took my sleeping pill, as usual, around 9:30pm, and fell asleep around 11PM for the whole night. Didn´t even wake up to go to the bath room.

During the daylight hours on the first day, I could have been crossing Kansas on the Interstate. That´s how uninteresting the Pampas are. There were even crops of Sun Flowers.

PRODUCTIVE DAY.

Forty-five minutes after arrival, I was installed in my hotel room, which was satisfactory. It´s hard to compare anything to the nice apartment in Buenos Aires. The good point were that there was little to no noise. The bad point being two single beds.

I then went in search of a Spanish school, as I knew that if I didn´t do it here and now, it wouldn´t get done. I checked out the ABC school, then La Montaña. I chose Montaña, and Karen also reserved a private room in a host family for me for one week. I hope I like them. The cost of the school and the room for a week is less than the cost of the apartment alone in Buenos Aires.

An internet search for a rental car turned up nothing. Most everything was taken. I walked to where I thought a location might be, and ran into an obscure little local car rental place, and the guy said he had two cars coming back on Saturday, and I could have either for the week. So I gave him my deposit, and will go back tomorrow at noon to pick up the car. I haven´t driven anything except the golf cart in Uruguay since December 1. I´m looking forward to it, and also to travel around the beautiful mountains and lakes.

For my first lunch, I had a trout in lemon sauce and a small bottle of vino tinto.
For dinner, I happened onto a street that was roped off from cars, and a band or group was setting up. So I selected a table from where I could see the entertainment, and ordered pizza and beer. Anchovy, needless to say.

The entertainment was not bad. It didn´t even get dark until about 9:30, and the transition from evening to night was hardly noticable, since there was a full moon.

I´ll report more next week as to my new accomodations, the Spanish lessons and the car.