Sunday, March 12
Well I got by with my normal 3 ½ hours sleep on the bus. Surprisingly I slept from about 00.00 to 02:30 but that must have been not only the wine but also the semi-cama seats on this bus that go back much further than any other bus that I have been on and there is a full sized pillow, another first. The rest of the time I was dozing and reflecting on Argentina and life and as always checking on the "Cruz del Sur". Then I fell asleep again between 06:00 and 7:00.
This morning the rising sun reveals a lush green landscape and bright red earth from which everything else-the road, building material all get a reddish tinge.
Breakfast is served at around 09:00 and once again Expreso Singer comes through with the normal two little packages of cookies that you get on other bus lines, plus 2 media lunes (croissants) and coffee served in porcelain mugs-that´s unheard of.
I am about to declare an early winner in my "Best of Argentina List" to be published at the end of the trip. Expreso Singer will get my vote in the "Best Bus Company" category and since I am the only one voting they are a sure winner.
Upon late arrival at 09:50, I had an address for the New Apostolic Church so I grabbed a cab, dropped my luggage off at the Hotel Tierra Colorada at El Uru 265 and headed for the church address I had received from Zurich on the Internet at --av. 1 de Mayo 284. It wasn't encouraging when I got there at 10:05 since I saw no one. I opened the gate and walked into a house where a family was eating. Yes, a long time there had been a church in the empty front room but that was "antes"---so much for Swiss efficiency.
Well I tried, so back to the Hotel Tierra Colorado which is aptly named considering the aforementioned "sienna-coloured" earth that is everywhere.
Considering the entry fee of 30 pesos for the Parque Nacional Iguaçu I opted to put off exploring the park until tomorrow and instead spend the day checking out the town, catching up on the Internet and getting some sleep. The amazing thing is I really don't feel tired after the long bus rides of little sleep--it must be the adrenalin rush of seeing new places.
Also, upon arrival here in town the first thing that struck me was a large sign saying "Cataratas", which is how Iguaçu Falls is often referred to. With the Argentinean accent I though it was "cataracas" but finally, now I see-it is "cataratas"!!
One of the top priorities of traveling is to make sure that you transportation is available when you need it. With that in mind I bought a bus ticket to Rosario for Thursday.
In case you are here and you get the late afternoon need for a coffee and pastry, there is one lovely "pasteleria" here:---Piazza del Campo-- at the corner of San Martin and Misiones.
It is hot here and my choice of a non-air conditioned room left me with "bus-like" sleeping hours. Even as late as Bariloche, I was wishing to experience hot weather since the places I had been to this summer had not really been hot. Well today it was 35 C and tomorrow it will be the same and I am having second thoughts about hot weather.
Tomorrow, it is off to the "C-A-T-A-R-A-T-A-S", the only area in the world where Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay meet.
In the news:
I noticed in the papers that Argentina and Uruguay have reached agreement on the previously mentioned dispute regarding the construction of two pulp mills on the Uruguayan side of the Rio del Plata.
From what I saw on television there was a lot of pride in the streets of Santiago, Chile as huge crowds lined the streets as Michelle Bachelet was inaugurated as Chile's first female president.
You know that the "Glaciar Perito Moreno", that I visited near El Calefate, must be near and dear to this nation's soul when the major breakups which are taking place right now on the front of the glacier are being televised "vivo". Can you imagine for a moment in Canada-here is Peter Mansbridge reporting on the National all the while there is a little mini-picture on the screen showing the Columbia Ice field which may be breaking up!!!
The other story here is beef but I am trying to report on that in Travelogue 18.
Finally, my team, CABJ-Club Atletico Boca Juniors-- is finally in first place in the national soccer league with a one point lead on River Plate
8 votes 
