Day 4: August 18, 2007 Buenos Aires to Somewhere
Trip Start
Aug 15, 2007
1
4
202
Trip End
Mar 01, 2008
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Rafaela,
Argentina
Saturday, August 18, 2007
We got up around 9:30 and went down to the comedor for a light breakfast. Elena was up for a little turismo so we took a cab over to La Recoleta Cemetery. It may seem a little odd to immediately take one's daughter to a cemetery but La Recoleta is a Buenos Aires 'must see'. She was a little creeped out at first but it proved to be a good history lesson as we visited the tombs of Evita and Domingo Sarmiento. We walked through the artisan's market in the park outside of the cemetery and then wandered the streets until we found a new pizzeria where we had a good lunch. We took a cab back to the hotel and read our books in the lobby until 2:30 when we took another cab out to the bus terminal.
La Recoleta Cemetery
Big Tree in La Recoleta
La Recoleta Cemetery II
With the help of a porter, we picked up our tickets and got our bags to the platform. The bus arrived about half an hour later. We had purchased semi-cama seats. Elena was hoping for a double-decker bus with seats on the upper deck. Both wishes came true!
We pulled out of Buenos Aires at 3:50 and started our 21-hour journey. Ordinarily, I would have flown in on Aerolineas Argentinas and then up to Salta but because a Fulbright is a federal grant we were obligated to get to Argentina on an American carrier. Unfortunately, this doubles the price of domestic Aerolineas Argentinas flights and round-trip tickets for two would cost $1600. When compared to the $200 cost of the round-trip bus tickets, the pair of 21-hour trips didn't seem so daunting.
The seats on the Argentine long distance buses are very comfortable. We watched out the window, talked, and read. Around midnight, we had a half-hour stop in Rafaela where we bought some sodas to wash down the sandwiches provided by the bus line. I finished my book soon after we got underway again and then fell asleep.
