Hangin out at the bus station

Today wasn´t quite the glorious globe trotting day I had imagined... in fact, it was downright dull! Hours of research had assured me the Gaucho Festival in the small town of San Antonio del Agreco was taking place during my time here in Argentina. Further, it was just 2 hours away by public bus, just US$7 or so each way. Fantastic! Adventurous! Wonderful departure from the touristy every-day!

Yep, I should probably stick to the toursty. I arrived at the bus station an hour early for the bus. This is saying something -- the place was massive, and not a little, um, sketchy, at that hour of the morning (note, no town is most beautiful at its bus station). Unfortunately, the friggin 9am bus was already sold out, so I settled for the 11am. Long wait. Then the 11am was delayed an hour. Long wait. Then the bus caught heavier than normal traffic. 30 minute delay.

I arrived in San Antonio after all the morning festivities had ended and siesta had begun. I had yet to eat lunch, and it was already getting late in the afternoon.

I´d met another stranded traveler, an older gentleman from Swiss diplomatic circles, who spoke Spanish and was able to find us a small cafe that was still open even at that hour. Each of us devoured excellent hamburgers. There was no sign of the 10 day "all town" festival, except for some flyers distributed about. Immediately after my hamburger, it was time for me to retreat to the bus station for my return to Buenos Aires.

And yep, no surprise, the return bus was delayed too. This one, 1.5 hours. The sun was nice, though, and I met at the San Antonio bus station a really nice British lady with whom I swapped stories of public transportation woes from around the world (hers were *so* much worse than mine, the poor soul!).

Back in BsAs, I forgot the way to my hotel, and wandered for a long time, needing to use the (ahem) banos quite urgently. Yep. From art gallery princess yesterday to the girl who finally gives in to pay extra for toilet paper. That would be me :-)

My flight out is tomorrow night. I have a day planned at an Estancia not far from the city. I´m a little nervous about making my flight, but determined to make the most of my last precious day in Buenos Aires. Sending my love,

Love T