Squeezing it all in

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I was fairly unhurried this morning as I prepared for the day. My bus to Puerto Iguazú wasn't until 3.30pm and I was in two minds whether to stay in the hostel and relax or try and get in a little more sightseeing. Having packed what little I had taken out of my bag, I shaved and showered so that I might feel a little fresher at the other end of my journey. Whilst having breakfast I thought that I ought to try and do something with my morning, so with my bags stored at the hostel I ventured out into the city one last time. The further I got from the hostel the more I realised that it was probably a good idea to squeeze as much as I could into today, because otherwise I'd be rather fidgety on my eighteen hour bus journey later.

As I had been rather more organised with my time this morning I decided I'd try and get to the congress building for the tour. At the same time I thought it prudent to time how long my journey took, as I'd be catching the metro to Retiro station later and walking the short distance to the Omnibus terminal from there... not that I wanted to be organised or anything!

I arrived at the side entrance to the congress building five minutes before the tour started, as per the instructions I had been given on my visit the other day. I approached the desk and asked in my best Spanglish about taking the 11am tour. The not so cheerful looking woman sat at the desk simply replied 'Eleven o'clock cancelled'. Confused, I asked in Spanish as to why and got the same short answer as before as well as being told 'Tour at four'. After congratulating her on her customer service of the year award, I was approached by an English couple, who had been there before me, if they had heard her correctly. I chuckled, as their grasp of Spanish was obviously as good as mine, and said that unfortunately they had. As we left a little disappointed, I explained that I couldn't come back for the later tour as I'd be on a bus out of the city to Puerto Iguazú. They told me about their time at the falls and how much they had enjoyed it. I asked if they had done any walking tours of the city and advised them to do the free tour which I had done.

After we had wished each other safe travels I felt a little lost as to how to fill my time now. As the weather looked like it might take a turn for the worse I decided I'd go to the cafe which Virginia had pointed out on the tour for one of their famous 'Submarino' hot chocolates. I walked down Avenue de Mayo and was soon outside the Tortoni cafe. Although the outside of the building blended into the rest of the street, the inside resembled more of an art deco tea room. The ceilings were high and the walls adorned with paintings and pictures of all eras. I sat at one of the tables and was quickly approached by one of the waiters dressed in shirt, tie, jacket and full length apron. I ordered a 'Submarino' and he gave me one of those knowing looks as if to say 'Ah, another tourist'. I was soon presented with a small cup of warm frothed milk, on the side of which was a foil wrapper containing a submarine shaped chocolate. Strangely excited by the concept I unwrapped the chocolate and dropped it into the milk to melt. As I waited for the chocolate to melt, I sat and contemplated how I was feeling about the trip. I still hadn't settled into traveling again yet, and as awkward as it felt at times, things like this really allowed me to just enjoy the moment.

With time pressing on, my next call was the cities famous Colon Theatre on Avenue 9 de Julio. As I walked past the obelisk yet again I happened upon a souvenir shop and remembered that I hadn't yet bought a fridge magnet for this stop. I had seen some near the Recoleta cemetery yesterday that had looked perfect, but these magnets were far cheaper and I was served by a lovely lady who spoke great English once I had tried to wow her with my Spanish.

Once I had arrived at the theatre I took a photo from the front but was a little disappointed as they were pulling up the road which spoilt it a little. Nevertheless I continued past the theatre to Plaza Lavalle to catch the metro back to the hostel. As I entered the square, I could see a whole collection of buildings surrounding it with varied architectural influences. The most interesting was a glass fronted, very modern looking building that had incorporated part of an original stone tower into it's design - a better example of how mix and match Buenos Aires is you could not find.

Content with a very productive and enjoyable morning, I headed back to the hostel to eat before going to get my coach. With my belly yet again full of steak, I collected my bags, thanked Juan and headed to the metro. Ironically, the day that I left Buenos Aires was the day that it had to be hot and sunny. As I arrived at the metro to buy my ticket, beads of sweat were already running down my forehead, and the metro didn't really help much. It was packed when I climbed on, and the fact that the metro is more poorly air-conditioned than the London tubes in the hight of summer meant that my shirt began to cling to my back even more.

I got to bus terminal just as the heavens opened, and what had been beautiful sunshine turned into a torrential downpour. The instructions that I had from Green Toad Buses said that I had to collect my ticket from the Crucero del Norte office. I looked it up on the map of the terminal and walked all the way to the very very end of the terminal. Sadly the chap their pointed me in the right direction, which meant walking halfway back to get to the right place.

With ticket in hand I stopped to buy some more Alfajores to go with the Empanadas that I had bought as supplies for my trip. I was soon onboard my coach, which it has to be said was rather swish. Although I had enjoyed the comfort of the Turbus coach from Santiago to Mendoza, this made it look like a typical you'd catch to get to work. With only three seats to an isle and more leg space, you were afforded far more room to relax. As we waited to leave the terminal we were shown various adverts, all in Spanish, on the tv monitors. It made me laugh and think of when I used to watch the Fast Show with Dad when they did the 'Mucho, mucho, scorchio, scorchio' skits.

Once we had set off, I settled into my seat and watched the various movies that they had on offer whilst tucking into my Empanadas. The Empanada is a small pastry which is cooked by either frying or baking and is best described as the pasties smaller cousin. They come in many varieties, but I had chosen chicken as I was a little bored with beef and steak. Comfy and full I sat back and watched the countryside roll by as I drifted off to sleep.

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