Day 38: Uruguay - Buenos Aires - Brazil!

A bit of a non-day where a brief time sightseeing was sandwiched between travelling. Our SeaCat back to BA was at 9:30am and after our super easy check in on the way over, we were a little stunned by the lengthy, slow moving queue that we joined when we reached the ferry terminal.

Eventually on the ferry, and a short return journey, this time in the day light we could take in the skyline of BA as we approached. Which was pretty meh. Generic modern, commercial skyline. But sure, it was grand!

I walked Anja to her hostel on Calle Florida where we offloaded our day bags before hunting down the famous Cafe de Tortino, a cute, vintage cafe (with vintage waiters to match). I had the saddest gluten free treat (chocolate covered rice cake. Woo.) with an incredible hot chocolate, AKA "submarino" - a solid hunk of chocolate to dip into hot milk. Sooooo goooood...

Picked our big bags up, trekked back across town to Anjas hostel (getting pretty sick of my giant overweight rucksack at this point) and dumped off our bags before heading to Palermo. I had it in my head that I needed one final hit of Argentinian steak before I left BA. And this is where I was convinced I'd get it.

The metro was insanely cheap: for 25 Arg Pesos(€1.25), Anja and I made it across town, with change left over. About 3pm at this point, there wasn't a soul knocking about in this trendy part of town. So trendy in fact, they even had a dedicated gluten free bakery! So excited, I ran across the road to it when I saw it! They had the most amazing cakes! Even alfajores! A traditional South American biscuit like treat filled with dulce de leche, which up until this point could only lust after...

I filled up two bags with sweet and savoury goodies before skipping off down the street with Anja, still on the hunt for steak...

On the corner we found the restaurant I'd been searching for - La Cabrera. But alas, it was closed. I turned around disappointed, thinking we'd run out of time to find another steak house... until I saw people emerge from underneath an awning half way down the next street. I dragged Anja to check it out and sure enough it was the daytime restaurant of La Cabrera! And we had just enough time!

Steak. Wine. Gimme! I was so excited! This place came recommended! And judging by how full the restaurant was and how unfriendly the staff were I had high hopes! A nice, fat steak came out on a hot plate. I was positively giddy! With my wine lined mouth I picked up my knife, and made contact with the succulent meat. But it didn't dissolve at the touch of my knife. I had to use a sawing motion more than a few times to get through it, using decidedly more force than I was prepared for... huh? I had heard Argentinian steak could be cut with a spoon... lies! After all that, it was only okay... I've had better... such high hopes, dashed. Buenos Aires, you've failed me.

Full, but not fulfilled, we had to rush back so I would catch my bus up to Puerto de Iguazú, on the border with Brasil. It was a struggle moving at all, and we walked at a hurried pace! I had to hold my waist to stop it bursting out of my leggings - and leggings are stretchy!

Back to Anjas, picked up bags, big hug!hopped in taxi - to the bus station! The big ugly bus station. Weighted down and sweating (nice) I trudged around the enormous terminus trying to figure out where I needed to be. There was no clear indicator, no information signs or anything. So I walked the length of the building, easily 300m in length to find the office of the company I'd bought my ticket with. Twice. I eventually found it and was told to wait downstairs between gate 23 and 52... that narrows it down a good bit! So, I did, and sure enough, a tv screen did note my specific gate and I boarded the bus. And then I could relax.

For my final lengthy bus ride I chose to travel "cama executivo" - meaning, ultra plush. My chair reclined almost fully horizontally, wide enough to stretch out, and with a good selection of movies, we were served a hot meal(as if I could eat it!) with wine and even champagne. What a service.

Needless to say, it wasn't a difficult journey, although it was a long one. Well accustomed to long journeys now, the 17 hours were easily passed.

Accommodation: Night Bus - "Singer"
Weather: 20 degrees