Yesterday we set out driving east from Mendoza toward Buenos Aires, about 1,000 miles away on the country's other coast. So with the snow-covered Andes Mountains in the rear view mirror (and Chile and the Pacific Ocean as well, both not too far behind us) we put the car in gear and took off driving.
On the first day of our journey, we hoped to make it to the small highway town of Villa María, about the halfway point and just south of Córdoba (our stop-over city going in the other direction). So with Spanish music playing, we drove and drove and drove.
For the most part--like we saw on the way westward--Argentina is very flat, dry, and dusty. Only the Andes on the border with Chile (and some small Sierra mountain chains more to the south) give the landscape much topography. So after leaving the Andes behind, our drive looked eerily similar to what it would look like while driving across the Midwestern U.S. (Kansas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, etc.). Except, of course, here everything is fairly unkept and rundown, with perhaps more ghost-towns and graffiti than residents. Outside the occasional shanty town, here is what the majority of our drive looked like:
The interesting thing that keeps drivers on their toes are the police checkpoints, as discussed in a preceding entry of this blog. After driving literally 100 miles without so much as a whisper of civilization, suddenly there is a bridge overpass, under which are 3-4 armed policemen checking your vehicle for seat belts (they say), but who really knows. Always a little bit unnerving. But I guess having two sleeping children in the back seat does serve us quite well, as for the most part the policemen merely peer into the car, ask our destination (like that makes a big difference to them), and wave us on our way.
After one such checkpoint, actually, Pauli and I jokingly started wondering two things:
#1: What town do these guys live in? It's like living in a suburb of a major city and having an hour commute to work...only without the major city or the suburb. Just the hour-long commute from the closest civilization. These guys must have been the rookies who only barely passed the policemen test and got stuck on the bad assignment in the middle of nowhere asking people where they are going.
#2: What would happen if they asked us our destination and we said "The border...we have a big contraband shipment hidden in the trunk and want to get it to market before the price drops."
Anyway, back to the road. Our trusty Chevy Cobalt and it's cargo made it safely to our first night's destination halfway to Buenos Aires, the small village of Villa María. We arrived about 6:30pm, checked into "The Samarán Suites Hotel" along the main drag...which trust me, isn't saying much. For $70 per night for a triple room (including breakfast buffet), this was the best and most expensive hotel in town. Our room, not much larger than a bathroom, somehow squeezed in 3 cot-sized beds and an Ultra Slim Fast crib that couldn't have been more than 18 inches wide. But it was clean, felt safe, and we only needed it to sleep until the morning when we'd be back on our way.
After getting situated, we made our way down the street to find some dinner. Along the way, we passed a couple interesting things.
#1 = The three stooges:
A cool table to play with if you are a kid (and I mean "a" kid...not two, or you will run out of chairs):
Finally, the only open restaurant on the block, Giuseppe Resto Bar. The slogan across the top, Para chuparse los dedos, literally translates to "In order to suck your fingers", but a more idiomatic translation wold be ”Finger-licking good" I assume.
And the order = Pizza Napolitana and potato balls. What else?
We woke up early the next day, around 7:45am, and set off driving again. More dust, more nothing for hours, and more police checkpoints along the way.
The most interesting thing to happen was stopping for gas, when Pauli and Isabel picked out jamón-flavored potato chips.
Oh, and also I had to go to the bathroom so started looking for a gas station or town to stop in, but an hour later still hadn't found one so pulled off the side of the road to go behind one of the very few trees on the horizon. Wouldn't you know it, a car with blue flashers going the other direction slows down on the other side of the highway, crosses the median right toward us, and pauses. I freeze, not knowing what to do. But it turns out to be only a very official-looking taxi, and takes off along its merry way. Who knows why it picked right there to turn around...or who its passengers were, who figured out 100 kilometers from the nearest anything that they missed their exit. I ran back to the car, and we took off again singing kid's songs.
Finally, many hours after we started, we made it! We were back at the rental car place in the small domestic airport in Buenos Aires. We emptied our stuff, brushed the crumbs, raisins, and crackers from underneath Gemma's carseat onto the ground, and settled the bill at the desk. We hopped on a taxi and meandered our way through rush hour traffic to the Lennox Hotel in the city center to spend our last couple nights in Argentina. I had found the hotel randomly online a couple nights ago and made eye reservation...and for $120 per night in the middle of a huge city it seemed a decent deal (especially when you include the free ”deluxe breakfast").
Upon entering the hotel lobby, however, we had to ask ourselves if this was the right place. Soothing spa music greeted us as we entered through the blue-backlit revolving door. A tuxedo-wearing bellhop quickly zipped over and took our luggage from our hands, putting it carefully on a luggage cart. The lobby was dimly-lit in that ultra-hip, expensive sort of way, as plush tight leather couches surrounded the reception desk and dark glass, bottom-lit columns added weight and hipness to the sparkling and shiny tile floor. This was no ordinary hotel. This was a super luxury hotel in the business district of downtown. Were we in the right place?
Well, yes! Somehow, I found a great hotel for a great price. The standard rates were posted at the reception desk: Double Room, $225; Superior Room, $325; Junior suite, $395; King Suite, $495. Um...Drew's price, $120. Is there a mistake? Nope...all looks good. No word on how I scored such a place for that price. But not like it mattered much to me!
We checked in, took the elevator to the 10th floor (past the gym, pool, spa, etc.), and opened our door to a wonderful room that mimicked the hip, dark glass & tile & mahogany design of the lobby. They even had a crib waiting for us in the room, beyond our small kitchenette and next to the big flat screen TV. Ahh, luxury sure feels nice.
That is...Until I checked my email and saw a note from the car rental company saying that I left in the taxi with the car key still in my pocket and would I please return it because the car is locked and in a ”30-minute drop off" zone with its hazard lights on. Well, given that the taxi ride was 100 pesos ($20) and took almost a half hour, I did not really feel like making an entire trip--there AND back--to return the key. Don't you think that if you work at a rental car company, one of your primary job descriptions would be to make sure that the drivers actually Give you the key back! (Yes, the italics are there to show you that I am shouting.)
I went down to the front desk and as it turns out, they have a service to run errands for guests in the city, and for only 72 pesos (about $14, cheaper than one leg of my two-part taxi ride would be) they can return the key for me. Cha-Ching. Yes, sign me up.
So that disaster averted, I decided to check out the gym before we all headed to a late dinner. Nice treadmills with mounted TVs, free weights, stairmasters, bottles of water, cold towels, bathrooms, air conditioning...you get the idea. Off I went on a 6-mile run to work the preceding 1,000 miles of sitting and gear shifting out of my legs. Man, did it feel good.
Then we regrouped, walked down the street for a quick dinner (Milanesa and Gnocchi), and found a bakery for dessert:
We also played in our hotel room after giving the girls a bath:
Then, a touch before 10:00, Pauli and I finally settled down for a relaxing bottle of wine at the table in our kitchen. Of course, here in Argentina the winery was named after cow:
All in all, our 10-day trip across Argentina and back was a success. Only a couple more days until we officially pack up and head back to the States. Hard to believe! Well, we better enjoy our last bit of time in Buenos Aires while staying at our luxury hotel! Off to sleep in our king-size overstuffed bed. Tomorrow, our deluxe breakfast awaits!
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