26 September -- Buenos Aires

Rather than take a bus to Puerto Iguazu, which was our original plan, we decided to look into plane tickets, thereby cutting our travel time from 20 hours to 1.5. After checking into a new hotel, lovingly nicknamed "The Convent" for its spartan furnishings, we tracked down the AmEx office and listened to the worst "buy our package" sales pitch ever.

First she sold us plane tickets, which was fine. But the minute she started in on the 2 night hotel package that included "breakfast and dinner because the hotel is so far from town, but it's the only one available and it's US $300."

Um, no. Both Chris and I felt our ripoff Spidey sense going off, so we bought the plane tickets and went across the plaza to a locutorio. The first phone call we made to a US $20 hotel, in the middle of town, welcomed us with open arms. Lesson: never buy the package.

That night, to while away the forsaken hours between afternoon medialunas and dinner, we saw "Las Rompabodas," -- the Wedding Crashers. Great fun for $4.


Thanks, Lonely Planet. You provided us with a hotel that is offers a central location, safe neighborhood, and up to six inches of sunlight at a time. I'm serious. The metal shade didn't go up any further.

Nathan, this one is for you. At least this place has a TV.

Yay! Escolares! This is the most pimped out school bus that we had ever seen.