Finish of the Trip

I gotta finish these South America posts! So here's the last one. Our final 48 hours.

We got back from the falls and went out to eat. We got some meat and ravioli. 

I loved this picture up on the wall of all the different parts of the cow. Oh so Argentine.

 We woke up early on Monday, a little before 6 so that we would have time to get ready, eat, and take a taxi in to town to catch our 7:30 bus to Ciudad de Este, Paraguay (right across the Argentine/Brasil border). I was pretty nervous about how things would go this day. We kept hearing/reading conflicing things about getting from Argentina to Paraguay. You have to cross through Fos de Iguazu, Brazil to get to Paraguay, and we didn't get Brasilian visas, so were a little nervous about being stopped as we passed through. Thankfully, everything went really smoothly (except for the actual bus ride which was the worst 45 minutes of the entire trip--the bus was PACKED and there was barely any seating. We were smashed up against the window holding on to our suitcases and backpacks). The bus went straight from Argentina to Paraguay without stopping (thank goodness). 

Ciudad de Este was crazy! It is known to be a shopping town, rightly so. There was shopping everywhere, and not just buildings where you could shop, but little tent/kiosk/umbrellas lining the street with people selling stuff. These pictures don't do it justice at all as you can barely see any of the street vendors. 

And those street vendors! They would not leave us alone! As soon as we walked into the shopping area people did not stop talking to us and handing us fliers and asking us what we were looking for. So many people asked us if we were looking for electronics, tvs to be precise. We were like, do we look like we want a tv?! Do you think that will fit in this little carry on suitcase? So crazy.

 

We ended up getting to Ciudad del Este super early (not realizing that Paraguay is an hour behind--I thought it was zoned like in the U.S., not just time by country). We could have taken the later bus to Paraguay but had chosen not to just to be sure we didn't miss our bus to Asuncion, but we were kicking ourselves later for doing that since we were exhausted and had 3 hours to spare in Ciudad de Este. We walked the 45 minutes to the bus terminal (with taxi drivers stopping us or slowing down next to us the whole walk there, ha! We definitely looked like target customers for them with our loaded backpacks, pulling luggage). 

Passed some pretty art and election signs (which Darin found to be very cool) while we walked.

 Hung out at the terminal for what felt like forever.

 This bus ride was easily the best out of the 3 long bus trips we took. The seats were so much nicer than the other buses and they even gave us pillows and blankets. We got settled and watched some Office before trying to sleep.

 We were on the second level, front seats of the bus so we had the panoramic view out the window which was really nice (at least once the sun set :). It was so crazy to watch the bus driver tailgate and zoom past people though. So crazy! Here we are with the oncoming traffic lane empty, zooming past a motorcycle. These bus drivers are legit.

When we got in to the terminal in Asuncion, Alia and David were there to grab us. They were so sweet and took us to their place to freshen up a bit, then we went out for our last meal. We both really wanted one last asado meal, so they took us to this really nice buffet. It was similar to Tucanos in style, as in the employees walked around with different kinds of meats and would give you slivers of them. MMMmmmmmm...so good. The sweet grilled pineapple with cinnamon was heavenly. 

 After the meal, they dropped us at the airport. It was sad to say goodbye, but I don't doubt this will be the last time we see them. We are just so so so grateful for this friendship.

1 a.m. flight--saying goodbye to Paraguay.

 We had a quick stop in Panama and then off to Miami. I LOVED flying over Miami, it was so cool to see all the beaches and big buildings. So sad to think about the hurricane that hit a few weeks later. It looks like such a beautiful city.

We got in to BWI at around 5 p.m.--absolutely exhausted. My friend Megan's mom picked us up and we grabbed our car and then drove the two hours to my parents hoping to see the kids before they went to bed.

Walking in the house and having the kids run to us full speed and wrap their little arms around us and not let go was really amazing. It felt so good to be back with them again.

And then we crashed.

(And then drove four more hours the next day to get back to Ithaca so that Darin could make it to his evening class that day).