Not So First Class Adventure (Doug here, with a few additons from Brooke)

We were sad to leave Bariloche, and made one last visit downtown to sample chocolate at two more shops before our bus left for Mendoza, the center of the Argentina wine region. This second bus adventure wasn't quite as nice as our trip to Bariloche as we encountered a number of obstacles and less than pleasant experiences.

The bus was packed and as everyone was crowding to load their bags, I wondered if everything was going to fit. Our bags got on, but when I tried to have the guy load our stroller, he said "no" and rattled off something that I couldn't understand. A helpful fellow passenger said I needed to buy an extra tag for "extra luggage" because the stroller wasn't a bag. So, I rushed back into the bus station, purchased the extra tag, and came back, hoping the bus hadn't left or that I wouldn't find Brooke standing in front of the bus yelling 'Don't leave without my husband'. The bus was still there, but my efforts were in vain only to have the guy wave his arm at me and say 'No.' It appeared that, tag or no tag, they were not going to load our stroller or Kerrigan's carseat.

All of my questions of "what do you want me to do?" were met with shrugs and blank stares and the helpful fellow passenger said follow him, so I lugged the stroller up to the top floor of the bus (we had bottom floor seats) and he proceeded to jam it in the aisle between some backpackers that didn't look very happy about this situation. I realized this wasn't going to work, said "Lo Siento" (I'm sorry) and lugged it back downstairs where we took every wheel off (including the two extra wheels that finally arrived 3 weeks late) and jammed it behind our seats. We stuffed the carseat in the leg space of one of our seats. This actually ended up being a blessing in disguise, because it gave Kerrigan a place to sit/sleep, but also meant that we had one seat with no legroom and another which couldn't recline. But we were on board. Because of all of the people and luggage issues (not just ours), the bus was an hour late leaving Bariloche.

We knew that this bus line wasn't quite as nice as Via Bariloche, but we had still purchased the most expensive "cama" tickets (of the 2 choices) - that meant the seats were supposed to recline into at least a partial bed and there was food service. Shortly after departure (5:00 p.m.), we were offered "coffee service" that consisted of a styrofoam cup with instant coffee, powdered milk, and sugar packets. We didn't see the attendant again so finally at 9:30 p.m., we fed the kids some food we had brought along just in case, and put them to bed. We weren't sure what happened to dinner and the kids finally fell asleep, but at 11:15 p.m., all the lights suddenly came on and dinner was being served. Thankfully, the kids did not wake up. You know the food couldn't have been too good if I only ate half of it.

We mentioned before that the buses have movies (albeit in Spanish with Spanish subtitles), but what we learned is that the movie selection seems to be driven by whatever passengers provide to the attendant. A small platoon of Argentine soldiers were our fellow passengers and it seems they brought their favorite movie "Perros de Guerras" (Dogs of War), which turned out to be a very violent Japanese war film. The sound was not through headphones, so we had fun trying to keep the kids' eyes averted and covering their ears at the loud bursts of machine gun fire. We wondered if our Veggie Tales or Black Beauty DVD offers would've been accepted. It was a horribly awful movie for children. Thankfully, Sutton & Hudson understood that it wasn't good for them and listened to a story on the iPod and were good about not watching the movie. Once the movies were over, we finally got some sleep, in a what was nothing near a cama, and woke to another beautiful sunrise, another cup of instant coffee and cookies that they called breakfast with a close up view of the Andes as we journeyed the last 2 hours into Mendoza. Thankfully, Kerrigan did not use her newly found scream like the last bus trip.

Saying goodbye to Bariloche. We could've stayed at least another 3 days!

The main square not as cloudy as the day we arrived. The weather has been amazing during our time in Argentina!

from the square to downtown area

Brooke's favorite healthy bread store she was excited to find -- "Lo Integral" in Bariloche

Some protest or strike march. The kids asked 'Can we please watch the parade?!'

chocolate shopping

Giant chocolate Egg

We only made it to 4 chocolatiers. We liked them in this order -- Mamusia, Fenoglio, Mamushka, Abuela Goya

Every bank in Argentina seems to have a line

There were a number of St. Bernards around for photo opps. We snagged this free photo with a sleeping St. Bernard

On the bus. Not much leg room here

Coffee Service

I've had better

The kids found this sleeping position for a little nap

Did I mention the bathroom? Tiny, no toilet paper, or paper towels and a seat that won't stay down if not sitting on it. Fun to take the kids to the bathroom whilst trying not to touch anything! Thankfully, we had a roll of paper towels with us!

But there was soap for everyone (that blue thing). The kids figured out what it was.

Another beautiful sunset

We woke up to this view of the Andes