Argentina

Mart: Yeah, my travelling spirit arrived!
Today was an awesome day. We first went to the German school in Bariloche (I'm supposed to get some research done) and got some questionnaires filled and some interviews done. A really good feeling, also because the reception was very hearty.
Afterwards we went for the Circuito Chico, the little little circuit. It was roughy 30 km and took us about 4 hours - beautiful scenery, and Cris got tired quickly, not being a trained cyclist... With a lot of team spirit we made it just in time to return the bikes, for one minute.
Cris dead, Mart dead.
We missed the bus back to Bariloche.
He wouldn't stop for us off the bus stop...
We put up the thumb instead.
The second car stopped.
Big pick-up.
Lovely people.
Loads of fun and jokes in Spanish -- we were able to express everything we wanted to, zombies getting alive again.
Got lost?
Pictures might follow.

Just a quick good bad:

Good:
- hostel 1004 in the biggest building in Bariloche, with great ppl and lovely views over the lake
- roadtrip by Gol instead of Golf. back to basic.
- hiking 24 k on an Peninsula in Nahuel Huapi lake to see orange brown Arrayanes trees, meeting less humans than cows and bulls, plus redheaded woodpecker. Cristina´s "wow", "wow", "crazy", and "wow" looking at the huge trees
- our first camping outside, sleeping in the tent on the shores of Lago Espejo, the first of the 7 Lakes
- Cris wanting to improve cycling skills
- cycling until falling on Circuito "supposedly Chico"
- succeeding as a team
---with one minute to go before bike rental closes---
- getting a ride just after missing the bus home. our first hitchhiking in South America, a great ride!

Bad:
- hard grips on the rented bike´s handlebar
- no street signs
- overrated 7 lakes route, leading through averrage landscapes compared to other sceneries in the region
- overrated hippie market in El Bolsón

Mart:
After seeing the end of the world pt. I in Chile, we came back to the crowded noise in touristy Bariloche. We got into Hostel 1004 - a great place in the only high building in town, with lovely people and stunning views over the Nahual Huapi lake. This is another paradise, so much water surrounded by mountains with snowy peaks. It's very cold and windy, a good preparation for the next steps southwards which ensures that we'll purchase some more jumpers, socks, gloves, hats, scarves. Before getting on the ferryboat through the Chilean fjords, we wanna see the 7 lakes district, a famous national park. Hoping that weather gets better though. Meaningless entry, hum? Well, I'm just talkative for two reasons: We had a very good school visit today (I'm doing school tourism for my BA thesis while travelling) and tomorrow I might drive a VW Gol - the spartanic South American variant of a Golf. >D

Cheers, more pics when we're back in town, big hugs!

ups:
"Moldova? That's a first!" ten times per day...
a kilo meat for 4 US dollars
the calm atmosphere in the woods today, where only the cracking of the trees could be heard and Cristina's unbelieving "WOOOW!"
snow in the morning.

downs:
only met people from 18 countries so far, 11 of which European, 2 of which Chile and Argentina; most travellers: Aussies, NZ, US, Germany, France, NL, Swiss, Israel.
200 g chocolate for 4 US dollars
Films on busses. Feels like home though, with Russian bus drivers...

In Alta Gracia, eating grand ice cream with Dan.

Having found the real bus stop.

In Villa General Belgrano, supposedly a genuine German community with Oktoberfest. We have proof that this is not so. Nobody spoke German... But Martin joined in the Club of Pretenders quickly. This is empty!

Cris did better. She actually proved that at least the ladies´ restroom was for real...

Martin is learning Spanish the hard way in Las Violetas, a lovely cafe in BsAs.

Then with fans singing Argentinean football songs at the Independente match:

Carlos' boot and mate in a BsAs park.

and pics from La Boca:

and from a place everywhere in Buenos Aires:

.

The plain to Madrid: With all the visas in the passport, the backpacks packed, here are the two of us, on 26th September, 06:00 at the Tegel Airport waiting to check in and finally get going. The flight was comfy and we did enjoy our morning sleep :D

The plain to Buenos Aires: here we met Carlos, our first couchsurfing host who was extremely helpful to the two of us, who after more than 20 hours of travelling with no place to sleep in Buenos Aires, basic info on the city or its transportation system, welcomed it greatly! So, here we are taking a taxi and looking out of the window: MCdonald`s adds, not a bad infrastructure and appartment blocks (which, by the way, during that night looked so much like certain quarters from Chisinau!).

And here we enter our first sleeping room :D. Just to mention it shortly, as Carlos was coming from a 4-month trip through Europe, so he had no more a place of his. With that key that he had in his hand, we opened his granpa`s cabinet, who was, by the way, a surgeon. No joke, we are setting our tent and sleping the first two nights in a surgeon`s cabinet, surrounded by all king of diplomas, skeleton drawings and Rembrandt`s painting Anatomy of Dr. Tulp

So there we are in the tent, 5 am European time, thinking about a 6-months-honeymoon, all unpredictable and exciting.