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A big travelling day with a lot of ground covered, starting early with a 6am wakeup call. Got a taxi just after 7am, and were quickly whisked along the Ramblas, the coast road to the east of the Ciduad Viejo, which runs nearly 20 km along the Rio de la Plata, lined with apartment blocks overlooking the road and a long line of sandy beaches. Got to the brand new airport terminal, a massive sweeping concrete arch, completed just 3 years ago. The fare was 950 Pesos.
Checked in, breakfasted on McDonalds (urgh – egg and bacon roll nasty, but coffee OK- cheap though), then after Stephen got a tax refund sorted for his new sandals, we passed through security and immigration and were soon boarded. A quick 30-40 minute hop over the River Plate, getting good views of a sunlit Buenos Aires on approach. Back through immigration, and to collect bags, which were not able to be sent straight through. We had some concern about luggage being lost when ours did not at first appear on the carousel. Fortunately it did come though, only on a different carousel. Then through customs and to domestic check in. Used the free internet whilst waiting 3 hours in the food court for the next flight. There was a ‘Freddo’ ice cream stall there, so I ate ¼ kilo of ice cream (dulce de leche with almonds and fruits of the forest with vanilla). So much that I couldn’t manage a coffee. There was only a short wait to board after we passed through security, and were off to Posadas on time at 13:50. The flight crossed the muddy Rio de la Plata, skirting the border with Uruguay all the way. Nice views of Posadas and Encarnacion and the Parana River as we looped over Paraguay to land.
There had been a recent storm, the runway was wet. Luggage was quickly collected and we caust a taxi into the bus station. The driver, Oscar was a friendly and chatty guy (despite our near complete lack of Spanish). He was familiar with the La Toscana Hotel in San Ignacio. We agreed to take the taxi all the way there, though the price was a bit more than I expected, due to confusion between ‘seis’ and ‘seite’ when spoken quickly. This meant we paid 750 pesos instead of the 600 pesos I expected. The trip took about an hour, with a short stop at the small Jesuit Ruins at Santa Ana, very ruined, and had a half our guided tour by Susannah, who spoke very clear English, and explained the layout of the Jesuit missions (all on a similar pattern apparently), with a large square, at the head of which was a church, and surrounded by homes for the native Guarani people, a school, workshops, the residences of the Jesuits and a cemetery. A series of channels had been constructed to distribute water from the tiled roofs of the houses to the surrounding gardens. Buildings roofs were supported by strong wooden beams, the red sandstone walls added around the beams. Simpler homes were half height only in stone with the remainder of the walls of adobe construction, now seen as mounds of dirt, studded with stones. Stone (red sandstone and basalt) was sourced locally. After the breakup of the missions, the local people used much of the masonry in construction their own homes, so largely rubble remains. Santa Ana operated from the early 1600s to the 1820s.
After the tour, we were treated to the yerba mate ritual, where hot water is poured into the leaves and seeds in the gourd, and each person in turn sips through the metal straw (care, hot!) to take the bitter stimulant drink. Fresh hot water is poured for each person.
We were soon at Hotel La Toscana, greeted by a bouncy dog and the Italian descended owner. Rooms are spacious, but a bit dark and musty. The pool area looks nice and inviting though. We walked up the road before dark to La Missionita restaurant, near the bus station and entrance to town. I had a nice bife de lomo al pimiento (pepper steak), whist Clare and Stephen enjoyed Pacu fish, with tomato and onion. Back at the hotel, a Skype call to Porter Street finished a busy day.
Checked in, breakfasted on McDonalds (urgh – egg and bacon roll nasty, but coffee OK- cheap though), then after Stephen got a tax refund sorted for his new sandals, we passed through security and immigration and were soon boarded. A quick 30-40 minute hop over the River Plate, getting good views of a sunlit Buenos Aires on approach. Back through immigration, and to collect bags, which were not able to be sent straight through. We had some concern about luggage being lost when ours did not at first appear on the carousel. Fortunately it did come though, only on a different carousel. Then through customs and to domestic check in. Used the free internet whilst waiting 3 hours in the food court for the next flight. There was a ‘Freddo’ ice cream stall there, so I ate ¼ kilo of ice cream (dulce de leche with almonds and fruits of the forest with vanilla). So much that I couldn’t manage a coffee. There was only a short wait to board after we passed through security, and were off to Posadas on time at 13:50. The flight crossed the muddy Rio de la Plata, skirting the border with Uruguay all the way. Nice views of Posadas and Encarnacion and the Parana River as we looped over Paraguay to land.
There had been a recent storm, the runway was wet. Luggage was quickly collected and we caust a taxi into the bus station. The driver, Oscar was a friendly and chatty guy (despite our near complete lack of Spanish). He was familiar with the La Toscana Hotel in San Ignacio. We agreed to take the taxi all the way there, though the price was a bit more than I expected, due to confusion between ‘seis’ and ‘seite’ when spoken quickly. This meant we paid 750 pesos instead of the 600 pesos I expected. The trip took about an hour, with a short stop at the small Jesuit Ruins at Santa Ana, very ruined, and had a half our guided tour by Susannah, who spoke very clear English, and explained the layout of the Jesuit missions (all on a similar pattern apparently), with a large square, at the head of which was a church, and surrounded by homes for the native Guarani people, a school, workshops, the residences of the Jesuits and a cemetery. A series of channels had been constructed to distribute water from the tiled roofs of the houses to the surrounding gardens. Buildings roofs were supported by strong wooden beams, the red sandstone walls added around the beams. Simpler homes were half height only in stone with the remainder of the walls of adobe construction, now seen as mounds of dirt, studded with stones. Stone (red sandstone and basalt) was sourced locally. After the breakup of the missions, the local people used much of the masonry in construction their own homes, so largely rubble remains. Santa Ana operated from the early 1600s to the 1820s.
After the tour, we were treated to the yerba mate ritual, where hot water is poured into the leaves and seeds in the gourd, and each person in turn sips through the metal straw (care, hot!) to take the bitter stimulant drink. Fresh hot water is poured for each person.
We were soon at Hotel La Toscana, greeted by a bouncy dog and the Italian descended owner. Rooms are spacious, but a bit dark and musty. The pool area looks nice and inviting though. We walked up the road before dark to La Missionita restaurant, near the bus station and entrance to town. I had a nice bife de lomo al pimiento (pepper steak), whist Clare and Stephen enjoyed Pacu fish, with tomato and onion. Back at the hotel, a Skype call to Porter Street finished a busy day.