Carnaval !!

Buenos Dias, I said yesterday morning,  Let's go to Carnaval!

Of course when I woke up (as usual it was not so early in the morning) I had no idea of how to go to Carnaval.  I remembered reading in Frommer's that every Saturday in February there is the Argentine  version of Carnaval, or Mardi Gras.  So I took up the book  to find out where the Argentine equivalent of Bourbon Street was.   Well,  it was certainly not in Buenos Aires,  but in Gauleguayachu about 3 hours north of Buenos Aires!!
   Because it wasn't the travel gospel of Rick Steves  (WWRD) that we were used to,  I called Eva (Apartment Manager)  to find out if it was a good idea and how we would best get there.  Talking on the phone in Spanish and understanding the other person is not so easy but I did hang up knowing that there was a locutura on Defensa and Universidad where we could buy bus tickets.  I just wasn't sure if she said she was going to meet  us there or would come by for us.


We did find here there and after several minutes of discussion with the man who worked there (whom we found out later was her son in law) we learned that the best he could get was tickets leaving about 7 pm and we would have to buy return tickets when we got there.  I was rather deflated but we decided that we would go to MicroCentro (bus station) to see if we could find something better.  We actually did, we bought tickets for a 4:45 departure and a 3 am return!  We even had time left for a couple of pizzas before boarding our bus.  (The Napoltina pizzas are so very good!!)


After such a poor beginning to the adventure, and some frustration on my part with not always being able to understand Spanish as perfectly as I wished,  we were certainly surprised and very well rewarded for the effort to make the journey!  


It was like seeing the Rose Bowl Parade combined with the Octoberfest of Germany on the stage of the Moulin Rouge with unbelievable floats and beautiful dancers in Las Vegas style costumes with lots of skin and feathers.   It was definitely HOT! HOT! HOT !!!!!  I can't imagine Rio being any better!