Got up at 7:30. Right after I started working on the blogs, the bell rang, about three different times. It's now 10:30 and I need a little break.  

 
I guess the rum and coke was the right cure for my cold: feel okay this morning.  




 


 

 
Ambled through the plaza, hoping to see a guy. Sat outside the coffee shop for an hour sipping on a latte ($2). No show on the guy. Was entertained for a while by these two dancing out an act. I gave them a 20 (US$1.20) when they passed the hat.  



 
About noon I started walking around looking for anyone who might help me with spanish. Didn't see any likely suspects.  

 

Strolled to the lake.  







 Found this lady hard at work.  








 








 






 
Then I went to the ATM and tried my Credit Union MasterCard and my Fidelity Visa; no luck with either one, so some phone calls need to be made.  
 

 

 Made it back to my room about 1:30. Caught up on today's blog, and now I'm going to have pizza and coke (leftovers)!  

Polished up two more blogs, but I'm still a week behind. And I'm tired of sitting in this chair. Sooo, I'm going out to dinner! Ain't this great! No cooking, no driving around! Oooh life is good, not to mention all the good food I'm enjoying (not that it compares to my bro's cooking, but it's a sight less expensive)!  

 
 
Went to find a restaurant. Again the one I sought hid from me (I think I missed it by one street). So I came back to another one I'd been considering (no lack of choice around here). The Parrilla del Che is an Argentinian restaurant offering, strangely, only a few argentinian specialties. I chose the Bifé de Chorizo (a strip steak). It was lighter in color (almost like pork) than what I'm used to, but was tasty and tender enough. The sautéed and herbed vegetables were very tasty: you can see carrots and red bell pepper; the green bean like ones were very crisp; and the other I think was some kind of squash. The bread was great: like a garlic buttered french bread. Had a sangria while waiting (thought I was ordering a red wine) and a red wine with dinner (it was probably a Malbec) and it was very good for a house wine. Cost: $9.50,$2.70, $2.70.  

In spite of all these 'big' dinners, I'm averaging $14/day on a budget of$20/day, including alcohol and snacks. Rooms, on the other hand, are averaging $29 on a budget of $20. I knew Mexico was more expensive. I'll make it up as I go south.  


After dinner stroll yielded these pics.
 
 
 





 













 




 



 
 

 
 


                                 These were taken from the same position: first facing north, then south. I'm standing in the main drag.  

 
 











 
 
 



 

   





















                        What do you think? 





 
In spite of near universal cell phone usage, there still exist public phones (to a limited extent anyway; but more around here than I've seen elsewhere).  


 





 

            Not enough for a full load? Do it yourself.

                    The life of a backpacker.






 
Worked on a couple blogs, and now it's 9:45pm. So I'm going to read a little while, then off to bed.