Sorting Things Out In Mendoza (Mon 3/22)

 
Stats:
- lots of time on the phone with Delta Airlines
- checking out the options
- finding a new place to stay
- and ANOTHER trip to the pharmacy
 
Okay, our return flight is scheduled for April 8th out of Santiago.  Our original plans were to return to my favorite place in Chile.  We figured we could chill out in the wine country in Chile --- Arn would go for runs, I would have a mountain bike (that belongs to the winery), we would enjoy swimming in the pool, reading, interneting, etc.  The earthquake eliminated this option.  Given this and the situation in Chile, we decided to check our flight options.  Initially, it appeared we could fly home early for no change fee.  We tried to do this on-line, but at the 1 yard line, we were denied --- "Cannot complete this transaction on-line".  Turns out that this transaction cannot be completed on the phone either.  Delta gives a different story on the phone and the fact we booked through Expedia makes the problem worse.  So, while we initially thought about returning home a week early, that plan did not work out.  Or, at least we were not willing to pony up the change fee.  And yes, we even called Expedia and they were totally useless.  Booking through them increased the change fee by $50 and they offered no help.
 
We spent much of the day strolling around Mendoza checking out our options --- rental bikes, hiking, kayaking, etc.  We have heard about a few interesting bike ride options; however, the bikes are dreadful.  With respect to hiking, it seems the best answer might be to rent a car and do it on our own.  We will see what happens.  As part of our "stroll", we checked out a different hotel.  Our reservation ends and we will need to move on Wednesday.  This is not going to be a hardship.  We found a much nicer place with great ammenities including a pool and well equiped gym.  So, while Arn enjoys his morning run, I can enjoy a weight room with reasonable cardio equipment.  They even have pilates and spin classes.
 
On this trip, we have made many pilmagrages to the local pharmacy.  Arn has gone looking only for toothpaste and dental floss.  I seem to be on the "frequent shopper" program.  Today, we went in search of cough medicine.  I hacked my head off last night and did not fall asleep until after 4am.  As the baby who slept through the night -- the first night home from the hospital -- this kind of thing leaves me totally rummy.  Arn likes to say that his best night of sleep would leave me wiped out and grumpy.  He is right about that. 
 
Back to the pharmacy, you can´t look at shelves filled with things for coughs and colds.  It is ALL behind the counter and requires a conversation with the pharmacist.  Imagine what this would do to the cost of drugs in the U.S.?  Oh well, after a discussion, the woman presented two bottles.  Arn looked them over and picked the one she said works better.  We also restocked on Advil --- 10 pills!!!  Okay, they are double the dose in the U.S., so it is more like 20.  And yes, I know the mg dose in Advil.  You´ll remember my feet.  Let´s hope the cough syrup works.  If not, Arn is "suggesting" a trip to the doctor.  Don´t worry, I´ll be calling American Express to help me out with this one if it comes to it.  They have this service that helps you find an English speaking doctor (and preferrably someone trained in the U.S.).  Let´s hope it doesn´t come to that!  I have had to do this in Aruba and Switzerland.  I would prefer to skip it in Argentina.
 
The highlight of the day was probably dinner.  The weather is great for eating outside and we took advantage of it.  We shared a goat cheese and roasted beet salad along with a sampler of cheese and house smoked meats.  This is more variety of cheese that we have seen since we left the U.S.  It was awesome.  Arn had seared tuna for dinner for grilled shrimp.  I had tuna tartare with smoked salmon and avocado.  For dessert, we shared a "volcano chocolate cake" --- not as good as my molten chocolate dessert, but it was tasty.