Saying goodbye to a new friend

February 25th

The last day had been approaching faster and faster and now it had arrived.

Originally, the plan was to take a few last tours in the second park, but it turned out to be very different from what we had expected. 

We were already standing at the bus stop when the realization hit us like a bolt of lightning...

Today was Sunday!

Just like in Germany, the buses run differently on Sundays...
A look at the schedule confirmed this assumption.

And now we had already bought some sweet pastries at a bakery because having a fruit breakfast in the park would have taken too long...

But being spontaneous as we are; 

No problem at all!

Instead, we went to the river below Cerro de la Mor. Once we arrived there, we enjoyed the pastries with some fruit and the beautiful nature around us.

After finishing everything, Conny and I went up the hill, but that was not all. 

Eduardo had told us that some of the surrounding hills are easily passable. 

So off we went!

We talked a lot. Sometimes about this, sometimes about that.
In the beginning, some people in neon-colored tracksuits (Why neon-colored?) were running up the hills and then back down again.

After a while, with a little fascination, we discovered a cow's carcass.

Nothing was left except for the bones and a little bit of fur.
It was impressive to take a closer look at the individual bone parts.

After marveling at everything enough, we hiked to the next surrounding hills, sometimes quickly climbing over a fence.
It would have been silly to turn back after only an hour...

We always had a constant companion by our side. 

Not only occasionally a few cows (alive), a wild rabbit (they were so fast) and a few birds, but also grasshoppers.

You can't imagine how many there were. Just to give you an idea:

We were on the hills for about 2 and a half hours. During this time, at least 15-20 grasshoppers jumped up with every step... and sometimes ended up in our hair, shoes, or t-shirt 😂

But all the efforts were not in vain!

They usually aren't when hiking. 

The view gave us one last look at the huge landscape around Sierra de la Ventana.
The small town, which looked like a small oasis, the hilly landscape, and the mountains in the distance.

Somehow, we had really grown fond of everything here, especially the great people we had the chance to meet.

To celebrate and unfortunately also to say goodbye, we decided to have a farewell dinner together.

Diego, a boy our age whom we had gotten to know over time, joined us and suggested getting the food from his parents' restaurant.

Perfect!

Without further ado, we started.

Diego and I went a little further ahead and were the first ones to arrive in the restaurant kitchen.
The entire crew warmly welcomed us and immediately started bombarding me with questions...

Great. I only understood a fraction of a fraction and answered them in broken Spanish.

In the end, they just wanted to tell me who had which role in the restaurant 😅 

Diego's mother, a small, elderly woman, immediately took us in her arms, kissed us on the cheeks, and warmly welcomed us.

Through a small corridor, we reached a backyard. There were a few chairs around a small table, where we sat down and waited for the food to be ready.

During this waiting time, Diego's mother brought us 'Flan Casero' (a kind of egg custard) and Diego's father brought cookies with strawberry jam. Of course, there was also mate. After all, we were in Argentina 😉

We were strangers, but it didn't feel like it at all. I actually felt like I was being taken into the family.

This warm, sincere nature was incredible.
I was truly speechless and couldn't believe it...

Strangely enough, it hurt when the food was ready and we said goodbye to Diego's parents.

Diego's mother kissed us dozens of times on the cheek and wished us all the best for our journey.

It was a truly wonderful encounter that I wouldn't have wanted to miss on this trip.

It was a really wonderful evening.
We ate pizza, empanadas, a huge cheese and salami platter, and talked late into the night.

Before we dispersed because it was already late, Eduardo gave us a special farewell gift. 

A blessing.

He put his hand on our heads and said a prayer.
I believe that no words in the world can describe how difficult it was for us to say goodbye...

Our relationship with Eduardo had turned into a close friendship.
We will never forget the moments we spent with him and the care he showed us!!!

Thank you Eduardo!