Antartica: Exploring Buenos Aries

 

15 Dec 24:  Buenos Aries Day 2 – City Walk-About

(RC)  Had a very nice breakfast at the hotel.  Very nice buffet, also made to order pretty much anything you like, champagne, etc, etc.  All this came with nice views of the city.  To add to the experience, it’s great people watching. People were all dressed differently.  There is the middle-aged couple, I think from eastern Europe or Russia, dressed to the nines.  Yesterday it was a white cowboy hat, designer jeans and a skintight sequined tee shirt.  His wife wore a short leather, zip up the back skirt and a matching half top with big metal buttons.  Both had look at me jewelry. Interesting couple.  Made me wonder just how much luggage they were dragging around.  Others had swimsuits on with coverups. One woman wore the hotel provided room slippers to complete her outfit. Of course we were the only ones there that were completely “normal”.

After breakfast we headed off for a nice walkabout.  I thought about playing golf today, but in an odd change of pace I just wasn’t feeling it.  Hopefully I’ll be over that soon.  We did about 5 miles thru the city and then headed toward the waterfronts.  I say waterfronts because there is an extensive inland waterway, the river and canals leading to the ocean.  We hit the canals first.  It’s probably one of the best parts of town.  It’s very well laid out with wide walkways, well shaded from mature trees,  and countless restaurants, bars, coffee shops, and clubs on the ground floor.  Most have resident living, condos, apartments, etc on the upper floors. 

Had a hard time identifying this handsome lad!

One of the many restaurants along the river

Marina abound, mostly small sail boats, but a couple of big beauties along the way.

The "iconic" bridge.  It's all over the TV ads. 

I only included this one because I suck at selfies, but this one . . . . 

Just can't get away from this bridge.

We stopped and had a beer about a couple hours into our walk. It was an English IPA, which of course in Spanish I is pronounced E so the waiter kept saying “we don’t have IPAs, only EPA!”  I’m thinking it could be worse – maybe it’s MPG beer!  I kinda got it after a while and Beanie told me!  Either way, it was a good beer! 

There are several tall ships, three masts most of the time that are floating museums.  A couple of them were the first hybrids, sails and steamships.

This was by far away the prettiest!

Shot of her better side.

Another very nice tall ship but she needs a little TLC.

Lots of tourist, which once again makes for good people watching. There is an iconic bridge that crosses the river.  It’s very modern looking and had a couple of street performers.  The Tango video below is a small sample.  I probably should have captured a bit more as I missed some of the more fancy moves.

We then walked towards the ocean to the cruise terminals, working docks, and military installations all lining the waterfront.  Our hope was to get close to the Cruise Terminal and maybe check out a couple of the Navy ships.  It appears the Search & Rescue mission falls to the Navy here.  Also, there was a very large, tall ship docked along the way.  We tried to get in a couple of places, but it was either closed (being Sunday) or restricted.  I even tried to get in using my Global Entry card, told them it was good anywhere but no bueno!  One fun little event along the way is we came dangerously close to getting a kitty fix.  We came across this little kitty on the other side of the fence, but she had zero interest in a couple tourists and wouldn't come any closer.  Looked like maybe she wasn't feeling too well, but still good to see a kitty.  Nobody mention this to Sammy

I'm okay . . . just being a kitty

We got a little turned around trying to find our way back to the hotel and ended up walking thru the “bad part of town” . . . . again.  Luckily the same doorman wasn’t working today so we didn’t get busted.

We got back to the room to work the Blog a bit, get cleaned up, and get ready for dinner.  Well . . . . you all know how well the Blog turned out . . . sorry, once again. ☹  We got a knock at the door and Beanie answered it.  I’m just out of the shower (try to get that visual out of your head) and I hear Beanie chatting it up with someone.  Turns out its Eva, checking in to make sure we're getting everything we need.  Beanie is wearing her kimono which Eva compliments and then they talk about Japan and Eva says she is from Taiwan.  Well they start talking about Taiwan, knew the same places, schools, etc.  She’s been in Argentina for many years and was such a fun find. 

Beanie & Eva

Dinner was once again pretty exceptional.  Same place as last night, the Sheraton lounge next door.  It’s basically a buffet of small bites.  For example tonight there we had potato salad, a marinated chicken salad, a Caprese type mozzarella-tomato salad, hard bread w/EVOO and balsamic vinegar, empanada type dumplings, and a small meat/cheese plate.  It sounds like a lot and we got our fill, but we really just split a bunch of small servings.  Throw in some wine and beer and voila!  We probably missed out on a good place to eat outside the hotel, but when the food is this good, the service is good, and it comes with our room, eh, I can live with it!

(Kathy) We started the day with an excellent buffet breakfast at the hotel.  I love international hotel buffet breakfasts because they often not only have a lot of fruit but also all the vegetables, cheeses and meats for a salad.  We had a very nice day exploring the river and port areas.  There are lots of shops,  cafes and bars lining the walkway on both sides of the river.  Sail boats were moored in the middle of the river with several big yachts as well.  I can only imagine what the mooring fees would be in this area of town. As Randy said there were some interesting bridges and lots of trees along the walkway.  This city has a very European feeling to it with it's architecture, parks, flowers and trees everywhere. I especially enjoyed seeing the old tall sailing ships - some were a combination of sailing and steam powered.  By the time we got back to the hotel we had walked nearly 8 miles, whew, and it was time for a rest/clean up before dinner.  While Randy was in the shower there was a knock on the door and I met Eva Chiu, Marriott employee extraordinaire.  She explained that she had immigrated from Taiwan to Argentina as a child with her family.  She was familiar with the area my family lived in Taipei as well as the International American School where I went for two of my highschool years.  What a pleasure meeting Eva.  If you're reading this Eva, hi and thank you for our fun conversation!

Our last night at the hotel we ventured to the 2th floor to see the city at night.  It was pretty cool.  Here's a short video.  Not sure what the little white lights are; some say reflections - other say DRONES!!

    

Antarctica : The Final Frontier

13 Dec 24.  We're on our way! 

(Randy)  Well, we're heading out of Phoenix, it's 74 degrees and it will probably be the last time I'll be warm for a while.  Well, Buenos Aires shouldn't be too bad.  Thank goodness it will be summer in the South. Got to the airport hours early. You can tell it's been a while since we've traveled.  Felt like PreCheck was a foreign process, liquids in or out? laptops, what do we do with those?  How 'bout cell phones?  The TSA agent was very helpful and guided us thru the process though he did indicate some big changes coming tomorrow - evidently everything is moving to clothing optional!!  Who would have guessed?  Nice to meet a TSA rep with a sense of humor!

The airport was packed.  We stopped at the Admiral's Club Lounge to wait for our flight and it was standing room only.  Can’t imagine what it’s going to be like over Christmas!  The flight from PHX to MIA was pretty smooth.  Nice to see that post covid some of the services have returned like a beverage service while you’re awaiting departure and a hot meal with real silverware,

Got into MIA on time.  Had hours to kill soooo it’s off to the American Lounge for some more waiting.  We hit the Admirals Club Flagship Lounge and it was very good.  We had used it before and liked it.  It has several food stations with a pasta station, very good soups, and a buffet layout that was well stocked with fish, chicken, fresh veggies, and desserts.  They also had a very well stocked, self-serve bar.  Gutsy move!!   Back in the day that would have spelled big trouble, but today I merely indulged in a Woodford Reserve Manhattan with Luxardo cherries.  A rare treat.  Beanie sampled a couple of the wines that didn’t quite work, but ended up with a Sam Adams beer.  Gotta love those beer drinking girls!

The lounge had some great views of the airport and a Boeing Dreamlifter was on the tarmac.  It's such a cool plane.  It's a modified Boeing 747 used for cargo transport. It's absolutely huge!  Here's a link if you'd like to see more that the picture, Boeing Dreamlifter.

Fun To See the Dream Lifter Again

We boarded without incident, a 777, completely sold out.  Took a while to complete boarding, but still an on time take off.  The flight from Miami to Buenos Aires is a long one - just shy of 5000 miles and about 9 hours.  

My IPA Beer Drinking Buddy

The good news is the service was good and the food very good.  We had braised short ribs, lobster mac & cheese, salad and a couple of Goose Island IPAs. Hot fudge ice cream sundae for dessert.  Watched a couple of movies and tried to get some sleep, but settled for rest with a couple of nod offs.   Got in a little early and now heading for the hotel.  We REALLY hope our early check-in request is a go.

(Kathy)  Two nice flights on American Airlines.  The food was very good especially the breakfast before arriving in Buenos Aires, in fact it was probably the best American style breakfast we've ever had on an airline.  Kudos to AA!  

14 Dec 24.  Welcome to Buenos Aires!

(Randy)  About 45 minutes from the airport to the hotel.  Roads were quite good and taxi driver, quiet, but good.  We made it to the Park Tower Hotel.  The hotel is located close to the middle of downtown.  We got there about 0800 so we were really pressing our "early check in" request.  We were told it would be a while so we stored the luggage and went in search of Starbucks.  I referenced my trusty Starbuck's app and we promptly couldn't find it.  We did make it a bit of a walkabout.  The Maginot Line (just checking to see if we have any history buffs on board) between the "nice" area of the hotel and the "not so" nice area is quite small.  When the hotel door man saw the direction from which we were returning he kind of wagged his finger and said, "Wrong way!"  Pretty funny.  He then directed us to the Starbucks that was actually within sight of the front door.  Ahh, I can never shake that natural "pathfinder" gene!  Got some coffee, sat in the lobby for about another hour and were in our suite by 1130.  All in all a pretty good performance by the hotel staff

The hotel is a bit long in the tooth, but the staff is very good and we got what is probably one of the better suites in the hotel. Has a nice living area, couple of baths, and 270 degree views of the city.  The complimentary bottle of Pinot Noir was a nice touch.  We were in the room for maybe 20 minutes before I was asleep.  Beanie held out for a little more - 30 minutes??

Ahhh, couple hours of sleep, nice hot shower, life is good and we smell feel much better!!

(Kathy)  Customs and immigration were a breeze and we were in the cab within an hour of landing.  Got to the hotel about 0830 and were told we had a 3 hour wait for our room to open up.  Did a walkabout but at this point we were pretty pooped.  Don't let Randy fool you, he was in bed and asleep about 2 minutes after we got into the room!  If I recall correctly, his exact words were "I'm not even going to wash my face or brush my teeth".  I wasn't far behind him though.  We had a wonderful 3 hour nap and then got things squared away in the room, showered, and had dinner in the hotel lounge, which was quite good.  Then another walkabout.  Despite the nap we had no trouble sleeping that night.

(RC)  Humorous anecdote from dinner, maybe not, but bear with me.  We're having a nice chat, maybe a drink, and enjoying the meal and Beanie looks down and starts laughing and asks, "want to see something funny?"  Check out the pic below and tell me why.

Nope, No jet lag here. . . . . 

(Kathy) The Park Tower Hotel is in the Marriott family of hotels.  It used to be The St. Regis.  It's still lovely and very comfortable but you can tell its past it's prime.  The furniture is definitely showing wear and tear though comfortable and we had fabulous views of the city from the windows in our room.  From one of the windows we could see a portion of the waterfront and the top of the Norwegian cruise ship Oosterdam.  We talked to a man in the lounge who said he and his wife were going on the ship tomorrow to start their cruise around Cape Horn to Santiago.  If the seas were calm enough they hoped to see Antarctica; however, these large cruise ships are not allowed to put passengers on land. 

Park in front of hotel, Clock Tower and Train Station

Holland America Oosterdam (How many O's do you really need?)

Room View - We call it the Classic Look:  AKA kinda old!

That's it for now.  More to come . .  .