DAY-02: Arrival in Argentina
DAY-02: Arrival in Argentina
Day – 02: Wednesday, February 19, 2020
Starting Location: Airborne over the Gulf of Mexico
Interim Location: Passed over the Yucatan Peninsula
Interim Location: Skirted the Pacific coastline of South America
Interim Location: Passed over the Yucatan Peninsula
Interim Location: Skirted the Pacific coastline of South America
Interim Location: Ezeiza International Airport (EZE), Buenos Aires, AR
Ending Location: Hotel Emperador, Buenos Aires, AR
Where did I leave off last night? Oh yeh sleeping on an airplane ...
Some would say "Dream on!" So anyway, we slept, we awoke, we slept, we awoke, typical "airline sleep" through the night (actually it was already morning). About two hours out of Buenos Aires (8:30 AM local time, 6:30 AM St. Pete Beach time) it was "Reveille! Reveille! Reveille! All hands heave out and trice up. Reveille!" (NOTE: Those Navy readers from the days of yore will understand). And to think we paid for this, I don't get up at 6:30 when I'm home!
It was time for breakfast, eggs for Sheila and cereal with a side of yogurt for me. The time now passed relatively quickly. Overnight we had traveled south-east from Houston passing over or near:
Baggage took a bit longer as our five bags were in what must have been the final bin brought from the aircraft; I guess the "priority" baggage tags ensured that our bags were loaded on the aircraft early as it had nothing to do with arrival at baggage claim. Didn't really matter as we had no schedule for the day and in fact the wait was probably no more than 40 minutes from the arrival. With bags in hand, well actually on carts we moved to customs, no big deal here either though the person monitoring the X-ray screen did ask about my printer, the "unusual shape" in one of the bags. Once assured that I wasn't selling printers in Argentina we were good to go.
Once inside the arrival meet & greet area we spotted our guide Romina. She welcomed us to Argentina and led us away to our car and driver, Christopher. When we saw the tiny car it was like "where do you intend to put the baggage", nevertheless, with a bit of stuffing, prodding and finally loading four smaller bags in the front and back seats, we were on our way into the city.
The drive was about forty minutes with midday traffic not so different than at home, well not Kitty Hawk "home", more like Tampa. The tollways used TelePase just like our SunPass and EZPass.
Romina was quite talkative and between she and Sheila we learned a lot about each other. For example, Romina's favorite place in the U.S. is a place where reality still exists, Disney World. We passed from rural to urban scenery quickly as the expansive city loomed before us. En-route we passed the Mormon Temple of Buenos Aires and the Obelisk built in 1936 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the founding of Buenos Aires.
By around 1:00 PM we arrived at the Hotel Emparador, our home for the next several nights.
Checkin was relatively easy as the arrangements had been made by the cruise line. Here we met our first fellow Oceania travelers, a couple from where else but, you guessed it, Massachusetts, now living in Maine.
We were early for checkin so we moseyed over to the bar for a "lite lunch", Sheila had the Penne pasta dish washed down with a Jameson & Ginger Ale and I had a pulled pork sandwich with a local beer, Quilmes.
Our room assigned, we headed up to #510, a large comfortable room but one with unimpressive views. It would serve our immediate purpose which was to get some real sleep for the next several hours.
Around 7 PM we hit the town, well actually walked about 1/4 mile to the Four Seasons Hotel where we happened upon the The Pony Line Bar, an establishment themed after the Argentine "Sport of Kings" polo. The bar was crowded when we entered but within a half hour the business crowd had departed and around 7:45 a DJ appeared on the scene to begin the evening entertainment. One must remember that the Argentinians like Spaniards dine and party late so the night was still young but not for us.
By 9 PM we were back in the hotel and sat around doing puzzles, Internet searches, etc. but by 11 PM it was lights out for the first night in Buenos Aires.
Ending Location: Hotel Emperador, Buenos Aires, AR
Where did I leave off last night? Oh yeh sleeping on an airplane ...
Some would say "Dream on!" So anyway, we slept, we awoke, we slept, we awoke, typical "airline sleep" through the night (actually it was already morning). About two hours out of Buenos Aires (8:30 AM local time, 6:30 AM St. Pete Beach time) it was "Reveille! Reveille! Reveille! All hands heave out and trice up. Reveille!" (NOTE: Those Navy readers from the days of yore will understand). And to think we paid for this, I don't get up at 6:30 when I'm home!
It was time for breakfast, eggs for Sheila and cereal with a side of yogurt for me. The time now passed relatively quickly. Overnight we had traveled south-east from Houston passing over or near:
- Merida, Mexico and the Yucatan Peninsula
- Tegucigalpa, Honduras
- Managua, Nicaragua
- West of San Jose, Costa Rica over the beach to the Pacific
- Back over to the land side near Talara, Peru and back over the Pacific west of Chiclayo, Peru
- West of Trujillo, Chimbote, Lima, Nazca and San Juan de Marcona, Peru
- With the final landfall southwest of Coquimbo, Chile followed by a turn to the east-south-east toward Buenos Aires
Baggage took a bit longer as our five bags were in what must have been the final bin brought from the aircraft; I guess the "priority" baggage tags ensured that our bags were loaded on the aircraft early as it had nothing to do with arrival at baggage claim. Didn't really matter as we had no schedule for the day and in fact the wait was probably no more than 40 minutes from the arrival. With bags in hand, well actually on carts we moved to customs, no big deal here either though the person monitoring the X-ray screen did ask about my printer, the "unusual shape" in one of the bags. Once assured that I wasn't selling printers in Argentina we were good to go.
Once inside the arrival meet & greet area we spotted our guide Romina. She welcomed us to Argentina and led us away to our car and driver, Christopher. When we saw the tiny car it was like "where do you intend to put the baggage", nevertheless, with a bit of stuffing, prodding and finally loading four smaller bags in the front and back seats, we were on our way into the city.
The drive was about forty minutes with midday traffic not so different than at home, well not Kitty Hawk "home", more like Tampa. The tollways used TelePase just like our SunPass and EZPass.
We entered the city along 9 de Julio Avenue (9th of July Avenue) a broad tree-lined boulevard named to honor the Argentine Independence Day of July 9th, 1816. Another site was an image high on the social services building. Romina told us that it was an image (illuminated at night) of Eva "Evita" Peron. Apparently "Evita" is a love/hate thing in Argentina. What do you think of the Perons as they relate to Argentine history? Were you influenced by Madonna's performance as Eva Peron in the movie?
By around 1:00 PM we arrived at the Hotel Emparador, our home for the next several nights. Checkin was relatively easy as the arrangements had been made by the cruise line. Here we met our first fellow Oceania travelers, a couple from where else but, you guessed it, Massachusetts, now living in Maine.
We were early for checkin so we moseyed over to the bar for a "lite lunch", Sheila had the Penne pasta dish washed down with a Jameson & Ginger Ale and I had a pulled pork sandwich with a local beer, Quilmes.
Our room assigned, we headed up to #510, a large comfortable room but one with unimpressive views. It would serve our immediate purpose which was to get some real sleep for the next several hours.
Around 7 PM we hit the town, well actually walked about 1/4 mile to the Four Seasons Hotel where we happened upon the The Pony Line Bar, an establishment themed after the Argentine "Sport of Kings" polo. The bar was crowded when we entered but within a half hour the business crowd had departed and around 7:45 a DJ appeared on the scene to begin the evening entertainment. One must remember that the Argentinians like Spaniards dine and party late so the night was still young but not for us.
By 9 PM we were back in the hotel and sat around doing puzzles, Internet searches, etc. but by 11 PM it was lights out for the first night in Buenos Aires.
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