Travel day. Up at 4 am to shower and pack toiletries and stuff. Taxi pickup at 5 am for a 7:55 am flight. No traffic and a driver driving fast and furious got us to the airport at 5:30. Luckily, the B.A. airport has an Admirals Club so we could have a little snack before we left.

It was about a 5 ½ hour flight on Lan Airlines from Buenos Aires to Lima where we were connecting to our Madrid flight. Nice seats. A little narrow but they reclined to a bed so I slept the entire time. I woke up when the flight attendants came around and opened all the window shades about an hour before we landed. Jerks.

We had a brutally long layover in Lima… NINE HOURS. We spent most of the day in the SUMAQ lounge. The Internet connection was spotty, especially when the lounge was packed, so that was frustrating.

The SUMAQ lounge kicks the Admirals Club’s butt in the snack selection. The AC in the States usually just has apples and snack mix but this lounge has a nice selection of mini sandwiches, chips, plantain chips, snack mix, and a variety of snacks. Not to mention freshly squeezed fruit juice.

The funniest thing is that the lounge doesn’t have an intercom or speaker system. Someone walks around to announce flight departures. Archaic but effective.

Our flight to Madrid is on Iberia Airlines It’s a 10.5 hour flight. We are scheduled to arrive in MAD around 2ish in the afternoon, local time.

Adios from South America!

-kb

Dia Cuatro 

We spent the afternoon in the Palmero Viejo barrio. Lunch was at La Dorita, another recommendation from our Lonely Planet guide. I had the chicken with garlic with homemade potato chips; Chris had another steak sandwich. Oh! And, I finally tried the fried provolone. It was like a grilled cheese sans bread. It was one of the best things I’ve eaten here. My mouth is watering just thinking about it.

Chicken with garlic and homemade potato chips

Steak sandwich

Grilled provoleta (grilled provolone) - my favorite!!

After lunch, we walked around the barrio and did a little shopping. The barrio is very fashion-forward with tons of clothing boutiques. A little too fashion-forward for me but I enjoyed looking around the shops anyway.

The graffiti art was beautiful and bountiful around Palmero Viejo. It really set the vibe for the  neighborhood. The vibrant colors brightened up the entire barrio.

The highlight of our trip so far (for me) was our tango lesson at Tango & Tango. I HAD SO MUCH FUN!!! Our tango teachers were Sophia and Sergio. Sophia was one of the professional performers at the tango show at the hotel. We recognized her right away. Chris had dubbed her the best dancer of the group and I have to agree.

Tango time!!

Don't let the smile fool you. He's terrified.

Our wonderful teachers - Sophia and Sergio (I only thought that I had good posture but, next to Sophia, it looks like I've never taken a Pilates class)

Learning the tango was frustrating.  It looks a lot easier on Dancing with the Stars. I love to dance but I’m not used to dancing with someone. I’m used to shaking my moneymaker all by myself. Having someone lead me was not easy. Sergio spent a good 15-20 minutes just teaching me how to follow. At one point, he told me to lead him around just so I could get the feel of leading someone who won’t follow you. He laughed and said that I’m a pretty good dance lead. Go figure. It’s just my nature to be in control.

I was struggling with one particular step but Chris really got the steps down quickly. Of course, now he thinks that he’s a better dancer than me. My response is that I would have gotten the steps down easier if he led me better. Ha!

I have to give mad props to Chris for even going to the lesson with me. He doesn’t dance, doesn’t like to dance, and was dreading the lesson. He loves me! He really loves me!  And, I think that he actually enjoyed himself a bit. Despite our height difference, we are a good dancing pair and I can’t wait to try our steps in the privacy of our home.

Dia Cinco

Last full day in Buenos Aires. We needed to do laundry so we didn’t take a bunch of dirty clothes to Madrid. So, we took it to the lavato and it was only $16 USD for 5 days worth of laundry (the Hyatt was going to charge us over $300!). Luckily, we just dropped it off at 9 am and picked it up at 7 pm.

For lunch, we went to La Tortino in Microcentre. It was meh. Full of tourists but Lonely Planet warned us of that. The décor was nice though. Waiter was an a-hole. Chris had a hamburger and I had a Roquefort and walnut sandwich.

I guess the jet lag is finally catching up because I was tired all day. It was the earliest that we woke up since we arrived in B.A. – 8:30 am. And, I was dragging all day. I was so tempted to just sleep all day but I knew that it is only going to get worse as we move east so I made myself stay up all day.

We went to the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes. It was a small museum so it didn’t take us long to go through all of it. It was such as hot, humid day and we were glad to escape the heat, however, the museum didn’t have their AC cranked like we are used to (spoiled Americans). Good side is that I probably lost about 5 pounds of water weight.

We needed a break from all the meat and potatoes so we opted for Italian for dinner at the El Gatto restaurant down the street from our hotel. It was probably the worst meal that we’ve had in B.A. (I know, I know – Italian in South America. What did we expect?) Do not recommend.  But, they gave us free glasses of champagne.  The calamari was thick and lightly breaded and was the best part of the meal.

It was pack night so, after we got our laundry, we started the packing process. Chris never really unpacked so it didn’t take him long. We shipped the small amount of items that we purchased and the shipping actually cost more than the total cost of all the purchases (mostly due to the $45 service fee by the hotel).  But, I really did not want to tote around any more stuff than we have to.

Early night. The taxi was coming at 5 am to pick us up for a 7:55 am flight. Loooooong day of travel.

-kb

We’ve got a lot to do today, on our fifth and last day in Buenos Aires.  So, we’ll type up the posts for Days 4 and 5 tomorrow on our flight to Madrid.  Today is our last day of Summer, before heading back to the Northern Hemisphere for a week and a half.  So, we’re gonna get out and enjoy it!

Brunch at the hotel was incredible. Incredibly expensive but worth every penny. There was a huge buffet of options: marinated vegetables & seafood, gazpacho, wide selection of cheeses & meats, fresh vegetables and a dessert bar. In addition, we ordered entrées of eggs with a truffled cream sauce and crushed potatoes swimming in butter. It was rich and delicious. I started off with two mimosas; Chris only had one.

The casual and slow-paced nature of the service didn’t bode well with us today, given we had plans to go to San Telmo to shop. Brunch didn’t start until 12:30 (this was when the restaurant opened). At 2:30, we had to skip out on Chris’s entrée, homemade pork sausages. He was too full anyway to enjoy it. While I appreciate the culture of a slow meal, the go-go-go part of me was getting antsy. I mean, you can only eat and drink so much. The waiter was extremely apologetic and we received a complimentary bottle of wine for our troubles. While we didn’t actually feel “troubled,” I wasn’t going to turn down a bottle of Malbec.

Our next stop was San Telmo for the Sunday artisan fair. There were so many booths and shops to visit. Lots of antiques. Lots of art. Lots of leather goods. We bought a cool leather wine bottle holder and magnets for our mothers. I really enjoyed walking around and seeing all the available goods. Just like every artisan fair in the world, you start to see the same stuff over and over. But, it was still fun to walk around and soak up the surroundings.

One of the best parts of the fair is the variety of musicians around playing music. Of course, my favorite part was seeing tango dancers in the street. Yes, they were “older” but they could still tango better than anyone that I know. Given that I don’t really know anyone who tangoes, I’m easily impressed.

Finally, we reached the end of the market and found ourselves in the Plaza de Mayo and the Casa Rosada, where Eva Peròn made her addresses to the people. Iconic. (See Chris’s previous post for a little history lesson on Eva Peròn)

Back at the hotel around 7ish, we showered up and planned our last two days in Buenos Aires with the help of our concierge. He also helped us find a great empanada restaurant, El Sanjuanino, a couple of blocks from our hotel.

EMPANADAS, I love you. We had the house wine and EIGHT empanadas. There are two kinds of empanadas: fried and baked. I enjoyed both; Chris’s fave was the fried (of course). We had a variety: beef, chicken, and corn. Our favorite, hands-down, was the chicken. And, these things are cheap as dirt. Our dinner, including wine and tip, was a whopping $26 USD. I can see us going back again before we leave. The house wine was smooth and delicious.

Let me take a minute to talk about our hotel, Park Hyatt Buenos Aires. I’ve stayed at quite a few hotels in my life and this is one of the best. Luxury is king here. Service is phenomenal – daily turn-down service, extremely helpful concierge, accommodating wait staff, and eager bellhops that never let me open a door (I think that I’ve only had to open the front door twice so far). Robes, slippers, daily fresh fruit, little snacks, and free bottled waters are just a few things that add that extra special touch. The next time I visit, I’m going to make sure that I factor in one day where I just stay at the hotel to enjoy the spa and three restaurants.

We lost our room key somewhere in Buenos Aires and let the front desk know. They called us the next day to tell us that they reviewed the surveillance tape from the time that we left the room until we returned and did not see anyone else enter our room. That made us feel that much more secure, even though we never felt unsafe in our hotel or our surrounding barrio. It also made me realize that they are watching all the times that I’ve picked a wedgie or danced in the hallway.

The hotel is beautiful. There is an art gallery and jewelry store (although I haven’t been there yet – don’t need the temptation) and a florist. The décor is modern with classic touches and loads of art. I highly recommend it!

Looking forward to Day Four!

-kb

Yesterday, we slept in again.  I know, I know….  We’re gonna have to get caught up to the time change very soon.  We’re going another 4 or 5 hours into the future this week, when we travel to Madrid.  And, we just realized last night that New Zealand is 19 hours ahead!! We’ve done a lot of traveling in the past.  And, I’ve never struggled with jet lag.  But, this time I think we’re gonna feel it.

So, we got up and skipped the workout.  I made up an imaginary rule that I don’t workout on Sundays.  And, Krystal went with it.  So, we went down to one of the restaurants at our hotel, which we had heard serves one of the finest brunches in town.  We heard right!  Soooo much good food!  By far the best, was the fried egg, covered in a truffle cheese sauce.  The service was very slow.  So, two hours later, we were already filled up on the fantastic stuff from the various buffet stations, and our delightful eggs.  And, we still hadn’t received our main course.  So, eager to get on with our day, we skipped out on the main course and headed back to our room to prepare for our day.

After seeing the endless booths at the artisan market the previous day, we were excited to see what the Sunday markets in San Telmo had in store for us.  They were supposed to be much bigger than what we’d seen on Saturday.  And, holy moly!  They were!  HUNDREDS of artists and vendors, set up along the cobblestone streets of this lively, art-centric neighborhood, where the previous day we had visited the Museum of Modern Art.  We picked up a few things for ourselves and a few gifts.

By the time we reached the end of the longest street of vendors, we found ourselves in Plaza de Mayo.  It was the scene of the 25 de Mayo Revolution of 1810, that led to Argentina’s independence from Spain (coincidentally, our next destination).  And, to this day, it’s still the site of many protests and demonstrations.  It’s also the site of La Casa Rosada, which is the official executive mansion of Argentina, though the President actually resides elsewhere.

From Wikipedia:

“The plaza, since 1977, is where the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo have congregated with signs and pictures of desaparecidos, their children, who were subject to forced disappearance by the Argentine military in the Dirty War, during the National Reorganization Process. People perceived to be supportive of subversive activities (that would include expressing left-wing ideas, or having any link with these people, however tenuous) would be illegally detained, subject to abuse and torture, and finally murdered in secret. The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo took advantage of the symbolic importance of the Plaza to open the public’s eyes to what the military regime was doing.”

The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo weren’t marching when we were there.  But, there were many protest signs hanging in the plaza.

La Casa Rosada is also the building where many Argentinian Presidents have addressed the people from the balcony.  This includes Eva Peron’s famous address to over 2 million union workers, where the crowd demanded that she announce her candidacy for Vice President.  I really should have watched Evita before coming to Buenos Aires.

We realized that we had been in San Telmo for several hours and were completely exhausted.  So, we came back to the hotel for a little rest.  We were both still full from brunch.  So, we decided to pass on a big dinner.  Instead, we walked a few blocks to a very, very local restaurant that specialized in empanadas.  Only one other tourist couple in this place.  And, no English-speaking employees.  Our waiter was a little frustrated with us at first.  But, as he could tell we were genuinely trying to communicate with him with the best Spanish we remembered from High School, he lightened up considerably by the end of the meal.  When we were first ordering, our attempt to order wine went something like this:

Krystal:  (points to wine on menu) A bottle of this?
Waiter:  SOMETHING SPANISH, SOMETHING SPANISH, SOMETHING SPANISH, SOMETHING SPANISH.
Krystal:  This?  Por Favor?
Waiter:   SOMETHING SPANISH, SOMETHING SPANISH, SOMETHING SPANISH, SOMETHING SPANISH.
Krystal:  Uno vino? This?
Waiter:  (frustrated look) NO.

So, we ended up ordering the house red, which was fantastic.  We also, despite thinking we weren’t hungry, put away EIGHT empanadas.  Both baked and fried, we had three types.  Beef (with onions and hardboiled egg), Chicken (the best one), and a third that contained Corn in a cream sauce.   They were SOOOOOOO delicious.  We’ll probably go back there before we leave.

We made it back to the hotel, thinking that the wine would put us early to bed and we could get on a regular schedule.  No such luck.  We were up until after 2AM watching some horribly disturbing documentary about drug addicts on Cinemax.  Now, it’s noon on Monday, and I’ve only been up for an hour or so.  Oof.  Gotta get up early tomorrow.  But, I think Krystal scheduled a Tango lesson for tonight (ugh) so maybe we’ll be worn out from dancing (ugh) and get to bed before 2AM tonight.

Here are some of my favorite pics from Day 3:

The hotel garden in the daytime

another pic of the garden

the egg. OMG the egg!!

invisible head

never too old to Tango!

artists and vendors as far as you can see!

cobblestone roads

Plaza de Mayo

Plaza de Mayo

Plaza de Mayo & Casa la Rosada

Plaza de Mayo

Casa la Rosada

-CH

I woke up feeling overwhelmed with everything that I want to do. I’m stressing Chris out. I can’t help it – I always feel like this when I go somewhere new. I want to do and see everything available that a city has to offer.

Woke up around 10ish. Chris had a wild hair to work out. That doesn’t happen very often. Gotta take advantage when he’s up for a workout. The gym at this hotel is incredible. The cardio machines have Internet access and a nice television station selection. Seriously. Great weight equipment and machines. Cold cucumber towels for a post-workout refreshment. Très chic.

Great day although it didn’t go as planned. We had planned to ride the tour bus but it didn’t quite work out for us because (1) the bus stopped at 5 pm (2) we could only buy tickets at the first stop – we were picking it up at the last stop. It circles the city all day.

So, we had lunch at La Biela in our barrio. I had a ham & cheese sandwich and Chris had a steak sandwich. We had Imperial beers and potato chips. I haven’t eaten pork in a long time but my cured ham sandwich was pretty good. Gotta get my belly ready for Madrid.

Since the tour bus thing didn’t pan out, we decided a wander around the market in Recoleta. Lots of arts and craft booths – we couldn’t hit them all. We were saving our shopping chops for Sunday’s shopping excursion at San Telmo, a well-known weekend market.

We decided to go to the Museum of Modern Art of Buenos Aires (MAMBA). A short cab ride later, we were wandering around MAMBA and viewing some beautiful modern art. The museum is free so it is a great find.

After the museum, we walked around San Telmo for a bit then realized that it was 6:30pm. Dinner reservations were at 9. Time to head back for a disco nap and bath before dinner.

Refreshed and starving, we headed to our dinner reservation at the hotel that included a tango show. I was finally getting my tango fix!! And, my foodie fix. Five courses. Champagne to start. Unlimited wine refills.

First Course:

Foie gras with pink salt, brioche and black caviar, roll of fresh anchovies flavored with Malbec wine bread, smoked salmon ice cream

Second Course:

Steam zucchini flower stuffed with prawns and cauliflower. Lime and basil sorbet.

Third Course:

Pan fried mullet and black code fish on smoked eggplant cream and Torrontes wine sauce

Fourth Course:

Grilled Dry aged beef tenderloin with black truffle and oyster mushroom butter. Roasted garlic and leek cream. Potato terrine.

Fifth Course:

Gratin of figs in almond sabayon and fresh "Lincoln" cheese ice cream

Dessert After Dessert Course:

Variety of cookies and sweets along with cappuccino

I loved, loved, loved the tango show. We had front row seats. They performed a variety of group dances and individual dances. There were multiple costume changes and each dance had a specific theme. I did learn that the women dancers wear super-high heels but their heels never touch the ground. A tip that I will try in my Zumba classes. Ha! The dancers were all beautiful, graceful, and wonderful. They all had the typical dancer-type bodies. Super-thin and toned. I couldn’t help but wonder if they were envious of our calorie-laden, rich entrées like we were envious of their fat-free bodies. I mean, we were chowing down on foie gras, caviar, beef with truffle butter and ice creams while these lithe dancers were dancing around us.

Be sure to check out Chris’s previous post for additional pics.

– kb

As Krystal mentioned, the late culture here has really helped us ease into the time change. We’re 3 hours ahead of Oklahoma.  So, we slept pretty late on Saturday.  I figured that a good workout would help wake me up and give me some much-needed energy for the day.  So, we went to the gym at the hotel.  It was killer!  The machines were all so high tech.  They had web access and televisions built in.  I was able to check in on Facebook, and catch up on the news while I was on the bike.  On the way out, I saw the pool.  It was a huge, indoor lap pool.  I couldn’t see how long it was without walking out to the pool area.  As I walked down the steps, I stepped right into a crystal clear, invisible water-filled “rinse” area with my shoes and socks on.  Quite embarrassing.  I’m used to seeing rinse pools at beaches, to rinse sand from your feet.  But, I didn’t expect one in the spa/gym.  Oh well, shake it off, gringo!

We had planned to do a Buenos Aires Bus Tour of the city.  The bus route hits all of the important landmarks and most of the major neighborhoods in Buenos Aires.  It’s a hop on/hop off type of tour that circles back and starts over every 3 hours or so.   You can get on and off the bus at any of the stops.  We had intended to get on the bus at stop 18, which is just a few blocks from our hotel.   We would then ride the whole circuit, making notes of places we’d like to return to (probably via taxi).  But, this was not to be.  We went to the corner where stop 18 was indicated on the map.  The buses are supposed to run every 20 minutes.  We stood there for about 30 minutes before spotting a “tourist information” booth at the end of the block.   So, we asked about the tour.  Turns out, on Saturdays and Sundays, you can only purchase tickets at stop number 1.  On weekdays, you can purchase tickets and start your trip at any stop.  Since stop number 1 was so far away, we blew it off.  But, we did get a map from the tourist info booth.  They had run out of English language maps.  So, we had to do our best with the Spanish Edition.

We sat down with the map at La Biela, a restaurant we remembered from one of the tourist guides we have on Krystal’s iPad.  We both had sandwiches.  I’ve realized quickly that I just can’t have a thick, juicy steak at every meal.  So, I ordered a steak sandwich with lettuce, tomatoes, cheese and an egg.  I was expecting a fried egg.  But, the sandwich showed up with a sliced hard-boiled egg!  Dang!  This was a great sandwich!

Krystal ordered a cured ham and cheese sandwich.  Krystal hardly ever eats pork.  This was completely out of the blue.  But, she said that she’s preparing herself for Madrid.  Her sandwich was delicious, too!

During lunch, we had decided to visit the Museum of Modern Art.  Luckily, Krystal had gone out to ask the woman at the tourist information booth what time the museum closed.  Because, as it turned out, the museum had moved several miles away from where it was listed on our map.  So, we got a new address.

We spent some time walking around the GIANT artisan market near the restaurant before grabbing a taxi to the museum.  The first taxi driver we asked told us that we were only 5 blocks from the museum and could easily walk.  So, we walked, and walked, and walked.  The best we could guess is that he had pointed us in the direction of the museum’s previous location.  So, we got in another cab and told the driver where we wanted to go.  We showed him the name of the Museum on the map.  He ignored the name and just started driving toward the listed address…  the old address!!  Luckily the woman for the tourist info booth had written the new address on the map.  So, a few minutes later we were headed across town to the museum’s new location.

The museum was beautiful and quite inspiring.  Even the architecture screamed modern art.  There was an incredible staircase.  I can’t even explain it.  And, I don’t usually whip out the camera at museums.  So, you’ll just have to take my word for it.  We saw some incredible paintings, sculptures and video exhibits.   Afterwards, we walked around the great neighborhood where the museum was located and took lots of cool pictures.

Returning to the hotel, we rested up for a bit before heading back out to one of the hotel restaurant where we had reserved a table for a killer 5 course meal and a Tango show.  It was outdoors, with a live band, and a great singer.  And, the dancers were fantastic!   The food was super upscale.  My first experience with foie gras (gross).  Some other interesting selections from the meal:  caviar (yum!), salmon ice cream (yum!), zucchini flowers stuffed with prawns and cauliflower (yum!), lime and basil sorbet (double yum!).  And, those were just the two starter courses!  I’ll let Krystal tell you about the remaining 3 courses.

The show was a lot of fun.  The wine was flowing!  All in all, it was just another beautiful night in Buenos Aires.  We got back to the room just in time to see God turning his back on Tim Tebow.

Here are some pics from the day:

Steak Sandwich. Argentina style!

Argentinian hot ham & cheese!

Krystal checking out some Mate Tea Cups.

Interesting sculpture in the park.

Argentina's Washington Monument *(kidding. don't really know what this is. shot from taxi)

-CH

It’s Saturday morning (well, early afternoon) and the start of our second day in B.A. We slept until 10ish (7 am CST) and decided to have a quick workout before we start our day. I have a few minutes while Chris is showering. Time to blog!

The culture here is to start the day late and end it late. With the time difference, it really works in our favor. I did wake up this morning feeling pretty overwhelmed with all the things that I want to do. This is pretty typical for me during a vacation. Poor Chris has to endure this and is still learning (after all these years) how to handle it.

Anyway, back to Day One….

We arrived at the hotel around 9 am after a 45-minute drive in traffic from the airport. Luckily, our room was ready, which typically does not happen since check-in is at 3 pm. The porter showed us our room. Our room is a standard room but it was still very nice. View is meh – basically a view of a bunch of apartments across the street. But, I’m not complaining since it’s free.

After a much needed nap, we woke up mid-day. We called the concierge for a recommendation for a parilla restaurant (serves grilled meats). They recommended El Mirasol that was only three blocks away. Most restaurants close for lunch around 3 pm. It was close to 2 pm so we high-tailed it to the restaurant.

El Mirasol is located under a bridge with a lot of other restaurants. Food was good and plentiful. I ordered a macrobiotic salad to start, grilled chicken breast and steamed vegetables. I also ordered French fries with Provenzal sauce (garlic and parsley) but the waiter told me that I had ordered a lot of food and I shouldn’t get the French fries and the vegetables. Hmph. “Too much food” he says to me. “OK, no fries” I told him even though I was thinking, “I could totally eat all of it. I mean, I am an American.”

Turns out that he was right. It was a lot of food. Apparently, the side dishes are family-sized (or, American-sized). My vegetable plate was the best part of my meal with boiled potatoes, beets, mushrooms, some sort of squash, carrots, and cooked spinach. My chicken was decent. But, the wine was my favorite part of the meal.

We shared a half bottle of Malbec. It was tasty and I left there with a nice buzz. We went for a nice walk around our barrio, Recoleta, to acclimate ourselves and walk off some of our lunch. We found a nice park with people playing futbol, laying out, and kids running around.

During our walk, we also discovered that our barrio is pretty ritzy. I mean, there are Fendi and Salvatore Ferragamo stores steps away from our hotel’s front door. Unfortunately, shopping isn’t really in the budget for this trip, especially in the first city (not like I’d be shopping at those stores anyway).

Back at the hotel around 5, it was time to think about dinner. After researching and researching, we found Juana M restaurant. It was close to the hotel and within walking distance. Called concierge and they made our reservations for us. God, I love the concierge.

Reservations were at 9:00 pm. (Mom – I can hear you now – “but, you are eating so late!”) Like many South American and European cultures, people eat very late. The restaurant was practically dead when we arrived. I wondered why we bothered with a reservation. By 10:00 pm, the place was hopping.

This was the best meal by far. It was cheaper than our lunch and food was so much more flavorful. Chris had his second beef entrée of the day. I had the (surprise!) chicken with garlic. This restaurant had a pretty mean salad bar with a variety of veggies and legumes.

Wine, another Malbec, went down way too easily. This time we shared a whole bottle but the funny thing is that I didn’t even get a buzz. Those of you who know me well, know that my limit is two glasses before I get crazy.

One thing to note is that service is slow compared to the States. But, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Meals are meant to be enjoyed and savored so service isn’t rushed. That’s my theory anyway.

We decided to enjoy dessert and coffee at the hotel. I’m glad that we did because they have an all-you-can-eat dessert bar at one of their restaurants. O.M.G. I tried four desserts (they were small) and had a chocolate & cinnamon cappuccino. It was fantastic to eat and drink outside under the stars. We finally called it a night around 12:30 pm.

See Chris’s previous post for pics from Day One.

– kb

We arrived in Buenos Aires at 7:30 AM, after a 9 hour flight.  Luckily, we were in crazy cushy seats in first class on our flight from Miami.  Each seat took up enough space on the plane to fit 3 seats.  The chairs swiveled and we had an ottoman to kick our feet up on.  Leg room galore!!  And, I thought that the emergency exit row was comfortable…  Sheesh!  This was EXTRAVAGANT.  There were buttons on the arm rest to lean the seat back, and to extend the foot rest.   “Foot rest”?!?!?!   There was another button.  It was a magical button.  It was labeled “bed”.   WHOA!!!!  So, the seat lays all the way back, and the foot rest extends to connect with the ottoman, and suddenly, I’m laying all the way down, stretched out, and getting ready for bed.   They provided us with a mattress pad, a sheet,  a blanket, and one of the best airplane pillows I’ve ever seen.  I really wanted to watch another episode of Dexter (I’m only on season 2).  But, the opportunity to get a good night’s sleep was too much to pass up.  I woke for breakfast in time to see a bit of the Argentinian landscape.  It’s crazy how much the countryside looks like Oklahoma.

The Buenos Aires airport was a piece of cake.  You never know what you’re going to get at Passport Control and Customs.  And, when there is a language barrier, it’s even more nerve wracking.  But, everyone was very nice and we sped right through.  The taxi ride to the hotel was slow, and occasionally harrowing.  We arrived at morning rush hour.  Bumper to bumper traffic on the highway, combined with the apparently lax vehicle emission standards, made for a pretty smelly ride.

When we arrived at the hotel around 9AM, our room was already ready to check in, a full 6 hours before official check in.  This isn’t common at all.  But, it’s one of the perks of traveling with one of Hyatt’s best customers.  They really roll out the red carpet for Krystal. Checked in, we went to our room, which is fairly small, but quite modern and beautiful.  This city is packed with buildings.  So, much like NYC, most of the hotel room views are of large buildings across the street.

We took a nap for a couple of hours, then decided to set out on foot in search of some lunch.  Buenos Aires, or maybe just this particular area where we’re staying, feels much safer than where we stayed in Quito last year.  I’m perfectly comfortable walking around the city, even after dark.  There are the requisite warnings about pickpockets and watch/purse snatchers.  And, maybe this kind of over-confidence is dangerous.  But, I have a hard time imagining that someone would see me coming down the street and think that I’m a good target for any kind of crime.  I’m not a tough guy by any means.  But, it’s nice to look like one sometimes.

Our hotel concierge recommended a restaurant called el Mirasol.  In Argentina, restaurants that specialize in grill cooking are called Parillas.  I’ve really been looking forward to trying Argentinian beef.  And, this place did not disappoint.  But, I didn’t want to jump in head first on day one with a giant steak for lunch.  So, I chose the Brochette de Lomo y Pollo, which is basically a chicken and beef kabob with onions and peppers.  The sides, as we would later learn, are served “family style” in very large portions.  But, the prices on the menu are so cheap, that we didn’t know this until the food was brought to the table.  We had a hint when we were ordering and the waiter stopped us and said, “too much”.  We thought that he may just be underestimating the raging hunger of two travel weary Americans.  But, when the food was brought to the table, everything made much more sense.  We did have way too much food.  But, it was delicious.

Next, we walked around our barrio.  It’s called Recoleta.  It’s pretty swank.  Lots of high end shopping and really nice buildings.  We found a great park and a cool art museum that we plan to go back to.  The weather is just gorgeous.  Highs in the 80s.  Lows at night in the upper 60s.   There were many people outside enjoying the park.   Here are a couple of interesting things we found in the park.

First, something really big:

Giant park bench!

And, something much smaller:

Really big dude. Really tiny fig leaf.

It was a really pretty park and we had a good time walking around.

We had another short, relaxing nap before dinner.  Dinner was at a nice basement restaurant called Juana M.  We made a 9pm reservation.  We assumed that the Argentinian people dined later, so we expected lots of people there when we arrived.  We were the only people in the restaurant.  I thought we may have been given a bum recommendation from Lonely Planet.  But, by 10pm, the place was packed!   People definitely do dine late here!  I had a great steak in black pepper sauce.  And, we had another delicious bottle of Argentinian Malbec.

After dinner, we went back to the Park Hyatt for dessert and cappuccinos.  We were blown away to find that one of the nicer restaurants in our hotel had a late night dessert buffet.  So, we tried lots of fantastic desserts under the stars!

What a great first day!

Here are a few more pics from day one:

Mmmmmm... desserts!

Dessert buffet!

Dinner at Juana M

The Park Hyatt garden at night. This is where we had dessert.

Krystal really likes the stamped concrete sidewalks in Buenos Aires

I really like the bus stop vandalism!

and, the architecture

-CH

What a travel day. Three flights later (OKC – DFW – MIA – EZE), we are finally in Buenos Aires. But, I’ve gotta talk about the MIA – EZE flight.

I know that I fly a lot. But, I have not flown first class internationally….business class to London was the closest I’ve gotten and that was pretty cool. That, however, did not prepare for me the bliss that is international first class. Holy shit.

The aircraft was a 777 so it was a big plane. From Miami to Buenos Aires, it takes nine hours. We left at 8:30 pm EST and arrived in BA at 7:30 am.

#1: Champagne welcome before take-off

#2: My own little pod with my seat that reclines into a bed

#3: The complimentary accessories (a) bed linens including a padded bed cover, comforter, light blanket, and pillow (b) Bose headset (can’t keep that), slippers, and a bag of toiletries (can keep that) that included lip stuff, lotions, socks, eye mask, toothbrush, and toothpaste.

They even brought us complimentary pajamas! They are actually comfortable and ones that I’ll probably wear a lot during this trip, given I had cut mine from my packing list.

(Needless to say, I kinda felt like a big rube because I was pretty impressed with all of this. But, I wasn’t the only one. There were several other rubes in first class taking pictures, too.)

I’m used to the warm nuts served before dinner but they also served a parmigiano-reggiano cheese and olive mix that was a nice change of pace. We swiveled our seats so we could face each other and have dinner. Chris had chicken curry (meh) and I had halibut with risotto (good). Dessert included custom sundaes or the cheese tray. We both went for the sundaes. It was a very neat experience. Entertainment options included television shows and movies that we could watch at our convenience.

I tried to watch Footloose but couldn’t stay awake. It wasn’t because of the movie – it was  the champagne and food that knocked me out. It was around 1 am Buenos Aires time when I finally went to sleep. I woke up at 6 am when they started serving breakfast. I was able to freshen up a little before we landed at 7:30 am. But, even with the “bed,” I was still exhausted.

Immigration and customs were uneventful and uncharacteristically smooth and efficient. Maybe arriving so early made a difference. While we usually have to wait for our bags for customs, they were there waiting on us.

More to come about our first day in B.A….

– kb