Feb. 27, 2006 Buenos Aires to El Calafate
Waking up early for our flight to ¨south¨ South America, our fearless guide Roberto was the first culprit of the group, ignoring his alarm clock. We all sat in the hotel anxiously this AM wondering if he just took our $ and skipped town! Not a big deal though, since upon arrival, we learned our 9AM plane was ¨broken¨ and was delayed till 2PM. Let me tell you--when an airport official verbalizes to you that your plane is indeed ¨broken,¨ you start to wonder if a 12 hour busride might be the best choice...Terri and I made use of this time, as we've had VERY poor luck finding a place to cash our travelers checks. Lesson learned--at least here, cold hard US cash will buy you a much better rate. Here in Argentina, most places won't even take our trav. checks. The ones who will will hit you with a 10-15% reduction in rate. Citibank was finally the agreeable spot, although the process took 30 minutes and we seemingly went through an FBI background check to simply cash in $300.Now, the part of the trip you knew was inevitable. The McDonald's taste-test. The lure of the Golden Arches, when timed properly even in a city such as Buenos Aires, will pull Teri and myself in. I'm also always tempted to sample the consistency of the food, as my buddy Rob and I have a longstanding debate on the topic. Feel free to chime in with the guestbook where you stand on the issue. To Rob (and everyone else who cares), the cheeseburgers WERE DIFFERENT. Much saltier, with a smaller patty and different cheese. The fries were the same, but perhaps cooked in different oil. What is sad is that this meal is probably the lowest in calories we've had yet! Of course, this is entirely due to volume. Tokyo still holds the record for the best tasting McDee's. And yes Rob, I look forward to more spirited debate. The rest of the early afternoon involved a failed attempt to tour the operahouse (closed today), and a visit to the internet cafe to check up on some things.Upon arrival back to the airport, our plane was pushed back another 30 minutes. Somewhere before takeoff we were informed we will first fly to Ushuaia, the southern-most city in the world. What nimrod planned this flight itinerary? We actually flew 3.5 hours south, when a simple 2 hour flight south would have landed us to the destination. So we landed, dropped off passengers, then flew 1.5 hours BACK in the same direction. Literally, this would be the same as flying from NYC to Atlanta, but with a stop-off in Miami. Hopefully the Einsteins planning the flights aren't the same ones flying them.So we finally landed in El Calafate around 9PM--quite a long day. El Calafate appeared absolutely gorgeous, as we watched the sun set around 10 PM. Being in the South Hemisphere in the summer has it's advantages. Living in Seattle, an extra 6 hours of sunshine per day is quite welcomed! Anyway, El Calafate has lots of pure blue lakes, certainly from the glacial silt suspended in the water. We are on the doorsteps of Glacier National Park, as tomorrow we will be visiting the Moreno Glacier. The terrain looks similar to Nevada, as the ground looks like desert in vegetation. The nearby mountains and water make the area somewhat distinct, and I believe it's just a small taste of what the Andes will offer.Our group hit up an Italian Mom & Pop type place for dinner. Very good eats. Terri and I both had ravioli, wrapping up veggies and mashed potatoes while covered in meat sauce. Yum! We all ate well, drank Argentinian wine, and swapped good stories. Our group is collectively very well traveled, so it's been fun learning about everyone and hearing of other adventures. Can't wait for more.
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