buenos aires

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(Written Tuesday, Nov. 20)

Judy and I are relaxing in our hotel room near the domestic airport in Buenos Aires. It's required some effort to get here. First, my initial flight out of SFO was delayed because of a "security breach" which closed down Terminal 3 and set back most flights by at least one hour. I had a 2 hr 22 min. Window to make my Newark to Buenos Aires flight, so things got a little hairy and the stress level began to build. My flight was more than an hour late, but we picked up a tailwind which got me to Newark with about an hour before the next scheduled takeoff. I met up with Judy who had been whiling away the time at the United Club Lounge. This flight was complicated by a last-minute change in aircraft, delaying our takeoff while they stocked the galleys.. I think they swapped out a nice plane for something from the mothball fleet. It had teeny overhead bins and ancient entertainment apparati. However, neither Judy or I had bulky carryons, so it wasn't an issue for us, plus, somehow we got seats in the economy plus section which gave us a few extra inches Of space. Surprisingly, I was able to get a few hours of sleep before we arrived in Buenos Aires where a one day national strike was in progress. With no public transportation and central city at a virtual standstill, we found ourselves waiting two hours for an official taxi to take us to our hotel. Our cabbie avoided downtown and drove us past the domestic airport which was empty and dark, closed due to the strike. Thank goodness, we fly out of there tomorrow. There isn't much to see in this industrial neighborhood, next to the Rio La Plata, a wide muddy river, reminiscent of the Mississippi. The river is so wide that you cannot see Uruguay which is on the other bank. The shore was lined with fishermen and a container port lies upriver a short distance. Our first Argentine meal was cheeseburgers and fries at a retro diner. We will be leaving tomorrow early to board an 8 am flight to Ushuaia, where we will be about 35 degrees cooler. We board the Ocean Diamond Thursday afternoon.

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