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Lomo Especial
Tenderloin, egg, ham, cheese, lettuce and tomato This has never happened to us in all of out travels. Italy is famous for their train strikes, London has Tube Strikes, France has general strikes, but we have never been in the middle of one. As previously noted in the prior blog, we may not have even known about it unless our taxi driver told us.
We did get e-mails from the airline, which quickly rebooked us for Friday and the US Embassy e-mailed us as well. However, we were in the jungle all day, not exactly checking e-mails, and normally I don’t check them until right now, which is 9 pm.
As soon as we got back to the hotel from dinner, we were lucky that we could extend our hotel by one-night, same room and even a cheaper rate. Then there was the car, there is no 24-hour service in Argentina, and they seem to be in love with WhatsApp. I sent them a message, but of course what I got back 20 minutes before there office opened was that their office hours were 8 to 10. I messaged them at 9:45, so “That’s Argentina.” By 8:30 today, they did say we could extend the car
Tostada Especial
Cheese, ham and tomato, crusts cut off for you until 1 tomorrow for 97,000 pesos, roughly $97.
We took the opportunity to sleep in a bit and went down to breakfast at around 10:00. Of all the places we have ever stayed, this is by far the worst breakfast ever. The Hampton Inn in Albany New York is exceptional compared to this. There was no selection, no yogurt, tiny serving plates. The only plus was the coffee and hot milk for café con leche.
Back up in the room we spent 3 hours rearranging our itinerary. I called the hotel back in Buenos Aires, to let them know the situation as we were supposed to pay for the first week, Frank, who checked us in, said we could just take care of it when we got back on Friday, they wouldn’t sell our stuff or kick us out of the hotel. Next was seeing if we could cancel our ferry to Montevideo, which was what was planned for Friday. I tried calling myself, got the press 0 for English option, which was not in English when they answered the phone full on Spanish, then put on hold indefinitely, “That’s Argentina.” Finally, I just went down to the
front desk and had them call. No refunds, so there went $402.
Meantime, Jerry was trying to figure out the laundry situation, when we got back today, we were suppose to drop of the laundry for Saturday pickup, well that is out the window now, so hopefully the hotel is not too expensive. It cost us a fortune in La Rochelle last year, maybe here the rates will be reasonable.
We revamped the itinerary, drop a day trip to La Plata, which allowed us to put back some things we had missed previously. Then I had to reschedule a work call. Yes, I actually have a work call on vacation, was supposed to be today at 3:00 now it is Friday at 6:15 there time 7:15 Argentina time.
The entire strike coast us about $800, “That’s Argentina.”
Lessons learned, buy Travel Insurance for trips to South America, we already have it for Africa. When in Argentina you must at all times be flexible, these strikes can happen at any time and typically less than 12 hours’ notice. Check your e-mails more often than once a day. Yes I know your on vacation, but you won’t know if it’s happening otherwise.
The rest of the day, I caught up on blogs and rested. We had lunch and dinner in the hotel. I rained all day. No dish of the day, but the only pictures of the day, our lunch and dinner.
Tomorrow back to Buenos Aires and civilization.
“That’s Argentina.”
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Connie
non-member comment
Park Looked awesome
If it weren't for the park and the falls, that side trip would be a bust. I hope your wine was all good. Interesting that a strike is that short. Great tips for travelers!