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Palace Alvear - Jo-Anne
Jo-Anne on the steps of the Palace Alvear Hotel in Buenos Aires. The wake-up call was at 5:00 AM and we left the hotel at 6:59 AM. This was the time to travel - the streets were empty and our directions from the hotel staff were impeccable.
Avis
Having crashed our first Avis rental car, we pretty much knew it would take a few minutes longer to return the second car. Yesterday, Avis asked us to give them an extra 15 minutes when we dropped off the car. We were at the Avis counter before they opened at 7:30 AM.
A nice young lady arrived and we went to the car where she verified the mileage, etc. Back in the Avis office, she then pulled out the contract and looked at all the notes. She filled out a new charge and asked me to sign it. Then, she carefully filled in the blank credit card slip that I had signed when renting the car with ARP5,800. (I always wondered what happened to those blank slips that one signs when renting a car.) American Express had instructed me not to pay any accident-related charges and, if required to pay, then charge them on my card and dispute the charge - they would
Palace Alvear - Stationary
Shortly after arriving, our butler dropped off our personalized stationary. take care of it.
So, in summary, it was relatively simply and painless to return the car to Avis.
Buenos Aires
Our flight to Bs As was uneventful. We landed at Aeroparque Jorge Newbery (AEP) the local airport and got a taxi to our hotel. Taxis are plentiful and cheap in Buenos Aires (known as 'Bs As'). A lot of travel guides we saw suggested you only take taxis with 'radio taxi' on the car and although we didn’t purposely seek them out, that is what we ended up taking each time we took a taxi.
The Aeroparque Jorge Newbery airport is located next to the Del la Plata river, which separates Argentina and Uruguay and is 25 miles wide. When you first see it you would think it is the ocean because you cannot see the other side.
Bs As is a big city that reminded us of Paris or Belgium. It has the old European-style buildings mixed in with high rise apartments.
Alvear Palace Hotel
The Alvear Palace is located in the fashionable Ricoleta area of Buenos Aires. It is an old, historic hotel that prides itself on its personal service for guests
Palace Alvear - Business Card
They would have given us an e-mail address if we wanted one. Clearly, they like their guests to stay for extended visits. throughout the hotel. Each floor has a butler service where the butler helps coordinate all services for the hotel.
We had a two-room suite, with a separate bathroom and toilet area. In an older hotel, it was spacious and was very comfortable. The person that helped us check in took us directly to our suite. Minutes later the butler arrived and she explained all the services that the hotel offered and how to coordinate those through her.
The wi-fi access was great, with multiple access points throughout each floor so connectivity was easy and fast. Blogging was simple.
Lunch at L’Orangerie
Booking the Alvear Palace thorough American Express travel services included a couple extras, including lunch at L’Orangerie in the hotel.
After checking into our room and being introduced to our butler, we went downstairs for lunch. After the huge amount of beef at Don Mario in Mendoza, Bryan wasn’t sure he could eat again - but he made a sacrifice for our anniversary.
The buffet lunch at L’Orangerie was an amazing spread of appetizers, seafood, beef, chicken and salads. Bryan continued to embarrass Jo-Anne by taking a photo of his plate. His appetizer plate
Palace Alvear - Room
There was fresh fruit waiting for us in our room. Coffee and tea were delivered shortly after this photo was taken. included: smoked salmon, smoked trout, plain shrimp, scallops, roasted duck, hearts of palm, turkey, shrimp and scallop salad, prochuto, endives, tomato and mozzarella salad (to list just a few). That plate was followed by the main course, including beef tenderloin medallions, and then a mixed plate of cheese.
The Sommelier took our order for a Luigi Bosca Sauvignon Blanc but also insisted that we try a Torrontes first. We obliged. The following are the wines we tasted:
(1) Torrontes - we did not get to see the bottle so we do not know what bodega this wine came from; it had a sweet, flowery bouquet with a contrasting dry, floral flavor; it was very fresh and crisp and served very cold (the sommelier suggested it should be served between 4-6 degrees C; we rated this wine a 8.7/10.
(2) 2005 Luigi Bosca Reserva Sauvignon Blanc - this wine had a citrus, grapefruit bouquet with a sweet, fruity taste; it was also served cold and was a perfect compliment to our lunch; we rated this wine a 8.2/10.
Shopping in Buenos Aires
Finishing our lunch, we had to get some exercise so we set out to see
Palace Alvear - Blogging
The wi-fi connection in the Palace Alvear was excellent and Bryan took advantage of it to continue blogging. Bs As and, in particular, to get in some shopping.
We wandered around the streets near the hotel and came upon a local artesian market where they sold various crafts, leather goods, souvenirs, etc. It was fun to walk around and see the local wares as well as to people watch. Bryan particularly enjoyed bargaining with the vendors (is that your best price?). We managed to buy several items to tuck away in our suitcase (now bulging with almost a dozen bottles of wine).
In the market, we found an artist that had some watercolors and batik prints - his name was
Walter Lozano. We bought 15 batik prints and one watercolor from Walter
.
Of course, no visit to Argentina could be complete without trying some
yerba mate. Our friends, Eckart and Nani, have stopped drinking coffee and had introduced us to Yerba Mate. Bryan bought a package
Palace Alvear - Bathroom
Our suite was large and immaculate. of it in Lujan de Cuyo and bought a matching cup and straw (bombilla) in the market in Bs As today
.
We headed back to our room at dusk and enjoyed a mediocre bottle of Syrah (which we did not record any notes on) while we relaxed before dinner.
Sucre Restaurant
Our reservations at Sucre were for 9:00 PM. We took a taxi from the hotel and arrived virtually on time (surprising, we know). At 9:00 PM we were still some of the “early birds” but by 9:30 PM the restaurant was full.
Sucre is said to be one of the best restaurants in Bs As and was written up in the New York Times (but interestingly, our local friends Eckart and Nani had not heard of it). It clearly had a great reputation with the local expatriate community as the restaurant was full of Americans and other foreign visitors. It
Palace Alvear - Room
Very comfortable staying in the Palace Alvear. is a sleek, noisy, flashy restaurant with waiters all dressed in black - we could have been in Manhattan!
To start we both ordered pisco sours (Bryan’s was ‘sin aszucar’). For an appetizer, Bryan had the octopus carpaccio and Jo-Anne had the salmon cerviche. Both were excellent.
For the main course, Bryan had steak (again) and Jo-Anne had chicken (Cornish game hen?). The dinner was great.
We were pleased to notice a reasonably priced Vina Alicia wine on the wine menu and so we seized the opportunity to have the following wine with dinner (decanted to allow it to breath):
(1) 2002 Vina Alicia Cabernet Sauvignon - we had not tasted this wine at the bodega; it had a subtle bouquet that opened up with time of vanilla and pepper; it’s flavor was of cassis, with excellent structure and a lengthy finish; jammy fruit forward; we rated this wine a 9.5/10. $85 in the restaurant.
Unfortunately, our enjoyment of the dinner and wine was disturbed by the table next to us (and another not too far away) where they lit up big smelly cigars. So much for the delicate bouquet of the wine - our
sense of smell was now destroyed by the overpowering aroma of the cigars.
Champagne Gift from Alvear Palace Hotel!
Before we left for dinner we were surprised when the butler arrived with a gift for us - it was a bottle of local Chandon sparkling wine on ice with a plate of chocolates. When we returned to the hotel after dinner we enjoyed the wine and chocolates, and toasted to our 10 year anniversary and our fabulous trip!
Tomorrow we spend the day in Bs As and leave to return home in the evening.
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Emilio Lozano
non-member comment
Nice traveling!
I was searching on the web and for casuality meet this space. So Not much to say, Glad to you like my father's work. Cya!