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Palace Alvear - Bryan
Quick photo after breakfast as the staff are changing from breakfast to brunch in L'Orangerie.This was our day to sleep in. However, we did get up at 10:00 AM in order to enjoy the breakfast in the Palace Alvear that finished at 11:00.
Breakfast in L’Orangerie
We had another great feast at L’Orangerie and this wasn’t even their ‘signature’ buffet brunch. There was cereals, toast, bagels, lox, cream cheese, eggs and pastries, champagne, fresh orange juice, and coffee. It was a good start to the day!
Wandering the Streets of Bs As
After breakfast we left the hotel and started walking to where the shopping area and flea market were located. It was actually a pretty good hike.
The stores are located in a centralized area with the streets going east/west for cars and the streets going north/south blocked off for pedestrians. It was busy with local shoppers and tourists. We finally managed to buy a road map of the province of Mendoza and a few other things that we would squeeze into our bags.
We were now leaving with 12 bottles of wine. We put 2 bottles of wine in each of our checked luggage and we each carried on 4 bottles in our (now extremely heavy) carry on luggage.
Palace Alvear - Lobby Area
The lobby was busy on Sunday morning. Note the high ceilings. Our plan was to meet Eckart and Nani for a late sushi lunch but that didn’t work out (all the good sushi restaurants were closed) so we met them at Freddos, which is an ice cream and coffee shop close by the hotel. Wow! They know how to make ice cream in Bs As.
It was nice to spend a bit more time with Eckart and Nani. We ordered coffee and ice cream and sat outside chatting, watching the people come and go and the local sidewalk tango dancers across the street. As it was becoming dusk, we said farewell to our new friends and returned to the hotel. We hope to see them again (perhaps in California next time).
Off to EZE - Bs As International Airport
EZE is actually pretty far from down town Bs As and we were advised to leave 30-45 minutes for the drive. Fortunately we left a little earlier because just as we left the soccer game finished and the streets became crowded with jubilant soccer fans. Our taxi driver was forced to take some now very crowded side streets to eventually get to the freeway and headed to the airport.
Bs As - El Obelisco
Bryan took this photo of El Obelisco although the camera's shutter seemed to be exceedingly slow as the cars were racing towards him! Travel tip - don’t try to get somewhere right after a soccer game in Bs As.
The other thing we were warned about was that the lines at EZE are crazy. First you check into your airline. Then you go to another line to pay the airport tax. Then you get in line to go through security. Then you get in line to go through immigration (to get out of Argentina). And if you want to get your tax back (which naturally Bryan did) you need to get in two more lines - one before security and one after security. And here’s another tip: if you have an electronic ticket, you should get a receipt for it before getting into the line to check in for your flight (apparently there are kiosks around) because otherwise it slows down the process. So leave plenty of time for getting through this airport!
We were not able to confirm our upgrade to First Class at the check in but we were on the list (unfortunately #2 and #3 and not #1 and #2). Before heading to Admirals, we had to check out the duty free wine shop - Jo-Anne managed to buy one more bottle to squeeze into our carry-on luggage. Those bags were heavy!
We had just a short stay at Admirals and they paged Bryan. Yes, upgrades for #1 and #2 were available. Too bad for #3. Bryan graciously offered the upgrade to Jo-Anne.
Of course it was for Jo-Anne, this is the first day of the next ten years!
The overnight flight was long for Bryan at the back of the bus but Jo-Anne managed to feed him a few glasses of Pommery champagne and some red wines with plates of meat and cheeses. Jo-Anne was in the last row of first class and Bryan was in the first row of coach. It was OK.
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