ANTARCTICA TRIP – January 10 -28
Day One, July 10:
After all the trauma of finding out just a few hours before we left that my assistant was quitting in two weeks, a sleepless few nights trying to get everything ready to go, especially packing for almost 3 weeks with just two 30# bags (I cheated and will leave one BIG one at the hotel in between! ;-), and then the usual stress about leaving the country and making sure all the legal and family issues were covered, I could hardly believe I was really on the plane which left Tampa at 6:30 pm.
I got to Dulles and waited at the gate for my friend, Nancy Cobb, who was flying in from Chicago. When she hadn’t come and everyone else was on board, I checked with the agent. He said, “If she runs, she might make it!” Anyway, she did, and we were on our way. The 10 hour overnight flight was pretty uneventful except for having to go back to the gate for a sick customer to get off. I had a lovely Spanish woman next to me who was a lawyer in the US and was coming to visit family. She suggested lots of things for us to see, directed us to the best shopping areas ;-), and especially the best wines to try! We got a couple of hours of sleep and finally arrived at the airport in Buenos Aires. The customs forms were in such small print that no one could read them, and even the flight attendants did not know what they said, so bring a magnifying glass if you ever come here.
We whizzed through customs and must have looked honest as they put us in a special line so we didn’t even have to have our bags checked. We immediately felt comfortable here as everyone was so helpful and kind, not at all like other countries we have visited. We took a private car for 65 pesos ($22 US, exchange rate is 3 pesos to the dollar) and arrived at the hotel about 12:30. As we were waiting in line, an American woman came up and introduced herself as Lynn, and we found out she was on our trip as well, our first new friend! Since our room wasn’t ready, we went down to the fitness area and had a lovely buffet lunch – freshly made pasta, several choices of quiches, many different salads – all for about $7 US! On our way to our room of course we had to stop at the hotel gift boutique. Nancy found several things and I tried on a BEAUTIFUL black, hand-knit stoll/coat, which was a real bargain, but I either will have to buy another bag or have it shipped home. We were off to a great start!!!!
We are at the Marriott Plaza Hotel until Sunday, a lovely old but newly refurbished hotel, right in the heart of the city, and of course , in the middle of the best shopping area in town (more about that later since you know that is my “thing!”). Alan Black, a world-traveling speaker friend, had connected me with a lovely woman who is a consultant here named Alejandra Benitez. After we had checked, unpacked, and had a most WONDERFUL shower, we met her at 4:00 for a bit of exploring from a native’s perspective. We began walking down Florida Street, the major shopping area, and she explained various Argentinian customs to us. One of them was el Mate which is a special tea drunk from containers usually made from uniquely decorated gourds with a sort of hollow metal straw that everyone drinks from –which Nancy suggested might be like passing the marijuana! 😉 We plan to bring some of these home to share as gifts specific to the culture. We have yet to try the tea ourselves!
We were amazed by the number and varying quality of all the leather shops lining the streets. We stopped in several of them as I was determined that I should get a new leather jacket while I am here. (Nancy says we stopped and sampled them ALL! 😉 While Alejandra and I were in one shop, we completely lost Nancy. We looked inside and out and almost thought she had been kidnapped our first 24 hours in Buenos Aires! We finally found her, in the very back of the shop, purchasing a handmade belt and of course felt relieved but also that it was very apropos that she was engaged in my favorite pastime. 😉
The streets were filled with people, flowers, beggars, lots of musicians and entertainers, many people handing out flyers, and huge posters of the Simpsons, (even in Argentina!) We were amazed at the number of bookstores, but that seemed appropriate since Nancy read that there is 97% literacy here. Although it was a bit chaotic, we felt comfortable, just warned to be wary of our purses. The temperature here had been in the 90’s, but it was lovely yesterday – mid-70s. On the front of one store, there was a giant leather jacket, just another demonstration of how important a product leather is to the country. Another famous product is a pinkish stone almost like rose quartz. I bought a small penguin made from it, but it is very expensive. One of the pieces we loved, a penguin with an attitude about 6 inches high, was over $300!
We were amazed at a couple of the beautiful shopping galleries with hand-painted ceilings and all the famous US stores. Many alleyways were lined with small shops as you walked down the street. She showed us one street where there used to be 35 – 40 cinemas. Anyone who wanted to go to the theatre had to come here. The buildings were old but beautiful and now most of them are filled with shops. We stopped in several art galleries and learned from Alejandra many interesting things about the culture.
Finally, we found it!!!! Nancy spied a lovely lime green leather jacket with small inserts of white leather-just made for me! The people in the store were lovely. One young woman was from Cuba and she and Alejandra had an interesting discussion about Castro – in Spanish. I bought the jacket ( I just love it!), and then Alejandro treated us to their dessert specialty – a kind of ice cream. We each tried two flavors, and it was scrumptious, very rich and creamy. We enjoyed our discussion about creativity and the various exercises we each use in our work with corporations.
After Alejhandra left, Nancy and I went into a department store to find a restroom. As I went to leave, I discovered the door on my stall had no knob to turn, and I COULD NOT GET OUT! The space underneath the door was about 8 inches high, so Nancy went for help. Several of the female employees came in, one of them, the tiniest one, stood on the toilet next to me to show me (none of them spoke English) to move to the very back of the stall. With that, she gave a running start and crashed the door open with her foot. I was FREE!!!! We were all laughing hysterically, and then I asked to take her picture in front of the stall as “my hero!” I am sure they will never forget us, the goofy American women.
Everywhere we’ve gone, the food has just been wonderful. As we were walking home, we decided to stop in a cute little outdoor café that was very busy with native people. Nancy had fish, and I ordered a filet mignon with veggies and a bottle of their famous red wine. The bill was 56 pesos for everything (about $20 US). However, we made up for it at breakfast today at the Marriott, a beautiful buffet but the cost was 82 pesos (almost $30 US). The wine was much better than the breakfast! 😉
After dinner, we walked home, shopping along the way, and noticed a whole new group of street vendors, mostly people with their own handmade products. I found out I could get email here, so finished up that, and we finally went to bed for our first good night’s sleep in a week! So, in our first 10 hours in BA, we ate good food, met lovely people, found many things to buy, lost Nancy, and I got locked in the restroom. Then this morning at breakfast Nancy had some funny round brown things on top of her oatmeal. She wondered what they were – a kind of fruit, nut, or odd native product. I tasted one and discovered with lots of laughter – they were cocoa puffs! We are now off for our second day in Argentina…
