Travel with Indigo

Grant and I left Jacksonville yesterday afternoon, arrived in Miami and then flew non-stop to Buenos Aires.  I was really glad we were flying business class when I saw the line at the Miami airport for Aerolineas Argentina–VERY long and not moving much.  The flight was pretty much on time but then we spent 45 minutes in line at the Buenos Aires (BA) airport waiting to go through immigration.After being on the plane for seven or eight hours, that was not a real thrill but finally we were done there.  No problem going through customs but for some reason, they put everyone’s bags through an x-ray machine before you can leave the area.  I noticed that some people were being waved past the machine and I decided to give it a try.  No problem–but don’t ask me why.  By the way, I once again discovered what a great traveling companion Grant is.  He never once complained about anything and he actually carried my bag when I asked.  He can come with me anytime.

After all that, it was quite wonderful to see the two drivers that Phil had arranged to meet us at the airport–two because Phil decided we would need one for us and one for our baggage.  Very thoughtful–probably not necessary–but after a long night of not much sleep, I was willing to go along with just about anything.  It was about a 45 minute drive to the boat which was docked at Puerto Madero in Dique 4 very near the local Yacht Club.  The crew helped us with our bags and nicely greeted us at the boat.  How nice to see Captain Toby and Chef Geraldine!  New additions to the crew were Stewardess Sahori and two young men, both named Kyle.  Believe it or not, they are both 21 years of age with birthdays very close to each other.  They had never known each other before but one is from western Canada and the other from eastern Canada.  One is the mate and the other is the engineer.  They proved to be competent and responsible young men, as you will see from later entries.  And, of course, it was great to see Phil–we hadn’t seen him since Thanksgiving.

Phil, Grant and I had a lovely breakfast, which we definitely needed, and then we went for a nap.  The boat looked lovely and I soon learned that that meant that the crew had been very busy that morning since their arrival in Buenos Aires.  A storm had come up unexpectedly during the night, despite three good weather reports, and the wind and waves had been rather strong.  The stern cushions had been washed away (soon replaced with new ones); the glass top on the coffee table in the salon, heavy as it was, had flown off the table and crashed into the beautiful wood cabinets across from it (repaired very nicely after several visits by a carpenter); and several cabinets had flown open, spewing red wine and liquor all over the carpet (soon cleaned pretty well by a local). Once I knew all the people on board were safe and not injured, I was actually pretty glad to hear about this since it once again proved that the boat could stand up to just about anything.

After our nap, we were ready to do some exploring and Phil took us to lunch at the Hotel Alvear, the “grand dame” of hotels in BA.  This is a beautiful and elegant hotel decorated like an old French mansion–and very expensive.  The lunch was buffet style but still quite elegant.  Delicious food, tasty champagne and impeccable service.  I felt very grown up!  During this trip, we met Hugo, the driver, who was a retired federal police officer (still young) who actually worked for Esteban Caselli whom Phil had met in Puenta del Este.  Esteban had nicely loaned Hugo to us for the time we were in BA and that was an incredibly generous thing to do.  Hugo took us everywhere and made us feel very secure–turns out he is much more than a driver for Esteban, a real security officer.

By dinner time, Phil and I weren’t really interested in food so Grant went out with the Kyles, as I called them, and had a great time.  However, I did go for a long walk along the waterway where we were docked to get a bit familiar with the area.  Puerto Madera is one of the many neighborhoods of BA and a very secure one, given that it is heavily patrolled on foot and water by the Coast Guard, here called the Prefectura.  The marina itself has twenty-four hour guards and I never felt the least bit threatened.  The waterway is lined with restored warehouses on the west side and new building on the east side–many cafes, restaurants and places to hang around.  Not many shops in this area but still lots to do and look at.  The east side (where we were) is connected to the west side by a series of bridges, one of which is a pedestrian only bridge of a very interesting design.  At the north end is a large nightclub that played into Grant’s plans as the holiday went on.

The schedule in BA is a bit different from ours: the restaurants are basically empty until 8PM when people like me would arrive; some don’t even open until 8:30PM.  People start coming in for dinner around 10PM or 11PM–some with little kids–and most of the clubs don’t open until 1AM and then stay open until well past sun-up.  Sunset was around 9PM and that helped keep me awake.  I could see right away that I was going to have to change my hours.  Grant went with the two Kyles to Hooter’s–yes, there was a Hooter’s right there on the waterway in BA–to try the wings and pronounced them not as messy and tasty as the ones in the states.  I have a feeling it won’t be his last trip there!