South America Cruise pt 1 Buenos Aires

South American Cruise December 2 - 24, 2008

This was a difficult time to cruise. Because we would be gone until Christmas Eve, I had to have all of my Christmas preparation done before I left. We were able to get most of the inside and outside decorations up on Thanksgiving weekend, so we were able to enjoy them before we went. That was important to me because I would miss all of the lights, music etc. that surrounds our Christmas celebrations. I was also able to get most of my shopping done and the kids finished the rest of the preparations , so I was able to relax on the cruise, knowing everything was taken care of.

It was also more challenging because Thanksgiving weekend was just before we left and we had company that made nine people for Thanksgiving weekend. Luckily we had almost all of our packing done in advance, so we were able to work things out. It just put a lot of preparations into a few small days.

December 2, 3,4 2008
We finished packing then headed to an evening meeting out of town. After it was over, we drove as far as Mesquite Nevada, arriving in the wee hours of the morning. In the morning we headed off for Las Vegas where we boarded the plane for Toronto, Canada.
I need to explain here: Although we flew into Buenos, Argentina, (south east of us) we took the “scenic” route” (which cost $600 each less than the fast route.): first we drove 5 hours west and south to Las Vegas, then flew north east 4.5 hours to Toronto, Canada and finally south for almost 12 hours to Buenos Aires, Argentina. We flew Canada Air which had great leg room and 24 hour on demand movies and TV. It made a very long trip much more pleasant. Our flight time was lengthened by almost an hour during the night when our plane was diverted by Venezula, then Brazil.

We were met at the Buenos Aires airport by Martine, a private driver arranged for through “the Garden” a bed-and breakfast we stayed at. Our hostess was gone when we
arrived but her secretary/assistant was so helpful, showing us around etc. telling us where to eat and how to get there. The next day she arranged a city tour and a tango show for us.
The B & B was great and so peaceful and relaxing. It had a common room and two guest rooms located along a tiled courtyard with trees. Each morning we woke to find our breakfast laid out on a cart outside our bedroom door: Fresh fruits, pastries, freshly squeezed juice, toast, yogurt, granola.
The other couple staying at the Garden were Andy and Carol, an English couple we got along with very well. Andy gave us a great tip for getting around: write down the place and address of where we want to go and show it to the taxi driver. That along with a business card Pamela, our hostess, gave us got us every where we wanted to go and back again.
We rested the day we got in then walked about 5 blocks to 1880 P.......A small Argentinian restaurant where they spoke no English and we spoke no Spanish. I think we frustrated our waiter that first night, but we all made it through. Greg ordered steak, which came rare, but was delicious....The Argentinians are famous for their beef. The next night he learned to say “medium well in Spanish, but it didn’t matter. They still brought it rare, but delicious again. That night we had a different waiter, a few more Spanish words from our phrase book and we got along a bit better.
Tomorrow pt. 2