AfterThoughts of Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires was a total surprise to us. Being a spanish speaking country in Latin America, we didn't expect to find a city that was so not Spanish. It was just as Italian, English, Russian, Jewish, French as it was Spanish in culture, architecture and food. For example, it is one of only two cities in the world to have a kosher McDonald's. I was surprised that both of our guides were of Ukranian heritage. While cosmopolitan, I didn't see one person of African heritage and only a few of Asian heritage. I saw only one building with spanish architecture. This is so different from what I expected given it's proximity to Africa and Asia.

While Spanish street grid structure was the original layout of the city, the European diagonal layout broke the grid and wide boulevards common in Paris and Madrid are now the city structure. While the buildings at a quick glance seem to be similar to those found in France, under closer examination, they are really ecclectic in design. There is art deco mixed with a bit of Italianate, mixed with English Tudor and Georgian. Italian restaurants are much more prevalent than Spanish cuisine and Argentinian cuisine equates to a great steak house.

Weather wise, snow is rare. It does get down to about 32 and summers are hot. Houses are air conditioned. All have washer dryers, but, interestingly, do not have dishwashers. Microwaves are also rare. Household help is affordable and most homes do have someone who comes in to clean and many go out to eat often.

I could easily live here - with a dishwasher, mind you. It's a comfortable life...so comfortable that crime is a problem. Folks never wear gold jewelry or expensive watches.

BA Shopping: I saw a distinct lack of expensive jewelry stores. There were stores with artistic silver pieces, but that was it. Leather was abundant and fairly reasonable. There  were crap leather factories with Snookie like leather outfits on Calle Florida in the Downtown area. All the guidebooks and our guide recommended this area and I dragged Doug from shop to shop, but I wasn't impressed. However, the more expensive areas of the city held a shopper's paradise with exquisite, high quality clothes and leather goods. The shoes were gorgeous and the purses yummy. The leather was so soft and the styles were fantastic. I could have shopped for days, once I made my discoveries. I held back but only because my suitcase was filled to the brim. I found some buttery soft teal woven wedges and coral heels, and a funky woven knapsack, a black and sterling classic bag for me and a tan one for my daughter that sells for many many thousands in New York but was kind of a bargain (affordable somewhat-thousands less) here...

There is a tremendous amount of culture here...of living...of enjoying life. I will certainly return and maybe longer than a vacation. We saw a tango show and it was very expensive but highly enjoyable. The music, singing, and dancing were very professional and not schmaltzly. I don't know if I would rush to do it again because it was so expensive, but it was worth doing. I enjoyed it so much, though, the next time, I would do what the locals do. The tango shows are for tourists. I would go to a tango hall  to watch the experienced tango dancers at a milonga (tango salon). The best dancers come to these these shows to show off and we probably should have saved our money and gone to one of these.

One of our cab drivers recommended the Japanese Gardens, but it was so hof we never did this. We also never did a walking tour or visited the Ecological Reserve.

We did a wonderful city tour with Signatures Tour company. We visited the famous Plazo de Mayo, the political heart of the city, cordoned off for demonstrations in front of the presidential palace where Evita addressed her adoring fans. We also took in the Recoleta cemetery  where Evita was laid to rest finally with her family.

Restaurants: las Lilas, el Mirasol, Marcelo, and Jauna M were all very good. However, the most highly acclaimed El Mirasol, was our least favorite. Our favorite was recommended by our concierge and was a wonderful little steakhouse in the Recoleta area-Juana M- at which we had a tasty set of beef ribs, a terrific filet minion and a juicy mustard brisket accompanied by a bottle of wine, dulce de leche ice cream along with an unlimited salad bar all for $30 per person. This restaurant is a real find.

BA Museums : There are all sorts of gardens and museums and we only saw Four...the   Evita museum, the Malba Latin Arts museum, the Theatre Colon opera house tour, and the art museum in Tigre. I can't say that they compared with any museums such as those in Paris, St. Petersburg  or Amsterdam, but they weren't huge or overwheming either. The Evita museum was interesting and worthwhile, there were some rather famous Diego Rivera and Frieda Kahlo works in the Malba and the Opera House was impressive. 

BA Hotels: We can recommend both the Hilton and the Hyatt. Both are in very nice neighborhoods, the rooms rooms quiet, comfortable and modern and service levels excellent. We also heard great things about the Park Tower, Marriott and the Four Seasons. The Four Seasons and the Hyatt are within walking distance to one another. I really liked having the outdoor garden at the Hyatt and the shopping in the vicinity. Restaurants were abundant in both areas.

Travel Day to Usuaia

We  left Buenos Aires at 6 am on Friday after 5 fun filled days to go to the domestic airport. Other than some cab drivers having difficulties knowing where certain hotels are located, we found them all very nice and the fares were reasonable. The domestic airport was about 15 minutes from the hotel and we unloaded our bags, hugged hello and went downstairs to wait for the plane to Usuaia which left at 8:30. We had all dreaded the 11 pound carry on rule but it was a non event and we were allowed to bring on board whatever we wanted.

The flight is about 3 hours as we we going to the southernmost city in the world, so we all settled in, excited, to finally begin our adventure. Silverseas had chartered this flight and we all looked like happy campers. The flight was a bit delayed, so it was a welcome sight to finally see land and a beautiful view it was! The snow white peaks of the Andes jutted out from the blue sea that separated Chile from Argentina. LAN Airlines must have a plot against us as our bags were again the last 4 bags off the conveyor belt for the second time on this trip, giving us some angst, and we sighed with relief as we dumped our bags off with the Silverseas rep and got on a bus for a brief tour before going to lunch. Lunch consisted of beef empanadas, grilled lamb, salad, ice cream before we were finally shuttled wearily to the ship.

Most Antarctic visitors begin or end their journey in Ushuaia. The tour guide pointed out that Usuaia was no longer considered the southernmost point. Puerto Williams, 28 miles SE on the Chikean side of the Beagle Channel actually is more southern as it is no longer a naval base, having grown into an actual town usurping Usuaia's distinction. Argentinians point out they are still the most southern CITY.

Usuaia has prospered and grown from 7171 inhabitants in 1975 to 57,000 today due to company tax breaks offered by the Argentinian government. Tourism and skiing have continued the town's prosperity.

Our ship was smaller than I imagined, looking like a miniature cruise ship. It was nicely appointed inside, check in was fast, and our luggage was quickly delivered. Now the unpacking...

Dinner was at 6:30 and we had a great meal. Nightfall doesn't come until around 10 pm and we enjoyed the very calm seas. Folks went to bed fairly early even though our first day was a sea day. I love nothing more than the gentle rocking of a ship and the butler brought me the pillow menu of about 8 different types. I made my selection, settled in with my tea and had nodded off before I knew it.

Our ship: Silver Explorer

Our room is the top category. There is one slightly higher...not too much larger in size...but it is a deck higher and it has French balconies. We have large picture windows. When  you enter our room you have about a 10 foot by 3 foot hallway with a closet doorway to your left. In front of you there is a 12 foot by 9 foot living room with a couch and two chairs, coffee table, two end tables, built in fridge, flat tv above it, full size desk with mirror over that. There is a picture window in the room. Facing the couch there is a pocket door leading to a good size bedroom with a king size bed, a cupboard and another tv. Off of this room, another door leads to the walk in closet. This closet is huge. It is about 15 by 12 and has two benches for sitting down. It is really a dressing room. For those who know Regent ships, it is more than 2 times as big as a Regent closet. The marble bathroom has a separate tub and shower and is quite large. My only complaint is I wish the room had more outlets.

We have a great housekeeper and butler and we found AMEX had left a nice bottle of Dom Perignon in our suite and a box of candy. We were also delighted to find out we have free laundry. I am incredibly impressed with the service levels already. Our butler asked me if there was anything special I wanted. I told him Ginger beer. He had never heard of it. I wasn't adamant about having it. Nevertheless, while still in port, they went out and found it for me. At dinner, the waitress asked me what I wanted to drink. I said a virgin mojito. Today, when she saw me, one was waiting. You never have to stumble for you key in the hall. Someone will help you into your room with a general key.

Sea Day 1

Today we awoke to a beautiful sunny day. Dolphins chased our ship right under our window and albatrosses darted and weaved into the waves. The sea was like glass, the sky was robin's egg blue and the sunbeams were blinding.

Doug likes to get up early to go up to breakfast, so his alarm nastily jarred me awake from my dreamy sleep. I snarled and sent him away and rolled back to sleep for a bit longer before getting up to attend the first lecture on the Falkland history at 10 am.

Falklands 

The Falklands were first discovered in the mid 1500's but not colonized until 1764. I learned interesting facts that northern American never learn about such as the French first settled the Falklands; a woman, Jeanne Bare, was really the first person to go around the world; that the English settled West Falkland and the Spanish settled East Falkland; that both countries abandoned the Falklands in 1806 leaving it in a period of lawlessness until 1833. It had a pretty nice whaling industry until the Panama Canal killed it's business opportunities almost overnight. This was coupled with WWI in the Southern hemisphere causing the Falklands to miss out on the rise of technology and fall back on the sheep farming industry. Of course, we all remember the Falklands war caused by a slight oversight in historical documents which failed to mention who owned the islands. Today, things have styled down and children can be educated in England  with today many returning to the Falklands. There is sustainable fishing, ecotourism, wildlife management and, while they are not sure if there is anything there, they are looking at oil drilling.

Proper Antarctic Behavior

We had a mandatory meeting today to learn how to conduct ourselves. Believe it or not, there are 40,000 visitors each year from November to February to Antarctica, the largest wilderness area in the world. By comparison, the Arctic witnesses about 15,000 visitors per year. The International Association of Antarctic Tour Operators (IAATO) has been formed to prevent the introduction of non native species and to protect the wildlife in this area as wildlife shows little fear of humans. Therefore, it is incumbant to teach us to negotiate the animals with respect, taking care to not disturb them no matter how tempting, and take with us only our memories and photographs.
 
Our lecturer shared that fue seals will charge at you. If this happens, we are to stand our ground, clap our hands and (hope lol) they will stop a meter from us as they consider this a game. If we run they will keep coming. In fact, the game can be funny...sure! On the other hand, elephant seals are more aggressive and run very fast. If you see them, clapping won't help ... No game here. Give them a wide area. Now, molting birds look miserable and feel miserable too. They are stressed and cranky. Leave them alone. Some birds will charge you. If one does, put a hand over your hand and back away. If you move forward, you could get a hole in your head. It sounds like we are in for an adventure. We were given meter distances for staying away from the birds so as not to encroach on their territory as well as all sorts of other rules.

Scientific research has priority over everything. If we want to enter an area we must give 72 hours notice. We can be cancelled out of our tour at any time. We cannot enter a hut on shore unless there is an emergency. We carry 150000 pounds of emergency supplies when we go onshore. We must carry all sorts of clothing as weather is very changeable and we could get stuck there for hours unexpectedly.

Because we will be doing...

Our first stops are the Falkland islands, which comprise over 700 islands and are located about 300 miles east of southern Argentina. However, in actuality, the Falklands is an archipelago consisting of two main islands: east and west. The area of these islands is about the size of Connecticut.

The proximity to the mainland give rise to the fact that most of the animals and plants are also found in both places. These include petrel, albatross, penguin, gull, conmorant. These birds all feed at sea but all need solid land to nest.

We will have two walks in the Falklands tomorrow. We arrive at New Islands, Falklands, tonight at about 10 to 10:30. They will separate us into 4 groups and we will disembark by 6:30am. We expect to see 4 to 5 types of penguins and an albatross rookery. By 10:30 am, we will again set sail, this time for Saunders Island, about 50 miles away,  where will will see 4 species of penguins: Magelanic, gentoo, rockhopper, king, and a different type of albatross colony. We should arrive about 2 pm.

At 6:30 pm tomorrow we will have a meeting to debrief on what we have seen as we set sail for Stanley, the capital, 138 miles away. We expect temperatures in the 50s. The Falklands has a population of about 2600 with about 85% of the population residing in Stanley.

And so day 1 at sea ended...

This afternoon, there was a photography lecture then the Captain's reception. We all broke up into little groups and enjoyed our lobster dinner. An interruption  came about when a school of dolphin joined our ship and started swimming alongside us during dinner. This was the second time today this happened. Doug and I watched about 30 of them around noon today from our cabin.

The seas have been sooo calm. The captain says this is so rare. He said that usually few show up at the Captain's dinner because of the rough seas and seasickness. I barely feel any movement on the ship at all.

Our table tonight consisted if Ed and Mary and Pam and Jim and Ed entertained us with jokes and ordered creme brule for all special order. We all marveled about the man who lives on the Regent ships year round and tried to figure out how to take out time shares on him. Lots of laughs all around. Early bedtimes since we all had 5:30 am wake ups and long days of hiking this morning ... So cool...


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