Sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean, January 31, 2022
After I blogged last night, I made my way to the actual gate from where my flight was leaving from. I wondered how many people on this flight were going to be in our group. As I approached the gate I saw somebody in a Marathon Tours t-shirt. I approached him and quickly made friends with him (Rich) and his son (Jordan). We counted at least four other runners, for a total of seven that we could see. We all bonded over the experience we were about to embark on.
After boarding the plane, there were some routine maintenance issues. I do not know the details, but the end result was that we were delayed by about 90 minutes. At the beginning of the delay, I queued up Terminator, Genisys. I had never seen it (or Terminator Salvation). I made it through a good portion of the movie before we were cleared for takeoff. We pushed back and were on our way for the nine hour flight south to Ezeiza International Airport (EZE) in Buenos Aires. I finished the movie just in time for dinner (at 1am!!) After dinner, I dozed off and woke up just in time to get the above picture of the rising sun over the Atlantic Ocean.
Breakfast on the Buenos Aires Flight
I went back to sleep until they started to serve breakfast. It was strawberry yogurt, fresh fruit, a small cinnamon bun, and some orange juice. I thought this was a perfect breakfast – not too much, and it kept the hunger pangs at bay.
After de-planing, I texted my contingent of followers that I had landed, then made my way to Passport Control. The lady asked to see my passport, entry document, COVID vaccination card, and negative PCR test. After she confirmed all of that, she asked me how long I was going to stay. I told her four days (Monday – Thursday). She said, “two”, and I said, “No, four” and held up 4 fingers. She again said “two days”. At this point (not that I was impatient, I just did not want to try to get my point across with a person who we might have been on two different wavelengths), I just shook my head and said, “yes, two”. She nodded, stamped my passport, and I was through. Next was immigrations. I had nothing to declare, so I went into that line. I put my two suitcases and backpack on an x-ray machine, picked them up on the other side, and that was it! I was through customs within ten minutes.
On the other side of the customs doors, several runners were standing there waiting for our comrades to get through customer. After a bit we decided to move outside where it was warm – to the tune of 75 degrees! This was quite a difference from New England as well as from what I will be experiencing in 6 days 🙂 . As it turned out, there were eleven runners on that flight from Miami. Soon, the Marathon Tours bus picked us up and off we were to the Hilton Hotel in Puerto Madero .
I got checked in, went to my room, showered, and took a nap. I set my alarm for 3pm, which gave me a 90 minute nap. I woke up just before my alarm went off and ate the chicken salad that I bought in Miami. I got dressed for the optional 4pm run and met about 80 other runners downstairs. We did a small three mile run – basically a rectangle around city blocks. We were supposed to run in the Playa Reserva Ecológica Buenos Aires near the hotel, but it was closed because it was “Monday”. We should be able to run in there tomorrow.
Temple Craft, Buenos Aires
After the run, I showered again, then went downstairs to see if anybody was going to dinner. I saw one guy in a Boston Marathon t-shirt so I asked him. He and one other person were going to go out to get something. I asked if I could tag along, and he said that it was no problem. I also asked him if he knew Spanish, because I did not! He said that he was born in the Dominican and spoke fluent Spanish. WHEW! So, I made two new friends (Sam and Cindy) in the lobby. We walked a little bit and settled on a casual place called Temple Craft Madero. We all ordered a burger and fries, and my two counterparts each got a beer. The check came, and it was for 4,200 pesos. Sam asked the waitress what the exchange rate for US dollars were. Now, mind you, at the time, the official exchange rate offered by any currency converter was about 105 Argentina Peso for 1 US Dollar – about 100:1. They actually said if we paid in US dollars, the total would be $22 – ABOUT 200:1! So three of us ate dinner (3 burgers, 2 beers, and a bottle of water) for $25 – and the waitress was thrilled with the $3 tip! Sam told me that since I did not have beer, to give him $5 and that would be fine. I only had four $1 bills, but he said that was close enough. He also pointed out that this was a good lesson for tomorrow – ALWAYS ask for the exchange rate. Businesses would much rather have you pay in US Dollars rather than in Argentine Peso. GOOD TO KNOW for when I shop for trinkets.
While we were walking back to the hotel, I mentioned that everybody at home told me to get a steak in Argentina and that we should do that before we left Buenos Aires. Both Sam and Cindy thought that was a good idea and we should do it on Wednesday evening because there were no formal dinner plans. Plus, it allowed us to ask around to see who else might want to go. Sam gave me the task of researching what place we should go to. As we arrived back at the hotel, I asked the concierge. There were two places that he recommended: La Cabana and Cabana Las Lilas. The concierge said that BOTH places required reservations and that he would be happy to make them for us!
Lastly, I would like to give a shout out to the Marathon Tour staff (and support staff – who are not listed on the previous page: Paul, Will, Gillian, and anybody else I missed). For a trip to Antarctica, you must be open-minded and have to go with the flow. I can only IMAGINE how many things Jeff Adams has to take into account. Jeff brought it to out attention that if anybody changed their mind about staying with another runner in Buenos Aires due to COVID concerns, they had contracted with the hotel to allow ANYBODY to switch from a shared room to a single room at $90/night. Additionally, if anybody tests positive for COVID and is not able to make the trip to Ushuaia, the same offer is in place. If you test positive before boarding the ship in Ushuaia, they have secured houses and apartments there JUST IN CASE. The entire staff goes above and beyond when it comes to anything to do with trips. This is my fifth trip with Marathon Tours (London, Tokyo, Berlin, Rio de Janeiro, and now Antarctica), and I have had NOTHING but good experiences. I HIGHLY recommend them. Yes, you can do a trip on your own for less money, but they take the worrying and planning out of EVERYTHING. On a scale of 1-10, they don’t even get the proverbial 11, they get a 12!
Tomorrow we have a 3-1/2 hour city tour from 9am – 12:30 or so. The rest of the afternoon is free time, but with another optional run at 4pm. The welcome banquet/dinner is at 7pm.