Itinerary |
Buenos Aires | Buenos Aires (2) | Montevideo | Punta
Del Este | Day at Sea | Itajai | Santos | Paraty | Rio
de Janeiro
I departed for my trip from DTW in the afternoon
on February 27th, 2006. Flying on Continental Airlines, I
had an uneventful and comfortable trip down to IAH in Houston,
TX
where I met up with my mother. I got her checked in and we
headed to that exclusive club that first class travelers get
to use
while they're at the airport. Mom managed to get her ticked
upgraded, so we got to go to the club and have a nice drink
and some snacks.
It was very comfortable and a great way to start off the trip.
We departed from IAH that night and landed in Buenos Aries
on Tuesday, February 28th at about mid-day. When the plane landed
in Argentina, I was amazed that we didn't taxi around for a
half-hour before arriving at our gate...it took about 5 minutes!
After going through immigration, we collected our luggage and
then went through customs. Since mom and I were traveling together,
I needed to fetch a cart for our stuff...no small feat since
the cart supplies were a bit short and the dispensing machines
weren't really working properly. |
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You can see us all gathered here, enjoying coffee and having
our luggage tagged by Will, the guy in the center of the picture
in jeans and a white shirt.
A little background: We managed to get on this cruise because
of the generosity of the Horizon Solutions group who booked the
tour through Concierge Travel. My mother is friends with the
owner of Concierge, so he alerted her to an extra empty cabin
that would have otherwise gone unsold. The best part of this
arrangement was that we got to be part of the Horizon tour group
for the duration of this voyage. I'd like to make sure to express
my gratitude to this group of people for this opportunity and
for their wonderful company. This is a great group of people! |
| It was at the airport where I got to meet Kim (the
owner of Concierge Travel) for the first time. I've heard about
him for a long time, so it was good to finally meet him. He's
a big ball of enthusiasm and energy! Once all of our bags were
tagged, we got into a very nice tour bus and were whisked off
to the hotel. I took some pictures along the way so you could
get an idea of what the city looked like.. |
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| As we approached the hotel, we realized
that we were a bit early and our rooms would not be ready for
a little
bit. It was lunchtime, so we headed to this fantastic steakhouse
that was right next to our hotel (The Sheraton Park Towers).
When we got into the restaurant, we had no idea that we were
going to a feast! Fortunately, I think we were all pretty hungry. |
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My first courses: bread, salad, and a homemade sausage that
was EXCELLENT!
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The staff brought out a big metal bowl of steaks for serving.
Want a closer look? Click on the picture.
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This was my steak. Cooked medium and perfect. No salt, pepper,
or sauce needed!
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After stuffing ourselves full of good food and
wine, we managed to get out of our seats and waddle our way
to the door. On the way out of the restaurant, I decided I
HAD to
take a picture of the pit used to cook the meat. Have you ever
seen one of these setups in the States? This pit is situated
in the front window of the restaurant. As I took the picture,
a cook from inside opened the door for me so I could walk around
and get other angles if I wanted! It was very hot in there,
so I didn't want to get too close.
During lunch, some of us got our room keys from Kim. The rest
of us got our keys when we arrived at the hotel. Mom and I
had ours so we headed up to our room on the 19th floor of the
hotel...but only after stopping by the room for a quick drink
with the group. (Very quick drink...we basically grabbed a cold
beverage and headed up to our room so we could rest!) |
| Ok...so for those of you who are avid readers of
my website, you know about my recent trip to India and the conditions
of what they call a hotel room there. This hotel room was the
total opposite end of the spectrum. This is a top-notch hotel;
that is, it was VERY expensive. However, I couldn't resist snapping
some pictures of the room. |
From the door:
Our luggage was already in our room!
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Nice accommodations. Yes, that's fresh fruit on the table.
There were mints on our pillows too. :-)
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The bathroom had two sinks, a magnifying mirror and a nice
big bathtub!
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The bathroom was divided into rooms. One room with the toilet
and bidet (and phone and ashtray!)
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Another room with a marble shower (it felt GREAT!)
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This is our view of the main square from the window of our
room. Great view, isn't it? You could see people in the park,
most of the city was visible...it was just a nice view.
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Tango Show
After resting for a bit in the comfortable hotel room, we
got dressed up and headed out to dinner and a show. Upon arriving,
we had our picture taken with a tango dancer (which they tried
to sell us later on in the evening). We were seated pretty close
to the door where we entered (which helped make for a quick exit!)
and served our dinner. I didn't take notes about
what I ate, but
I do
remember
it
was
a very
good
dinner. The only issue with it was that we were pretty rushed
through the meal. Once things calmed down a bit, the show began.
I managed to snap a few pictures. |
I wasn't expecting the musicians to be to high up!
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Here is a close up of the musicians. It's a bit cramped up
there.
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This is a shot of one part of the show. The dancing was really
well done. This type of show is something I've not seen before,
so it was a very interesting experience.
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| After the show, most of the group piled back into
the bus to go back to the hotel. Some people stayed in the area
to do some shopping. Mom and I decided to go back and get a good
night's sleep. In the morning, we would be heading out on a tour
of Buenos Aires. |
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