Planes, trains and automobiles. I should know that long distance travel involves planes, trains (buses actually) and automobiles and lots of them for long periods of time. I should have remembered that from our trip to Mt Fuji.
It was a looong haul getting here! We left home at 11 am on Tuesday, flew to Newark, NJ. (I think we flew over Housewive's houses~ saw some pretty impressive ones from the air). In Newark, we took 2 buses, (not one ~ but TWO) from our first plane to the plane we had to transfer to. Then we flew to Dulles, (that's Dulles, not Dallas). We had a four and a half hour layover there! Oh my.....
We boarded our plane at 9pm, took off at 10pm..... and flew. This is the first time I have flown internationally in 10 yrs. I didn't realize that "First Class" now has beds! Oh yeah! "First Class" passangers have their own little cubical with a comfy chair that turns into a bed! No, we did not fly first class. We flew economy. "Business Class" is not quite as luxurious, but their chairs also turn into beds. Then there is "Economy +". "Economy +" gets 5 extra inches, no beds. Then there was us ~ Economy. The worst part about it, is they made us walk through the other areas before getting to our economy (sardine can) space. It worked, at the end of our flight, we decided to try to upgrade to "Economy +" on the way home.
Sardine can aside, I do love traveling with Jay. I love the getting there process with him as much as the being there with him. Although I must say this is our first trip since we have been married without Tracy. (It's going well). ~ This trip, I decided to pay attention to why I love the process of "getting there" so much with Jay. When I am with him, I feel like I am home, wherever we are. Then there is the part that he focuses so much on me. I mean he dotes on me. If I cough, he is concerned that something is wrong. If I look the least bit uncomfortable, he tries to make me comfortable. If things don't go as planned, he doesn't get upset, he handles it with a smile. If things REALLY start to go wrong, he sings. He is friendly and helpful to everyone and everyone enjoys talking to us. Even when things go really bad. (like when we thought we lost our credit card last night). When I think about it, this is how our everyday life is. When we travel it's hightened! I love this man!
Okay, Argentina..... we arrived about 9:30 am Argentine time on Tuesday October 12. We made it through customs and caught a cab to our hotel. The first thing I noticed (besides the cab drivers belong on a race track) is that this place reminds me of a mix between the Bronx and Puerto Rico. That's a good thing. I love Puerto Rico and some of my favorite people started out in the Bronx. Like my Mom and Colin Powell. What does Colin Powell have to do with Arentina? Nothing ~ he is just one of my personnal heros. He's right up there with Springsteen, Hemmingway and Micheangelo. The other men in my life! But I digress. Back to Argentina.
The Bronx because of the houses and all the people!
It probably reminds me of Puerto Rico because everyone speaks Spanish, Jay does all the talking and I smile and nod. Sometimes I say "ah ha" when people address me in Spanish. All the billboards and signs here are also in Spanish, just like in PR. Which is good, cause I know what they mean! I know my Spanish sight words! Yay ~ I'm a Kindergarden Spanish reader!
We got to hour hotel after a very interesting crazy cab ride. I must say though, he was a very good looking dark Argentine Man. Most roads don't have lines ~ lanes marked on them. Jay said because no one stays in any lane, so they saved $$$ on the paint. They can squeeze cars into the tinyest spaces.
Once we got to our hotel and checked it, they told us we couldn't get in our room until 1400. (at leat 2pm). Two and a half hours..... we had not showered, changed or stretched out since 11am the day before. Here we are in this unknown City left to waste 2.5 hours. So we did some exploring. We found the equivalent of a local farmers market. That was fun. It was mostly outside and it started to rain. Has been raining here all week and is suppose to continue all week. So the pictures are going to be cloudy and grey!.
When we changed directions we found what appears to be similar to 5th Avenue in NYC. Great place to shop. I did mostly window shopping. 2pm we think is was lunch time here, because the crowds were huge! Very congested! Like a Toyko Train. People to People.
Last night we ate our first Argentine meal. It was delicious. I have to say, they have been meeting my food needs nicely here. I was able to get a big salad for lunch. Dinner, I was able to get a big plate of grilled veggies! Argentina is known for it's beef ~ and Beef we had for dinner! We found a great little famly owned place to eat. The beef family grown. They cooked it on an open coal grill. Oh it was so good and the service impecable! Then came our first heart stopper of the trip..... Jay went to pay and he couldn't find his credit card. He had it earlier, but now it was gone. Jay doesn't panic. We did some back tracking. Oh, we paid cash for the meal. (only $80 for two huge steaks, a large plate of grilled veggies, a bottle of wine, a bottle of sparkling water and a beer ~ not bad!)
When we decided the card was gone and we exhausted all possiblities of where it could be, Jay decided to call and cancel it. He tried, but for some reason, the blackberry system was down and he couldn't get through. Good thing. This morning, it came to me that when we checked into the hotel, the girl handed back the credit card with our passports. I checked my passport and there it was! Last night I only checked Jay's passport, didn't think to check mine. Our angels are doing a good job!
Well today who knows. It's very cloudy and is raining on and off. We shall see what the day brings.
I can't get on Facebook. For some reason the hotel browser blocks it. Can you believe it?
I miss Sadie and everyonce in a while, think oh Tracy would love this! I am loving my husband here and am enjoying this new adveture. Check back again for more updates.....
Oh wait, I almost forgot the first thing I checked when we landed here in the Southern Hemisphere of the World..... it's true, the toilets do flush counter clockwise.
Janet
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