The eleven hour flight to Buenos Aires passed by reasonably easily. There were, however, periods of turbulence with the seat belt sign illuminated. This was mostly ignored by our fellow passengers as the seat belts sign stayed on for a long time.The Dreamliner had an excellent audio visual system and we were able to watch movies and even charge our iPhones.
I did try to sleep using my WOOLLIP but as it rested on the passenger in front seat back it was not as easy to get comfortable as I had hoped.
We had been given customs declaration forms to fill in on the plane. It was not clear exactly what the requirements were for non-residents. I did my best to guess what was needed. For example, I had to declare my phone and its accessories.
The second part of the journey was an overnight flight from Madrid to Buenos Aires where we landed on Thursday 23rd February.
Ministro Pistarini International Airport – Buenos Aires
We landed in Buenos Aires at 08:15 local time. This was at Ministro Pistarini International Airport (also known as Ezeiza) which is some way out of the city.
There were long queues for immigration for foreigners. The good news was that we had fast wi-fi available while we waited. By the time we made it through immigration our suitcases were some of the few circulating on the belt.
As it turned out customs was a breeze. When we came to the front of the queue I had to press a button, the light above went green and we were waved through. Later we learnt if it went red then customs would probably search all your luggage!
Land-side was packed and we missed the Hurtigruten sign held up by the local agent. After a brief breath of fresh air outside we went back into the building and joined our fellow passengers by the McDonalds cafe as we waited for another plane to arrive. After about 30 minutes or more then it was yet another queue, this time kerbside waiting with our luggage for our coach to arrive.
To the Hotel Emperador
I am forever fascinated watching coach drivers with a coach full of passengers using their mobile phones as they drive along.
By the time we neared the city centre the traffic was at a standstill. We learnt that this was because of a demonstration in the centre causing many of the streets to be closed.
Streetart from our coach
Our journey time that had been estimated to be 40 minutes and became one of over 2 hours.
On the plus side we were stop/starting on narrow streets with street art and graffiti decorating the buildings around us.
Once at the hotel we wheeled our suitcases into the lobby and waited to register. It was now 13:00 and our rooms would not be ready until at least 15:00. The concierges did take away our suitcases to a store room. We went to meet the Hurtigruten representatives who were in a room on the 20th floor with coffee, tea and cakes. In the briefing we were given the temporary labels for our suitcases mentioned in the travel documentation. Plus we were given a couple of the Hurtigruten luggage tags we’d seen on other passengers cases.
We were given the really bad news that we had been mysteriously selected for the early morning scheduled flight to Ushuaia which would mean a 02:30 start the next day.
Definitely time for a beer.
After the journey we decided to simply sit and wait in the bar area of the lobby of the hotel and have drink and most of have a comfortable seat. Our room was indeed ready at 15:00. After checking in, our suitcases delivered and then we had long showers and were ready to go out and explore.
To the Recoleta district
Reception kindly gave us a map of Buenos Aires and marked with an ‘X’ where we could find the mausoleum of Eva Peron. The hotel was in the Retiro district and next door was the Recoleta district. This was the district in which the walled cemetery was that had the mausoleum
We walked down Avenue del Libertador under an underpass We followed the map and went to the corner of the cemetery marked with the ‘X’ and then walked all round the walled cemetery looking for an entrance. We passed the Hard Rock Cafe and it would have been rude not to call at least have a beer. The draft was the same as that at the hotel, Quilmes. I was disappointed at the quality of the T-shirts on offer in the shop. Once I discovered the prices, I left a HR Cafe with no purchases. A first for me.
Back out of the precinct we walked back up towards the ‘X’ on the map and discovered the entrance. We had passed it earlier a few hundred yards away across a small park as we headed up to the marked corner!
It was now 17-25 and the cemetery closed at 17-30. We gave up and decided to find somewhere to eat. Our walk had lead us past a row of restaurants across the small park.
Clarke’s restaurant in Recoleta
We went into Clark’s restaurant which is on Junin in Recoleta. There was seating outside but the day was hot and we had been walking for more than an hour and a half, so we went inside. The restaurant had shelves of wine bottles all around and to our side was where the steaks were to be grilled. We were eating much earlier than the locals and so the place was empty.
Our waitress helped us to order a blended Malbec (not the most expensive but excellent nevertheless), a melted cheese starter followed by two steaks with accompanying vegetables on a platter. For the record the steaks were amazing.On the way back I found some more streetart around a bus shelter. Then we spent the rest of our Argentinian pesos on chocolate and a bottle of water at a filling station next to the hotel. I noted that the chocolate was very expensive for such a small bar.
Hotel Emprador
We went back up to the 20th and 21st floors of the hotel to look out over Buenos Aires. Here are the views up the Avenue del Liberador and over the railway station.
Back in our room we re-packed our suitcases for overnight collection. We then put them outside with their new labels and went to bed. This was then after 36 hours straight of travelling and being a tourist.