I haven't taken a full family trip in many years. To be fair, I'm making a few exclusions with that statement, excluding domestic trips, weekend trips, and our family trip to India to end 2015 (India is many things, a vacation? unsure). The last one, in my skewed way of parsing the meaning of 'family trip' was in 2010, when we all went to Greece together. It's been a while. And that streak will finally end. Of course, us being us, with four working adults now, we all didn't take the same flight, with my sister joining in tomorrow, and her boyfriend on the fourth day. But this starts with as all trip diaries should, the flight(s) to get there, and the fortunate layover in Buenos Aires in between.
The trip will encompass 11 days spread between Argentina and Chile, most of which being in Patagonia. Following the short layover in Buenos Aires, we will be in Punta Arenas for two and a half days, then El Calafate (home of the Perito Moreno Glacier) for two and a half days, and Puerto Natales (nearest out-post of Torres del Paine National Park) for two days, before heading back up to Santiago and the Colchagua Wine Region for four days to end the trip. This first entry is about the flight(s) to Punta Arenas, and the layover in Buenos Aires to start.
American Airlines.... Not so bad
Buenos Aires is very far from New York. It takes about 10 to 10.5 hours to reach. I had to spend this time on American Airlines. I try to spend as little time on international medium and long haul flights on any american airline as possible. I'll get a slightly longer flight from Santiago back to New York on LATAM to end the trip, so at least I don't have to experience it again. However, after actually experiencing it, I have to say that American surprised me.
As a snotty United frequent flier I was slightly miffed to not be in 'Group 1' for a change, but we entered the plane early enough, got enough overhead-bin space, and relaxed into our fairly comfortable seats, with an HD personal AVOD TV, and decent recline. What I love about flights 10+ hours is you can eat your initial meal, watch a movie, sleep 6 hours, and then watch another movie. I did all of that the way I wanted. The food was decent, with Orzo and Chicken as a dinner, and a blueberry muffin with yogurt for breakfast. My first movie was Skyfall, which somehow I missed years ago (very good), and the second was Logan Lucky, which sure I've seen before but is slowly rising up my list of guilty pleasure movies.
My only complaint with the American flight at all was the ridiculous temperature of the cabin. It was freezing. I have no idea what the reason was, but the cabin temp was calibrated all wrong. The only similar experience I'd had was on EMB-145 jets on short-hops in winter, where I'm half certain the issue was the plane was too small and the walls too thin to keep the cold air out. It shouldn't happen on a 777-200ER. There were a few huge positives however with AA. First, comes the ridiculously cold beer they served. One of the coldest I have ever had on a plane (maybe the internal cabin temp helped here?). Then came the quality of the screens, about as close to real HD as I have seen in an economy cabin. On the whole, American's service was a pleasant surprise, and although due to convenience and current status, I won't be leaving United soon, but that was a truly pleasant surprise.
Other Travel Escapades
My other two flights were rather milquetoast, if efficient. They were both short, a two-hour jaunt from Buenos Aires to Santiago, and a three hour schlep from Santiago down to Punta Arenas. The first flight was on LATAM, and it was a strange mix of international and domestic service. On the international side, we had a large plane for a 2-hour flight (B767-300ER), and AVOD (I watched, big surprise, Ocean's 11 after finding nothing else too inspiring). On the domestic side, the 'food' they gave was a seriously uninspiring. Having taken an overnight flight on LATAM last year (Lima to New York), I expect my 11-hour flight from Santiago to New York will be a whole lot better.
As for the domestic flight from Santiago to Punta Arenas, it was on a Chilean low-cost airline, Sky Airlines. It was a truly no-frills service reminiscent of AirAsia, an Asian low-cost carrier that I took one too many times on my Round the World Trip in 2013. They charged for water (it was cheap, at least), and didn't have any seats that recline. They had decent enough legroom, a fully adequate internal cabin temperature (something I will be much more alert for going forward). I slept for most of the flight, which I hope to do equally so on the flight back.
The airports I had to experience were all interesting to various degrees., One feature I really liked in both Buenos Aires and Santiago, the two places we had to go through immigration, are their immigration lines had automated boards at the front which told you which kiosk to go to. Buenos Aires airport was somewhat uninspiring for a city its size (in my limited experience with Lima airport it was slightly more advanced). That said, Buenos Aires airport was opening a new terminal which could quickly improve things. Santiago airport was similar, though we were mostly in the domestic area which understandably is less built up than the International side.
Punta Arenas airport was similar to the old Bangalore Airport, more of a warehouse than an actual port. Not a huge surprise given Punta Arenas is a fairly small city, but it is a tourism hub. The real issue so far was with the rental car people. We had booked an SUV with Europcar, all set to go, but when we got to the counter we were informed that if we are taking the car into Argentina, we had to apply for a permit that for some reason took Europcar 4 days to turnaround - days we didn't have. While this was indisputably our fault (we should have found out about this issue), the Europcar lady seemed almost gleeful to tell us that she could not give us the car in adequate time. Again, as a snotty frequent traveler, I was seething - moreso because this was not Hertz or National, the two car rental groups I usually use and can therefore pull some strings with.
We ended up getting a last-minute rental with some local vendor for cheaper. The only downside was that it was a manual car, and only my dad knows how to drive a stick-shift. We agreed that the roads of Argentina and Chile would not be the best place to attempt to learn, and that my Dad would, sadly, be the sole driver for this part of the trip. Given that both AVIS and Hertz had no available cars large enough, it could have been worse, as we could have spent half-day scrambling to figure out how to get to El Calafate in Argentina, but the random local RECASUR car rental company came in well.
Buenos Aires
Layovers are a strange beast. There's a lot of different components to weigh when parsing out the value of having 7-8 hours in a city. What helps these matters is having an airport easily accessible from the city center, and a quick immigration process. Ezeiza airport in Buenos Aires was neither of these things - and due to this despite arriving at 10:45, and departing at 6:20, we really had only about four hours to play with.
Our first stop was to grab lunch - trekking out to the Puenta Madero part of Buenos Aires that borders the city's river. Estilo Campo was the restaurant, a true meat-house. Given I would have only one meal in Buenos Aires, that seemed apt. Estilo Campo had a range of meat offerings, both a list of steaks (fairly expensive, even after converting), and a list of meats fresh from the spit. We decided to eschew the steak, and go with the spot, somewhat convinced by the splayed lambs over the spit-fire at the entrance. We got a lamb and a flank-steak from teh split, and beef 'rose-meat', and all three were fairly good, if a little tough. The meal was quite good - oddly a place my parents went to when they went to Buenos Aires 12 years earlier with some of their friends. Only issue was it took a little long, leaving us with a little less time to see some of the city.
What we ended up doing was essentially go through a driving tour of the city. We had a number of carry-on bags we had to lug around, propping up the idea of booking a cab to ferry us around and hold the stuff. Luckily for us the random cab driver we could get to agree to this proposal was a nice enough guy to give us a good tour. We saw the main areas around Avenida 9 de Julio, including the Congress, the Palacio de Justicia, el Teatro Campo (a place I would have taken a tour of had I had more time), and various other European-looking buildings that encompass the heart of Buenos Aires.
My first impression of the city during the drive from the airport was fairly negative, with it looking a bit poorer and less developed than I had envisioned, but after Lima, or Split, I should have learned better than to judge by these quasi-central locations. The heart of Buenos Aires was very reminiscent of Europe - wide esplanades, monuments and splendid architecture, all with little lanes and alleys jutting out from all angles. My time in Buenos Aires was limited - my main goal was to get a feel for the city and assess how likely I would be to go back - and I definitely think the city hit those marks.
Our final stop before heading back to the airport was an outpost in The Recolata, a more upscale neighborhood in the center-north part of the city. The Recolata's main tourist attraction is the graveyard that houses the grave of Eva Peron, among other less famous dignitaries. The graveyard was insane, a tight area with incredibly ornate graves stacked right next to each other like very fancy row-houses. Eva Peron's grave itself wasn't too impressive to stand out from the crowd, in that sense. Neighboring the graveyard was the adjoining church, which was somehow a basilica despite being far less ornate or 'special' than the Catedral Metropolitan. We ended our quick stay in Buenos Aires with a coffee in a restaurant with outdoor seating in the main square - a perfect way to end the day.
Overall, I of course wish I had more time in Buenos Aires, but I definitely accomplished what I set out to do. All I wished for was to experience what Buenos Aires is like - in no way expecting to fully make an impression on its long list of sites. I now know I need to go back, and better yet I would want to. I also got a good second view of layover logistics. My last real layover that I fully utilized was four years ago on my round-the-world trip, where I had two separate layovers in Singapore, but those were nearly full day affairs. This wasn't. It was a constrained set of time, and given the challenges those provided, I have to say we did quite well.
The trip will encompass 11 days spread between Argentina and Chile, most of which being in Patagonia. Following the short layover in Buenos Aires, we will be in Punta Arenas for two and a half days, then El Calafate (home of the Perito Moreno Glacier) for two and a half days, and Puerto Natales (nearest out-post of Torres del Paine National Park) for two days, before heading back up to Santiago and the Colchagua Wine Region for four days to end the trip. This first entry is about the flight(s) to Punta Arenas, and the layover in Buenos Aires to start.
American Airlines.... Not so bad
Buenos Aires is very far from New York. It takes about 10 to 10.5 hours to reach. I had to spend this time on American Airlines. I try to spend as little time on international medium and long haul flights on any american airline as possible. I'll get a slightly longer flight from Santiago back to New York on LATAM to end the trip, so at least I don't have to experience it again. However, after actually experiencing it, I have to say that American surprised me.
As a snotty United frequent flier I was slightly miffed to not be in 'Group 1' for a change, but we entered the plane early enough, got enough overhead-bin space, and relaxed into our fairly comfortable seats, with an HD personal AVOD TV, and decent recline. What I love about flights 10+ hours is you can eat your initial meal, watch a movie, sleep 6 hours, and then watch another movie. I did all of that the way I wanted. The food was decent, with Orzo and Chicken as a dinner, and a blueberry muffin with yogurt for breakfast. My first movie was Skyfall, which somehow I missed years ago (very good), and the second was Logan Lucky, which sure I've seen before but is slowly rising up my list of guilty pleasure movies.
My only complaint with the American flight at all was the ridiculous temperature of the cabin. It was freezing. I have no idea what the reason was, but the cabin temp was calibrated all wrong. The only similar experience I'd had was on EMB-145 jets on short-hops in winter, where I'm half certain the issue was the plane was too small and the walls too thin to keep the cold air out. It shouldn't happen on a 777-200ER. There were a few huge positives however with AA. First, comes the ridiculously cold beer they served. One of the coldest I have ever had on a plane (maybe the internal cabin temp helped here?). Then came the quality of the screens, about as close to real HD as I have seen in an economy cabin. On the whole, American's service was a pleasant surprise, and although due to convenience and current status, I won't be leaving United soon, but that was a truly pleasant surprise.
Other Travel Escapades
My other two flights were rather milquetoast, if efficient. They were both short, a two-hour jaunt from Buenos Aires to Santiago, and a three hour schlep from Santiago down to Punta Arenas. The first flight was on LATAM, and it was a strange mix of international and domestic service. On the international side, we had a large plane for a 2-hour flight (B767-300ER), and AVOD (I watched, big surprise, Ocean's 11 after finding nothing else too inspiring). On the domestic side, the 'food' they gave was a seriously uninspiring. Having taken an overnight flight on LATAM last year (Lima to New York), I expect my 11-hour flight from Santiago to New York will be a whole lot better.
As for the domestic flight from Santiago to Punta Arenas, it was on a Chilean low-cost airline, Sky Airlines. It was a truly no-frills service reminiscent of AirAsia, an Asian low-cost carrier that I took one too many times on my Round the World Trip in 2013. They charged for water (it was cheap, at least), and didn't have any seats that recline. They had decent enough legroom, a fully adequate internal cabin temperature (something I will be much more alert for going forward). I slept for most of the flight, which I hope to do equally so on the flight back.
The airports I had to experience were all interesting to various degrees., One feature I really liked in both Buenos Aires and Santiago, the two places we had to go through immigration, are their immigration lines had automated boards at the front which told you which kiosk to go to. Buenos Aires airport was somewhat uninspiring for a city its size (in my limited experience with Lima airport it was slightly more advanced). That said, Buenos Aires airport was opening a new terminal which could quickly improve things. Santiago airport was similar, though we were mostly in the domestic area which understandably is less built up than the International side.
Punta Arenas airport was similar to the old Bangalore Airport, more of a warehouse than an actual port. Not a huge surprise given Punta Arenas is a fairly small city, but it is a tourism hub. The real issue so far was with the rental car people. We had booked an SUV with Europcar, all set to go, but when we got to the counter we were informed that if we are taking the car into Argentina, we had to apply for a permit that for some reason took Europcar 4 days to turnaround - days we didn't have. While this was indisputably our fault (we should have found out about this issue), the Europcar lady seemed almost gleeful to tell us that she could not give us the car in adequate time. Again, as a snotty frequent traveler, I was seething - moreso because this was not Hertz or National, the two car rental groups I usually use and can therefore pull some strings with.
We ended up getting a last-minute rental with some local vendor for cheaper. The only downside was that it was a manual car, and only my dad knows how to drive a stick-shift. We agreed that the roads of Argentina and Chile would not be the best place to attempt to learn, and that my Dad would, sadly, be the sole driver for this part of the trip. Given that both AVIS and Hertz had no available cars large enough, it could have been worse, as we could have spent half-day scrambling to figure out how to get to El Calafate in Argentina, but the random local RECASUR car rental company came in well.
Buenos Aires
Layovers are a strange beast. There's a lot of different components to weigh when parsing out the value of having 7-8 hours in a city. What helps these matters is having an airport easily accessible from the city center, and a quick immigration process. Ezeiza airport in Buenos Aires was neither of these things - and due to this despite arriving at 10:45, and departing at 6:20, we really had only about four hours to play with.
Our first stop was to grab lunch - trekking out to the Puenta Madero part of Buenos Aires that borders the city's river. Estilo Campo was the restaurant, a true meat-house. Given I would have only one meal in Buenos Aires, that seemed apt. Estilo Campo had a range of meat offerings, both a list of steaks (fairly expensive, even after converting), and a list of meats fresh from the spit. We decided to eschew the steak, and go with the spot, somewhat convinced by the splayed lambs over the spit-fire at the entrance. We got a lamb and a flank-steak from teh split, and beef 'rose-meat', and all three were fairly good, if a little tough. The meal was quite good - oddly a place my parents went to when they went to Buenos Aires 12 years earlier with some of their friends. Only issue was it took a little long, leaving us with a little less time to see some of the city.
What we ended up doing was essentially go through a driving tour of the city. We had a number of carry-on bags we had to lug around, propping up the idea of booking a cab to ferry us around and hold the stuff. Luckily for us the random cab driver we could get to agree to this proposal was a nice enough guy to give us a good tour. We saw the main areas around Avenida 9 de Julio, including the Congress, the Palacio de Justicia, el Teatro Campo (a place I would have taken a tour of had I had more time), and various other European-looking buildings that encompass the heart of Buenos Aires.
My first impression of the city during the drive from the airport was fairly negative, with it looking a bit poorer and less developed than I had envisioned, but after Lima, or Split, I should have learned better than to judge by these quasi-central locations. The heart of Buenos Aires was very reminiscent of Europe - wide esplanades, monuments and splendid architecture, all with little lanes and alleys jutting out from all angles. My time in Buenos Aires was limited - my main goal was to get a feel for the city and assess how likely I would be to go back - and I definitely think the city hit those marks.
Our final stop before heading back to the airport was an outpost in The Recolata, a more upscale neighborhood in the center-north part of the city. The Recolata's main tourist attraction is the graveyard that houses the grave of Eva Peron, among other less famous dignitaries. The graveyard was insane, a tight area with incredibly ornate graves stacked right next to each other like very fancy row-houses. Eva Peron's grave itself wasn't too impressive to stand out from the crowd, in that sense. Neighboring the graveyard was the adjoining church, which was somehow a basilica despite being far less ornate or 'special' than the Catedral Metropolitan. We ended our quick stay in Buenos Aires with a coffee in a restaurant with outdoor seating in the main square - a perfect way to end the day.
Overall, I of course wish I had more time in Buenos Aires, but I definitely accomplished what I set out to do. All I wished for was to experience what Buenos Aires is like - in no way expecting to fully make an impression on its long list of sites. I now know I need to go back, and better yet I would want to. I also got a good second view of layover logistics. My last real layover that I fully utilized was four years ago on my round-the-world trip, where I had two separate layovers in Singapore, but those were nearly full day affairs. This wasn't. It was a constrained set of time, and given the challenges those provided, I have to say we did quite well.
