19 Hours of Travel

If anyone reading this blog lives in a major travel hub count your blessings as those of us who don't live in major hubs have to suffer through connecting flights.

We were away at 6 am from the house. My daughter Madeline was good enough to drive us to the airport which is commendable as Madeline is 19 and not always a morning person. I hadn't been able to check in prior to departure. Delta had changed our flight times but hadn't reissued our tickets. It took the WestJet employee a long time to print our boarding passes. She had to call WestJet support for help. Eventually they got it all sorted out and we were able to get to the gate with lots of time. After boarding the flight, the crew realized that a piece of equipment needed changing so we sat at the gate on the plane for an hour. I was very thankful for our 3 hour lay over in Minneapolis which was reduced to 2. We were in zone 7 for the Atlanta flight. They had called for volunteers to check their carry on but because we had a tighter connection had decided against it. We hugged the gate for loading and were the first to get on of the zone 7 group and shortly afterwards they cut off the carryon luggage. The seats were much more comfortable than our previous WestJet flight with wider seats and more legroom. Atlanta has a big airport. There is a large train that moves people between terminals. We initially thought we were flying out of E terminal but when we showed up at the gate the only people there were a couple of Mormon missionaries. They were off to BA as well to mentor and supervise younger missionaries. We realized they had changed the gate to terminal F so we had to go back downstairs and get on the train again to get to terminal F. Still lots of time at the gate. I had paid a little more money for some more leg room which was worth it as I didn't feel cramped at all.

It was an Airbus 330. We left at 9 pm Atlanta time arriving at 7 am. I think that I actually slept a little. It was a 9-10 hour flight which was much better than the 14 hour flight from Toronto to Santiago last year. My back has been bothering me and I was worried about the flight but it didn't bother me too much.

We had a very long wait at customs. I always thought Toronto was slow but this was much slower than anytime I have come through Pearson airport. I had prebooked a taxi at the airport expecting better service however the car looked like it had been in a demolition derby and the driver drove like he wanted to scare us. The brake pads sounded like they were long overdue for a change. We arrived at our Airbnb in the neighbourhood of Belgrano in the north part of BA by 1 pm. We were tired after our long trip and it was warm at 32 degrees Celsius. We wandered around Belgrano buying some groceries and exchanging money. I had a very early night at 8:30 as I was just exhausted and managed to sleep in until 7:30.

For our first day in Buenos Aires we headed south to San Telmo where we visited a 200 year old house that had been restored by a private owner. During the restoration they realized that the house had been built by a wealthy merchant over a tunnel that had once covered a river. When the family left in the 1870s, they turned it into a tenement building hosting 100 people in rooms that shared one bathroom and 2 kitchens. It went from a mansion to slum very quickly. The house had been constructed of beautiful red brick as had the river covering. They had done an excellent job excavating and restoring the house and tunnels. After the house tour we took in a large indoor market and a large street sale of crafts and antiques. We ate lunch at the market and shared this massive steak sandwich. We also took in some street performers and Tango dancers. It was fun just taking in the vibe and getting the feel of the neighbourhood. We finished the afternoon at the museum of modern art before heading back to the Airbnb to chill out.Read more