Our day began before 7. I decided I needed to build in some time to go to the Purser's office if the credit wasn't applied, and given the wine situation, I wasn't holding my breath. Also, Montevideo is an hour later than BA, so we got to set the clocks back again.
I think that sometime around 4:30, we entered the BA harbor and started to move into position on the very narrow slip. The side thrusters were going and the shaking and noise woke us up. At some point we were able to go back to sleep.
At 6:45 the alarm rang. I got up and dressed, and opened the final bill. To my surprise, the credit for the loss was on there as a "good will" entry. Other than some outlet things that I loved that I probably won't be able to replace, it would have totally made up for it.
We packed our last minute things, swept the room and met Joan and Rich for breakfast. We ate a quick breakfast since we were supposed to meet Linda and Bob for our post cruise day trip at 8 in the dining room reserved for Platinum and above passengers. I sent Glen over while I went to the pursers desk to get a copy of my claim form. With the credit applied, I was pretty sure I didn't need to sign the form, but I wanted to be sure. The guy in front of me was annoyed because he'd tried to leave and they told him he still owed the ship 1.10 (yes, that's a dollar and ten cents). When I got up there, the purser looked for the form and after about 5 or 10 minutes came back and said that I didn't need it because the credit was given. I take that to mean that they destroyed it because they didn't need to send it to Los Angeles (or Santa Clarita more specifically). She did give me a copy of the laundry slip, though.
After that I went down to meet Glen, Linda and Bob, but as soon as I got to the dining room they told me to turn around, our number had been called. We walked off the ship, and waited for the next bus to move people to the terminal. At this point, I'm worrying about our checked luggage, since there are rumors of dishonest port workers in BA, and given the way stuff like this has been going, it wouldn't surprise me. However, we did find all 4 of our checked bags (only two are actual suitcases - the other two are two sportsac duffles) and Bob and Linda found theirs. We got a porter, and loaded most of the bags onto a large cart. Leaving the port there was an xray machine, but they waved us through. We went out to the exit and it was as chaotic as we remembered from embarkation - with several taxi lines, and a throng of greeters. It was 8:45 and our guide wasn't due for another 15 minutes, so we had our porter unload us to the side and we decided to wait. As we did, Cruise Critic friends kept coming out and we kept hugging goodbye. I periodically went out to check for our guide. At about 9, Glen noticed somebody outside holding up a sign that looked to him like it said Grossman. I went over there and it was our guide, Alexjandra. She went with me to our luggage, and immediately took charge, getting a porter, and communicating with the staff on how to get out. She contacted the driver, and we were soon loaded into the van. (We were relieved it was big enough for all our stuff). We drove out of town towards the pampas, about 75 miles I think. The driver apparently needed what Alexjandra called a "technical stop", which we learned meant a bathroom stop. Apparently, it's a non discussed subject in her family. She also got each of us a bottle of water, and we continued.
Our first real stop was in the town of San Antonio de Aresco, which has a historic area. We started with a visit to a silversmith's house which has a small museum of gaucho silver items, including spurs, whips (which weren't used much) and belts. Belts apparently were the start of the silversmithing in the Pampas, they needed to close their belts, and it started with two coins, and as belts got larger so did the number of coins, and it evolved to an elaborate art. We saw a brief video in which the silversmith spoke about how we got into it and what his vision is.
Here's an example of a belt. The 4 coin version.
We then saw the workshops, and the little hotel that is attached. The building is very Mediterranean style. There are also examples of his work, and that of his sons and employees in both silver and leather for sale.
This is the courtyard that separates the workshop from the hotel. It's very pretty.
After that, we walked around the square, looked at the town church, apparently the priest is Irish, and the town hall.
The square. That's the church in the background. It was a very quiet and peaceful day there.
From there, we went to the ranch. We left the main road, and went onto a dirt road. Alexjandra told us it was a typical Pampas road. The ranch was beautiful, several Spanish style building and beautifully landscaped grounds. They had a stable, and also some sheep and goats. The owner and hostess greeted us warmly, and we were offered our choice of drinks. We all opted for wine. We then sat down on the veranda and one of the servers brought us some empanadas, which were wonderful. They were so good, we had a second round - that round they fried, and in the first round they were baked. We decided we liked the baked ones slightly better. We sat on the veranda for a while chatting. Alexjandra asked if we wanted to ride horses or do a carriage ride. We thought a carriage ride would be nice so she went and arranged that. She was gone for a while, but we were enjoying our time socializing and Glen and Bob took pictures. It was very restful.
A view of the ranch. It was very nice.
And here's one of the buildings of the ranch. Those are the gauchos. In addition to their music, they also helped serve the meat at lunch.
Eventually, Alexjandra came back and said it was lunch time, and we'd do the ride afterward. She escorted us to a serious of nicely set picnic tables outside. On the table was red wine, water, bread and 3 kinds of salad - green, a simple cole slaw, and a very good potato salad. They also brought out a tomato salad.
Soon after, servers and gauchos came out carrying plates of barbecued meat. It was all very good. As we were finishing, the gauchos came back with guitars and played music that most closely resembled polka. Soon, other gauchos, including some young boys were dancing with the guests. One of the boys invited me to dance with him, which I accepted but the dance ended as we were about to started. I danced with one of the older men (who apparently wrecked his back breaking horses) and then with Glen. Somebody told the owner we danced tango, so she had the band play a tango and we danced for all the guests. It was great fun.
And now, the music.
By that time, it was after 3pm. Bob and Linda wanted to be at the airport by 6 for their 9:40 flight, since we'd all heard that the airport is a zoo in the evening as all the US flights depart. The driver, talking with other drivers, decided we should leave between 3:30 and 4, (they also discussed the best routes).
Linda and I looked at the hotel rooms, and they looked delightful. We both decided that if we were in Argentina, it would be nice to spend a couple of days there. A little bit before 4pm we thanked our hostess and headed out. We had a relaxed drive back, and circumvented BA. On one of the toll roads, which we learned were all private, we saw shanty towns, something we, at least hadn't seen on our BA visit pre cruise. Alexjandra told us the road is considered dangerous at night, as people get on the overpasses, throw rocks at cars to break the window, and when the car stops, the occupants get robbed. Like any scheme like that, it doesn't always happen, but it can.
When we got to the airport, it was busy with buses and cars. Our driver stopped and Alexjandra ran into the airport to get us luggage carts. She came back with two, and we each loaded our luggage into them. Alexjandra accompanied us into the terminal and then said her good byes. We then said goodbye to Bob and Linda as they went to the American line and we went to United. We will see them when we go to Florida next time.
There was no real line for United business, although I saw long lines for economy for both United and American economy and another for what I think is an Argentine airline. We were asked about our luggage going in, and each bag was tagged for Xray. I think all US bags get that.
When we checked in, we were given an Argentine exit form to fill out, as well as our boarding passes and luggage tags. When we found the area to enter the whole security section, we saw Linda and Bill, other CC friends filling out theirs. I know they were on our flight, so Glen and I agreed to take them into Red Carpet.
First stop was a check that we had boarding passes, and then we went through customs. It was about a 5-10 minute wait, not too bad. Glen's got stamped through easily. The agent stared at mine for a while, since there was no entrance stamp, but she read the police report, and my guess is finally decided not to bother with it, and stamped me through as well. We next went through security - compared to US it's sort of a joke - no pulling the quart bag, laptops, no shoes off, just put the bag on and go.
Once through there, we walked through the shopping mall that is the gate area. Mostly makeup and electronics, same stuff you'd find at home. We were told the lounge was near gate 6 so we went to gate 6. It took a few minutes to find the lounge but we got there. When we got in we discovered that as a member, I could bring one guest, and Glen, as business class, got 0. We apologized to Linda and Bill and said we'd see them on the plane.
We sat with Charles and Judy for a couple of hours and sampled the odd assortment of appetizers they brought out. The plane was supposed to board at 9:20, so about 9:10 we went out there. There was a security check at the gate - they opened all the carry ons and did a quick pat down of everyone. Soon after we boarded, and settled into our seats.
As they entered, Charles asked if we wanted to trade seats - we said no.
The flight left on time, and was off the ground quickly. The estimation was that we'd be in a bit early - we had over 2 hours, but our friends had less, so that was good.
After dinner, I settled down to try to sleep - never easy for me on a plane, but the seats in Business Class are lay flat, so it might work. I was able to get some sleep, until ...
Somewhere around the equator (cool - we crossed the equator), it got bumpy so the seatbelt sign went on, which sort of woke me up. Then, I heard one of the announcements you never want to hear on a plane, especially when you are trying to make a tight connection "If there is a doctor on board, please ring your call button". About 15 minutes later we heard "if anyone has nitroglycerin, ring your call button".
About 15 minutes later, I noticed on the other aisle of the cabin an IV line was hanging from the overhead compartment. I then tried to go back to sleep. While this was going on, I put on Glen's entertainment unit, and put it to the map. We were over Columbia. A bit later, I saw a couple of the flight attendants stop and look at it - that was pretty ominous.
Every so often, I checked the map, and saw we were now over what I think is the Caribbean Sea. Soon after, the pilot came on and announced that the doctor had told them that they should get the passenger off the plane and to a hospital, ASAP. So, we were heading to Kingston Jamaica to drop him off, refuel and get on our way.
Glen and I discussed it, and he thought since there was a refuel, the pilot was putting the pedal to the metal and going to try to make up time. Also, we had tailwinds, so it was possible that, if the stop was less than an hour, we might make our connection, and maybe some of our friends would too.
After landing, it took about 20 minutes to get the passenger off. I saw them take him off and hopefully he'll be OK - it was I heard a heart attack. He was awake and holding the oxygen tank as they took him off, so I hope it's a good sign.
We then sat on the tarmac for another 3+ hours. Periodically the pilot came on - apparently it took a long time to negotiate how to pay for the fuel since United doesn't fly into Kingston, and then there were what appeared to be hours of negotiating removing the bags of the 4 people who left - the passenger and wife and their traveling companions.
At some point, I got out my cell phone and called United about our rebooking. Turns out Glen and I were on different flights. The agent I spoke to said he was going to get us on the same flight, although because he was on an upgrade ticket, he'd probably lose it. Because I was being charged international rates, I asked the agent if I could get off the phone. He said I could, and he would work on it.
After about four hours, and seeing the sunrise on Jamaica, we finally were able to leave. At least we got to kiss in one more airport (if the entry road in Uruguay counted then the tarmac in Kingston should too).
Another 3 hours of flight and we were in DC. We were off the plane quickly and one of the first few people through customs. The immigration agent asked what happened to my old passport. He also asked if we'd been on a farm or ranch in the last few days. We had, but hadn't got near the cows or horses. They also asked about food, etc. All we had was 5 bottles of wine.
We then picked up our luggage and sailed through customs. Next step was to recheck the luggage and go through US security (apparently they are aware how lax international security can be). After that, we went to the Red Carpet Lounge to figure out our next step.
Here's where it got fun. I was on the 12:15 flight and Glen was on the 2:45 one. That was the problem with splitting the reservations. Apparently, the agent I spoke to (and probably wasted several dollars on the call) didn't fix anything. The agent was helpful, but apparently the only way to guarantee that we'd be on the same flight would be to wait until the 4:15 flight. She did however, bump Glen to the top of the standby list for the 12:15.
I went outside to wait for Linda and Bill since I think we could bring them both in. When they arrived, they said they were on a 1pm flight and wanted to get to that gate since it was quite far away. We said our final goodbyes, and they left. As soon as I got back in, I saw Glen had poured me some coffee and juice. I pulled out the PC to work on the blog, and as soon as I started booting it, the agent paged Glen. He was on my flight, although in coach. I plan to write United and say that I think upgrades should be preserved when a connection is missed. If not, either miles should be returned or the passenger should be given a complimentary upgrade later, with priority. I won't get anywhere with it, but it's worth a try.
That flight was uneventful. While on the plane before take off, I arranged from the ride back from the airport. At that point, we'd been awake most of the last 36 hours, so a ride was very appreciated.
The flight got in a bit early, and our ride arrived just after we got our luggage, so the timing was good. We arrived home with just enough time to get the mail. We headed out for an early dinner and early bed after being more or less awake for 44 hours.
And with that, the entries for this trip are finished. When I upload the full pictures to the web I'll post that. Also, a housekeeping point - Glen wants to correct that at the Crown Grill he had the sirloin, not the Porterhouse.
Thanks for reading. Since this is a travel blog, I'll continue to post my trips, but it will probably be a few months. Until our next biggie, I won't send email updates (and there will be an opt in for that).
And some closing thoughts. This was an amazing trip, other than a few problems, that over time will be minor. Next year is the last year, at least for a while, that the big ships will be doing Antarctica, so I'm glad we got this in. And, even though we missed a couple scenic spots, we were very lucky that we both made the Falklands and had that wonderfully sunny day in the Gerlache Straights. And there were many things I never thought I'd see/do - wiping penguin poo off our shoes, watching the Superbowl live from the same place where Shakleton fought for the life of his crew, and hitting the southern end of the Panamerican highway. We'll do more cruises, we may even have some that are more fun - but what we saw on this one (and the people we met and now consider friends) will probably never be surpassed.
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