My son and I are off for a three-week trip which almost didn’t get started.
We flew from Philadelphia to Miami on Wednesday afternoon, and upon landing, learned our connecting flight to Buenos Aires was delayed 45 minutes. No worries; it was to be an overnight flight and we had plenty of time. The plan upon our early arrival in BA was to transfer to our hotel to drop off our luggage, take a half-day sightseeing tour, and return to the hotel to check in. And then, dinner at Don Julio. Neither of us is a big meat eater, but Don Julio is supposed to be one of the best restaurants in Argentina and Mark had managed to secure a 7 PM reservation. The following morning was an early - we still didn’t know the exact timing - group charter flight to Ushuaia at the southern tip of Terra del Fuego, and then we’d board our expedition ship to Antarctica.
Miami sunset
We settled in the lounge to await our flight to Buenos Aires. Then came a notification that the 9 PM flight was postponed until 7:30 the next morning. Mark quickly joined a line to work with an airline representative while I called and got on their website. He was able to secure hotel rooms through American and confirm the status of our luggage. I learned there were no feasible alternate flights and that the reason for the long delay was a crew issue. So we cancelled our BA city tour arrangements, rescheduled the airport transfer, notified Hurtigruten (our Antarctica provider and holder of the charter flight into), and tried to modify the restaurant reservation. Then we headed to our hotel. While we were disappointed to lose the day in Buenos Aires, the bigger concern is that if we didn’t get there by late Thursday, we would likely miss the entire trip. There is no quick way to catch up in Ushuaia, one of the most remote towns in the world.
We grabbed an Uber back to the airport around 5:30 this morning. The flight had another delay, but thankfully, did take off this morning.
Upon clearing immigration, we were happy to be greeted by our airport transfer. Eduardo was obliging, taking us directly to Don Julio instead of the hotel as we’d previously arranged. We got to the restaurant only 5 minutes late. We were ushered through the few dozen people outside, who were hoping for a last minute cancellation or no-show (which was almost us). It was a happy crowd, enjoying complimentary glasses of Prosecco and empanadas while they waited. Staff grabbed our luggage and took us to our table, where we settled in to feast.
The restaurant is fairly small, and well run with attentive service.
I wanted to try one of our neighbor’s french fries. They smelled amazing (as fries generally do).
The kitchen was open to the dining area, at least the part where the meat was prepared and grilled. So much meat!
The kitchen was open to the dining area, at least the part where the meat was prepared and grilled. So much meat!
We ordered a ribeye steak each, 1.1 pounds of thick marbled beef, and shared sides of grilled asparagus, artichoke, spinach and beets. (We didn’t actually share the beets - but I did taste them.). Mark did an admirable job on his steak. I, less so. It was excellent - just too much of it.
The most memorable part of the meal, unexpectedly, was a small dish of homemade ice cream, or zabaione helado. It was incredibly rich, and tasted like nothing either of us had had before. It’s made with egg yolks, sugar and a sweet wine. OMG.
Although the menu had prices clearly marked, we weren’t sure what anything actually cost. Inflation is running over 110% per year in Argentina and the exchange rate adjusts constantly. So when we saw that grilled asparagus was $5770 (yes, they use the $ symbol for the Argentinian peso), we weren’t sure what we were getting into. It turned out to be $7.21 USD, which was quite reasonable. The total bill was a pleasant surprise.
Even more surprising was the 15 minute Uber ride to the hotel hosting the Hurtigruten group. It cost $1.86 (USD). I commented about it to our guide the next morning (Friday) who said that gasoline is quite cheap right now, but will go up immediately after their November 17 election. It’s in the current administration’s self-interest to keep the people happy in hopes of winning votes.
We have another early start Friday, as we meet at 5 AM in the hotel lobby to transfer back to the airport for our charter flight to Ushuaia.
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