So, it turns out, we have a butler. And I don’t know about you, but what in the actual heck?
Our first morning, we butled up some additional coffee pods and a bucket of ice. I couldn’t figure out the milk situation so I went downstairs and made friends with the concierge and he gave me a package, with great flourish, and said, “This is something like milk.” Great. I’ll take it. The coffee awaits!
Once we were ready to track down the HoHo, we were off to the races. I had scouted the area and taken screenshots of the maps while we still had WiFi. Before long, Boom- the red HoHo! We bought a 3 day ticket because a) we were going to be there that long and b) we’ve learned this can be a cheap way to move about a city, whether you still care about the narration anymore or not.
Turns out, the HoHo stop nearest us was right in a major shopping area. Tons of shops, restaurants, theaters, etc. It reminded us so much of Barcelona. I love the European cities where everything is 100% walkable.
We were able to get right on the bus and off we went- what a beautiful city! Before long though, we realized something. There either weren’t enough busses running OR there were too many people riding them. We would roll up to a stop with a bunch of people waiting and no one would get off. This meant no one could get on. They were told to wait for the next bus.
We did some quick thinking and decided that for day one we would simply ride the loop and not get off. Consider it like we were casing the joint. If we saw something neat, we’d come back. I’ll tell you one thing - I didn’t know statues were so big in Argentina. Not big like in size but holy crap balls there are a tons of statues. Ok, also, now that I’m saying it- there are also very large. Who among us knew this? I happened to be texting my bro who was asking what we were doing when we went by the surely famous statue commemorating the man who figured out how to get mail from Africa to Argentina. And listen, I’m not saying that isn’t cool. But is it statue cool?
We drove by the Recoleta Cemetery where Eva Peron is buried and got to hear a clip of Madonna singing Don’t Cry for Me Argentina. Took me back to my choir days. I’m certainly not suggesting that Madonna singing a version of an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical number is the quintessential Argentina experience, but it was pretty great nevertheless.
We hopped off at the other stop that was walking distance to the hotel and we were able to navigate back with the screenshot maps I had. As we got back into the heart of the shopping area, we decided to pick a cafe to grab a drink and a bite to eat. To our delight, an older gentleman came up to play some music for us all. A great way to relax and do some people watching!
After, we meandered our way back to the hotel and conveniently it was happy hour time in the lobby bar. We enjoyed trying another Malbec- so far, I’ve liked them all and historically I’ve been very hit or miss with them so it’s a fun surprise.
The next couple of days were similar - we used the HoHo to continue exploring different parts of the city and then wandered around on our own. We chatted up our awesome concierge guys and settled on a wine bar we wanted to go to in hopes of trying a bunch of different Argentinian wines. We took an uber over to it because it was a 15 minute car ride in a new direction. Jason was able to buy a 2 day international plan on his phone because you gotta have WiFi for uber!
Man, we hit the jackpot at this wine bar!! We ended up sitting in a back part of it with an incredible knowledgeable guy. He didn’t say he was a som, but I’d sure believe it. At first, he said he could pour us what they had open but then we had so much fun, he started opening all kinds of things. We got to go down into the cellar. He showed us some olive oil they make locally. We must have been there several hours. By the end, we were all WhatsApp friends and had a case ready to ship home that our new friend Jose curated for us. As we left, he insisted we take a bottle of local olive oil, too. What a pleasure!
Our trusty concierges also recommended “the best burger” places because after so much wining and dining, we were ready to just have a nice burger. We grabbed another uber and headed over to the Four Seasons with the rich people to try out The Pony Line. This is the lobby bar and restaurant there but it is legendary and it did not disappoint. I thought our Park Tower was a cooler looking hotel- certainly with a better lobby- but the Pony Line was rad.
Our butler had been doing us right- got some laundry done (returned to us in the basket below!), many more buckets of ice, new wine glasses, daily chocolates and nuts for snacking. Once they wheeled in an entire table when we ordered room service. And then, in the most epic butlering ever, our butler Eva asked if we would like a tour by window. We had three giant windows in the suite looking out at three different areas. We went to each one and she pointed out the buildings, history and interesting facts. I remember thinking how incredible it was to have this super sharp Chinese lady explain the Argentinian history and culture to us visiting US peeps. I love these small world moments- where all those things come together at once for such a time as this.
Before we knew it, is was time to head to the airport. We weren’t able to get a late check out, unfortunately because our room was booked. We killed time trying another local Argentinian snack at the lobby bar. We’d booked a car to take us to EZE airport, which is just outside of town.
We had a bit of a wait before we could check in at the airport and drop the bags. I think maybe 45 minutes or so. By then, lots of people were in line. It is still weird to me that most airports outside the US don’t just have agents staffed at the counters all the time. Anyway, this time we were legit flying first class and boy did that open some doors! We got to go through this Fast Track line which pretty much sent us away from everyone else to a single, old school metal detector. We breezed through that, had 1 person in line ahead of us in immigration, and then Shazam, we arrived at the lounge.
We had plenty of time to kill so Jason went exploring in the lounge and decided to take a shower. What a treat to be able to clean up at night before the long flight. They had a full bar and tons of food- all serve yourself. We had comfy chairs to sit in. About as good as could be.
Once it was time for the flight, I was excited to see if there really would be a different in first class from business class. There was! Now, we were flying for free- using all the miles we’d been saving, as always, so I don’t know that I’d pay the thousands more for first but- here’s what else we got over business class- a larger seat with a chair that swivels over to a desk or back to lay flat. In lay flat mode - nothing on either side of it so you aren’t jammed into a little cave like in business. We had an extra course in the meal service and better wine. But the best part was…. Pajamas! The attendant came by and said, “Ma’am, would you like some pajamas?” I gasped. Well yes, I would! Next thing you know, I have a new set of gray, super soft pajamas. We also had an upgraded amenity kit. In addition to sheets and blankets, we got 3 pillows and a mattress topper. I couldn’t quite figure out what to do with all the pillows but the topper was awesome and made it so much more comfy!
The flight was supposed to be about 9 hours and we were to land at 5 am. In a weird twist of fate, we landed an hour early, which isn’t all together helpful when you are already too early for check in!! That said, the flight was terrific. Super comfy. I slept a lot. The meal was delicious. Jason even managed a nap.
Global entry was once again worth its weight in gold - we blew right into the country with nothing more than a short pause for a picture at the kiosk.
More on our time in Miami to close out the trip next!
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