Text 16684, 79 rader
Skriven 2014-09-05 23:26:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: BsAs trip 917
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Immigration was easy, as the Argentine fingerprint machine
didn't balk at mine. The girl hardly took a glance at my
printout of the reciprocity fee receipt.

Long line getting out through the baggage scanner.

I was supposed to call the hotel from a pay phone for my
shuttle pickup and wondered how to do so without a peso
in my pocket. The nice lady at the information desk said
there was a telecommunications center that would take
credit cards, but the charge would be only 25 or 50c US.
I wondered how that worked. You go in, make your call,
and the rate is displayed on a display on the wall - mine
came to 1.50 (US 20c), so I asked the girl at the desk if
she'd take a buck, which she did, giving me 6.75 back, so
probably a better rate than the cambio would offer.

I was told to wait by the orange machine (turns out it's a
security plastic wrap machine for your checked bag) 40
meters past the McDonald's, and the driver would be there
in 5 to 10 minutes. And so it was. I gave him the fiver in
gratitude.

The Posada De Las Aguilas is apparently the closest place
to the airport and as such gets highly mixed reviews. It
turns out the relevant things all were okay. True, there's
no food within walking distance, and I can see how things
might get dreary at mealtime, but it did the job.

I was lulled into a sense of false security by the desk
clerk, who spoke good English and seemed to be really on
the ball. He dealt with checkin efficiently, and soon I
was in my assigned spot, a really small room with a really
high ceiling. But it was clean, the bed was comfortable,
the bathroom small but functional, and the heat worked,
a good thing as it was close to 50F when I arrived.

Being a little thirsty, I went back down to the reception
area, where the guy said they'd still be serving snacks and
alcohol, only there was nobody to take my order, so he left
his desk and got me a bowl of peanuts and a Quilmes Cristal
- this, a blandish Miller-like beverage, came in a double
bottle but went down easily.

A fairly nice shower and a good night's sleep.

-

Breakfast is spartan - croissants and jam, watered orange
juice, coffee or tea. Toast and peanut butter available too.

I paid my bill with a Benjy and asked for my change in
pesos, which caused some consternation, as there was little
if any provision for cash payment, despite there being a
sign offering a 10% discount for cash in dollars or pesos.
Plus the receptionist this morning spoke less English than
I do Spanish, so communication was halting and fraught with
the danger of misconstruction. So we agreed to wait for the
shuttle driver to return from the airport, because he both
spoke English and had a pocketful of money. Well, he did and
he didn't. We ended up having to call in the maintenance guy
in whose pocket there was an assortment of ratty, torn bills
- eventually we got me my pesos, which came in handy for
tips and such through the week. In fact, I left him the
rattiest old fiver as a tip, which we both laughed at; he
said something along the lines of, and so it comes home to
roost after all.

I was supposed to meet Lilli and her friend Rakesh, who were
coming in on AA 953 JFK EZE 2205 0940, which was an hour
late. We ended up meeting at the TaxiEZE kiosk right around
11 and, as there were three of us, taking the $42 fixed rate
cab to the Sheraton Libertador (I told Rakesh that I had
enough pesos to get him to his hotel, the Park Hyatt, but he
elected to walk to the restaurant with us).

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