Text 16900, 98 rader
Skriven 2014-09-11 16:30:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: BsAs trip 947
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Thanks to Lilli's platinosity, we got 1600 checkout from her
giant platinum suite and had the opportunity to check out
my friend Lloyd's recommendation of Parrilla Pena. Lloyd is
a competitor of Alex's, dealing though with second-tier wines of
somewhat less cachet. He's also a big guy with a big appetite,
in contrast to Alex, who looks like a stereotypical tango
dancer. The restaurant is - though in an upscale location -
unpretentious, very neighborhoody in feel, lots of food for
a reasonable price. Another grumpy waiter, though he warmed
up during the meal, which is a good thing as he was the only
one working our area. The Escorihuela Gascon Malbec 13 is a
pleasant wine but much less nuanced from the Gran Reserva or
the Pequenos Producciones that Alex introduced us to. The
meat, from older animals than we are accustomed to, was a
winner in taste but gave the jaws a bit of a workout. Lilli's
bife de chorizo (mistranslated on the menu as "rumpsteak")
was gigantic, at least a pound not counting a substantial
fat cap; it was muy jugoso as ordered. Not really tender
but very tasty, even though the dullish knife shredded the
meat more than cutting it. Note to restaurateurs - offering
inferior cutlery doesn't benefit anyone, including you. The
customer gets the idea that your meat is tough when it's
not really all that bad.

I had the 1/2 entrana muy jugoso - it came with all the
membranes untrimmed (good in a sense as it shields the meat
from the full blast of the grill) but more medio than the
rare that I wanted. Lots of beefy flavor; I borrowed some
of the fat from Lilli's sirloin to eat with it, and the
angels hummed if not sang.

Mashed potatoes were probably the best of the several we
tried on this trip; they were made from scratch and beaten
with an unconscionable amount of butter.

Against my better judgment I ordered dessert - when it came
we both went "oooohhhh," and the young subwaiter who brought
it mimicked us and went "oooohhhh" and grinned. A half pound
of flan with a side of a quarter pound of dulce de leche.
Delicious, but I was a bit queasy eight hours later.

We had a pleasant stroll back to the hotel punctuated by
Lilli twice or thrice showing her total lack of a sense of
direction by instructing me to turn the diametrically wrong
way. Having traveled with her for near a decade I know
enough to ignore her.

Time for a last luxurious shower, and I checked on our taxi
reservation, and, guess what, I'd made it for 24 hours
later. I guess my sense of time must be as bad as her sense
of direction - and with her flight before midnight and mine
after, that served to confuse me further.

The TaxiEzeiza has a promotion - 280 pesos a/i for anywhere
in the city to the airport. I guess it's better than having
the cars go back empty. So I'd signed up on line for that
but was looking at almost twice that if they held me to a
walkup rate. Ah, well, easy come, easy go.

At checkout, a pleasant young desk clerk called the taxi
company and made everything right, and a car was there in
about a quarter hour. And going out of the city was a snap,
so we were there half an hour before the United counter
opened: as this was a mixed Copa/United itinerary, it was
impossible to get my connecting boarding pass without
seeing an actual agent. When I got to one, she had the
document in hand within a minute. It was for coach.

It turns out, by the way, that the cab driver honored the
rate and seemed delighted to get 300 even from me.

At the document check, the guard informed me that as my
flight didn't depart until after midnight, I wasn't
entitled to get through, but she would make a one-time
exception, but the C&I people might not. These didn't care,
as I figured, and soon we were in the new Terminal B, where
the new so-called VIP lounges have opened.

Lilli guested me in to the Admiral's Club, a joint endeavor
with Iberia. A pretty nice though unadorned room, enough
seats, protein snacks, sandwiches, cookies. A full but
unexciting bar. Several beers and wines, the reds on offer
being Altas Cumbres Malbec and Cabernet - comparable with
the Salentein Merlot and Cabernet at the Star Alliance
lounge next door as I later found out. I think that Star
had the edge here but not by much.

When it became time I escorted Lilli to her gate and after
exploring a little in the new Terminal B returned next door
for the rest of my stay in town. Though of the same vintage
as the OneWorld one, this lounge has a sort of pre-owned
look about it.

It was a long dull wait.

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