California Here I Come!

Details for the great California Adventure are being worked out as we speak. Here is the tentative plan:

Fly from JFK to LAX on December 9, arriving at 10am PT. From there, I rent a car and drive down to Anaheim.

Spend the day/night in Anaheim, visiting DisneyLand, and perhaps a beach.

December 10th will mark my first trip to Honda Center to see the Ducks play the Blues. After the game I plan to drive up to Santa Barbara, assuming it hasn't totally burned up.

The next morning I set up the Pacific Coast Highway to San Jose. Should be quite gorgeous from what I hear. That evening (December 11th) I will see the Ducks take on the Sharks at the HP Pavilion in San Jose.

After the game I will drive up either to a suburb of, or downtown San Francisco and spend a day and a half there, flying home on Saturday, December 13th, landing at JFK around midnight eastern time.

Pretty ambitious trip, but it should be a nice way to celebrate the end of the season for me and the start of my vacation.

So far I have the flight booked, as well as a hotel room in Anaheim and Santa Barbara. Tomorrow I will figure out what I am doing up in San Jose and San Francisco, and after booking those hotels I will book my car. I want to make sure to give back the car once I get into SFO since I won't really need it to see the city.

Hopefully I'll have another update tomorrow.

Stay Tuned!!

I am currently planning a trip to California for a little Ducks tour. It'll be great to see my favorite team on Home Ice! Plus, you know, Disneyland. This is turning out to be quite an ambitious undertaking, so keep an eye on this blog as details get finalized and released.

By the way - the airline tickets have just been purchased!!

The Rest of the Trip

Sorry I never finished the rest of the Buenos Aires trip. After getting home I was very tired, then got busy. I'll now fill in on the rest of the trip.

Friday was the first time I had seen rain in South America. It was raining when I was getting ready for work, but stopped for the commute. After we got inside the building it was pouring like I hadn't seen in a long time. A long, sustained drenching, accompanied by some glorious thunder. See what happens when you overstay your welcome??

I wasn't feeling well all day - I was hoping I wasn't coming down with anything - but it turns out it was just a day thing. I think the sprite from the previous night was the culprit.

Lunch was the same as the previous day - empanandas on site. No more Lion's Cafe. I was disappointed, but busy, so it didn't really bug me all that much.

We worked until around 6, when the dweeb's boss said "we're leaving". He had to leave for his flight at 9pm and he wanted to take us out for a nice dinner first. Who was I to argue??

We went to a different restaurant - near where we had been going all week. I have the details written down at home. I'll have to fill you in later. I was still not feeling all that great, but I figured this was my last opportunity for a big meal in Buenos Aires, so I had to make the most of it.

We did the normal grouping of appetizers - the sausage being the best. I didn't eat too much of it as I wanted to save my energy for the steak. We had some great wine - again, I'll have to get back to you on it.

Dinner was Bife de Lomo. So damned yummy! We also ordered a bunch of different kinds of fries - thin cut, Spanish chips, and the little balls like I had during one of my first meals the previous trip (scroll down and read!). We had the second bottle of wine with the meal, and it did not disappoint.

Unfortunately, Boss man had to leave for his flight, so we finished the meal without him. Dessert was Panqueque con dulce de leche - where panqueque is a crepe. That was sooooo good. Filling, but delicious. I will really miss the desserts from there.

After dinner, the remaining colleagues and I (there were 4 of us) decided to just walk that dinner off and strolled around down town. Since everyone was kinda waiting for someone else to figure out where to go, I just stepped up and lead. It was rather uneventful, just walking around Buenos Aires. It was nice to walk though...I hadn't been able to do any exploring on this trip for the most part. Even though it was with other people, it was still nice.

After checking out the next day we headed to the new building one last time. We tied up any loose ends, did a little extra training, and said goodbye to our gracious hosts. I was given a bottle of wine, which was unexpected. They really are a nice group of people down there, and it was a pleasure working with them. I hope to get a chance to get back there.

We headed back to the hotel to drop off the bags we brought with us and had a few hours before we had to leave for the airport. The dweeb had arranged for a party bus to take us there. 4 of us had 10pm flights, and 2 had 11pm flights, so we planned to take the bus at 7 to give us enough time to get checked in and whatnot.

Shopping downtown was fun, but I was feeling a little confined with the group. 4 of us went to Calle Florida while the Dweeb and Pink Panther went to Recoleta. I broke off from the group and found a cool little leather shop to get a belt for my father (and one for me too!).

After meeting up with the group, we headed to a music store. One of my colleagues was tasked with bringing his wife some Tango music. I purchased some as well, and it was at this time that I realized that I no longer had my credit card!! Oh no!!

I immediately realized that I had to have left it at the leather shop. After giving directions to the group on where to go for lunch (La Rienta) I ran back to the shop, where the guys had my card locked in the cash register. Whew! Crisis averted!

The grill at La Rienta was closed for lunch, but we were still able to get tenderloin sandwiches, which were really good. After lunch we stopped by Havana to get some Dulce de Leche and afrijoles to bring home, and we might have stopped by a cigar shop, where someone might have bought a Cuban or two...but I don't remember that.

We get back to the hotel at about 10 to 7. At a few minutes after 7, our driver showed up, but he said (in VERY limited English) that he had a car, not a bus, and he could take 3 people. After getting a hotel worker to help with the translation, we learned that he could take 3 of us with bags, and he could get another car in 45 minutes. Now, the dweeb was late at this point, and no one was stepping up to do anything.

I went to try to find out how much a cab would be - and was talking with the hotel desk about another car. A car would be $130 pesos (not bad - about $45 US) but you had to either pay cash or charge to the room. I couldn't do it as I hadn't stayed at that hotel for the past few days, and when I brought it up no one seemed to want to put it to their room. Figuring the Dweeb should have to deal with this, I said fine, wait for him.

He finally showed up around 25 minutes late, and I called him over to bring him up to speed on his screw up and his tardiness. He tries to find the confirmation email on his Treo - I guess figuring that showing this to the drive who speaks no English will cause him to magically get a bus? I don't know either. The driver again says (now through me, who apparently in times of stress can speak pretty decent Spanish) that it will still take 45 minutes to get another car - maybe 40. The dweeb pushes his luck, saying "how about 20 minutes"...I guess not realizing that you can't negotiate physics, and that if the car would get there in 45 minutes, 40 if it speeds, 20 is out of the question. Finally, we agreed (or I said - I don't remember which) that the 3 of us that were there on time that had the 10pm flight would leave, and the others (the 2 that were there on time for the 11, and the dweeb that was late, on the 10) would leave with the second car.

The driver and I had a nice laugh at the dweeb's idiocy and we had a pleasant, traffic-free ride to the airport.

The check in line was stupid long, but it was okay. I got my flight, paid my airport tax and headed to the duty-free shop. I only bought one bottle of wine this time, and headed for the gate.
The other car had arrived and everyone was now at the airport.

The flight home was okay. American oversold the flight AGAIN. They bumped 2 before we boarded, then one more once we boarded, so we were late getting out again. Stupid American Airlines. Beware of them and their poor bumping skills!

And guess who got to sit next to a 2-year-old for an 11-hour flight?!? Would you expect anything else? I wouldn't. I'm convinced that my seat on the flight Thursday night was next to a single, Argentine model who has a thing for tall, bald, sarcastic Americans. ConVINced.

The 2-year-old was fantastic (as far as 2-year-olds go) and it was nice not to have to fight for the arm-rest. Those 2-year-olds are pushovers! I slept most of the time.

So that's my trip. Sorry for the rambling, and for the delay in getting this up. I am glad that I had a chance to cool-off from the dweeb's mess-up with the airport arrangements. I learned a very valuable lesson from this - arrange my own transportation to and from airports. It is amazing the difference between the two trips. Last time I was more on my own whereas this time it was more of group-movement. Both had it's pros and cons, but I think I liked exploring on my own better - a lot less stress.

I hope to have more tales from the road here soon. I'm thinking California soon (hopefully before the end of the hockey season) and maybe Florida - I'm itching to go to Disney!

Check out the first few posts from last trip - I have some photos up now!

Buenos Aires II, Night 5

I wrote this on the plane after leaving Buenos Aires:

I'm trying to remember where I left off. I believe it was Thursday morning. I checked out of the hotel at around 8:50 am in the area just outside of where we always meet for breakfast. I planned to run inside real quickly to get a few muffins for the road, but while I was waiting for a to-go tin I saw the rest of my colleagues there eating, so I joined them. After wolfing down a few muffins, I was all set to leave, but the dweeb had to run back to his room. Because of this, we didn't leave until around 9:30 - past the time we were supposed to. You'll note who's fault this is, and that he was the one that was pushing for a 8:30 departure. Dork.

We're about 10 minutes into our ride driving adjacent to the Rio de la Plata when we get told to pull over the Argentine Naval police. THAT was fun! I had all my bags as well as my passport, so I wasn't all that worried. They had the party van pull over tot the side, and the diver gave him his carefully organized papers. An officer came on the bus and walked up and down the aisle. It was relatively uneventful, but kind of a cool story to tell.

We got to the new building and I began working. Working through the day actually. For lunch, we had empanadas. Very yummy, though we had takeout. I would have rather left the building for a little bit to take a break, but no worries. It was just before this time that I received an email from my boss. As you saw in earlier posts, I wound up staying. At this time, my boss is scrambling to find coverage for me, and I'm dealing with our Travel department to see if this is do-able. Turns out the flight would be a LOT more, and our hotel was sold out. Fantastic!

After getting approval from the proper executives, they changed my flight and I was booked in the Park Towers, which is the luxury hotel adjacent to the Sheraton. After we left the building for the day (which didn't happen until around 8 I think) we went back into the city and I checked in. After plopping my bags in the room, we met out front to head out to dinner.

We went to La Parolaccia, the Italian place, again. If you'll recall, this was the scene of the great Gnocchi-feast of January. I decided not to repeat that. Best line of the car-ride there? One of my Argentine Colleagues drove us, and in his VERY broken English he mentioned that he has twins…10 months old. The dweeb actually asked this: How old is the older one? Our colleague laughed it off…and he asked AGAIN! I swear, you all should really meet this guy. You'll laugh and cry at the same time.

We get there and one of our Buenos Aires friends from the new building joins us for the evening. That was cool. He's a really cool dude, and his English has gotten much better since the last time I was down there.

I ordered the Fettucini Verdi con Quatto Formagi. It was really good. I have a picture of it on my phone, I think. Very filling, but not as much as the gnocchi! We had some white wine along with it. For dessert I had tiramisu. I had to. I was going to get this other dessert, but the waiter said it would take 10 minutes to make. I decided that was enough reason to go with the old standby. I was not disappointed, but again, I really didn't really have room for dessert anyway. I was quite full when we left the table.

After that, we went back to the hotel. I went to my fancy new room. It was huge! I think the bathroom was bigger than my room in the other hotel. Separate little rooms in the bathroom for the toilet and the shower, and a separate tub. It also had a speaker in there hooked to the TV. I had some sprite (which I think was bad) and went to bed.

I'll have to write more tomorrow as the light are out on the plane and I'm a little tired.

Hasta luego!!

A long few days

Sorry for the lack of updates. Yesterday was a long day and I wasn't feeling well at all. It was either sleep, as short bug, or something I drank, but I feel much better now. I have some more training to do, and I fly out this evening, but rest assured, more updates are coming. I plan to write them while waiting for the plane, or while on the plane, and get them posted ASAP.

Thanks for reading them! I hope you enjoy the tales. I'll write more when I can.

Buenos Aires II, Night 4

Last night we didn't leave work until very late. It was almost 9pm (BA Time) when we finally got out of here. The Dweeb's boss had just flown in and he was taking us all out to dinner (the Boss, not the Dweeb). We went to an awesome place called Cardon Nuestra Cocina in this suburb where our new building is. Was a cool looking, giant brick building. Very nice ambiance!

We had a very big table for 12. The tables were wooden with some sort of leather table top. Interesting. We ordered some wine, first was a Gran Lurton, Cabernet Sauvignon (Mendoza, 2004). That was very tasty. We had an impromptu status meeting with the Boss (not my boss, the Dweeb's Boss) and then started having some entrée's. A piece of sausage, some toasted bread…all standard. They served these awesome home made rolls - probably the best bread I've had down here.

The big thing for the night, I tried Sweet Bread. I'm not a hundred percent sure what it is…but I know that I don't want to know. If you feel the need, perhaps google it? And it wasn't what it sounds like. It was fried I think - but it was okay. I just tried not to think of what it could be that I was eating!

The discussion of progress continued and we ordered dinner. I went with the Ojo de bife de 380 grs (rib eye), con tartar de veruras y hojas de runcula. I'm not sure what the rest of that means either. It was basically leafy vegetables…maybe something like spinach. I went with the Rib eye since I only really have had Lomo since I've been here. It was good - but I think I got it cooked to long. I said medium - but it was more like medium-well. I wish it was a little juicier. But the wine made up for that! The second bottle was a Luigi Bosco - the same kind we had the first big night of this second trip.

During the meal, we went out onto the back terrace to check out the lunar eclipse. Well, I went out to check out the cute waitress, but the eclipse was cool too. I also saw the Southern Cross, which is as impressive as it sounds. After that, we headed back in and ordered dessert. I had the Flan con dulce de leche since that was the only thing I understood on the menu. It was not translated into English, and we had a bunch of people with us that I had never met before, and I was playing it cool. The Dweeb was constantly checking his Spanish/English phrase book and looking like…well…a dweeb. It really is a very appropriate name. I knew what I was in for, so I just acted like I've been there before…which is always a great rule.

Some discussion was had earlier in the evening about when to start work in the morning. Since it was to be my last day, the though was to start early so they'd have me for as long as possible. We had planned to have a car waiting at 8:30. Check that - the DWEEB suggested the car pick us up at 8:30. I knew that I still had to pack, check out, and try to grab a muffin before then, and after airing my initial protest, I let it go. I won't be a squeaky wheel.

I must say, after dessert, it was absolutely stuffed. It was after midnight, and I saw the dweeb back outside taking pictures of the eclipse (yes, I know…it looks like a little dot. Didn't make sense to me either). I mentioned "there's no way we're all going to be ready by 8:30" He said "oh yes we are - I already arranged the car service". I replied "You do realize that it's after midnight and we're still not done eating. We still have to finish and get back to Buenos Aires. There is no way we'll be back by 1:30. There is no way we can do 8:30" His reply "Yes we are, I already arranged the car service." Sigh.

After that meeting of the minds, I went back inside and sat at the table where I heard Dweebs Boss basically say "there is no way we can do it that early, let's say 10am to start." Ha! Great minds DO think alike! The Dweeb walks back in and is informed by his Boss that we'll be starting at 10 (which is a 9:15 car). His response "I already called the car service." Boss: "Call them back". The Dweeb's Boss instantly became one of my favorite people.

In the party van back to the hotel, the Dweeb's Boss told us tales from the road, and was generally an interesting person. At one point, the Dweeb interrupted (after a comment by the Boss that there were many people along the edge of the Rio de la Plata for 1am) saying that "the Argentineans keep an interesting schedule. When I go for my walk tonight I'll see families out in the park hanging out." Boss (deadpanned): "Great. Give us a full report tomorrow." Love this guy! Another colleague surprised me by catching my Pink Panther reference about a Minkey (his reply…"did you say "Minkey"), so we had a laugh-filled ride back to the hotel.

We got back around 1:30. After packing as fast as possible, I was in bed around 2am.

On the next Blog Update - Nick check's out and has a bite to eat in the Club Room - and the Dweeb was late and almost missed it (Irony - table for 1). And, the party van was pulled over by the Argentine Navel Policia

Bravo American

I spent much of a previous post bashing American Airlines due to their practice of and handling of the over-sold flight that I took down here to sunny Buenos Aires.

A few hours ago I recieved an email from American applogizing for the delayed service. They said that they wanted to make it up to me by giving me 5,000 miles credit as a way of saying they were sorry.

While I won't get back the afternoon I could have spent exploring the ciudad, I am impressed that they offered this to me without my having to write a complaint email. While American still won't be tops on my list of carriers to fly, they are not on the bottom.

Then again, they never were. United has set up shop down there.