Aerolineas Rations

Here we are New Years Eve flying across the pacific to BA. the flight is already three hours late as per my Flight Itinerary and Aerolineas Argentinas is living up to its reputation for not being punctual

We got the best seats on the plane right next to the toilet. Being in row 29 gives you an excellent opportunity to view all other passengers as they come and go throughout the flight. Have already spotted some badly bleached blondes and encountered an astral traveller from Perth, funny how people want to talk to you before spending a penny.

One great thing about Aerolineas is that everything is old, the plane, the flight attendants, the passengers( except me ). This means the unless you are over 80 you will be able to enjoy a youthful experience.

The flight attendants on the trip between Sydney and Auckland( That City where Passengers and referred to as “PISSengers”) looked like they had been recruited from Recoleta cemetery, some had tried to turn back the hands of time by dyeing their hair black, this on a corpse like face is not a good look.

We have had a change of crew at Auckland and one of them even has a sense of humour. I guess he must have been reminiscing about the “Peronist Years” when he had been about 45.

The food between Sydney and Auckland was a gastronomic feast, one dehydrated mixture of bread ham and cheese mashed together and a piece of Woolworth's carrot cake. I have never enjoyed a piece of Woolworth's carrot cake ever so much.

When we arrived at Auckland Airport( malnourished and dehydrated) we made a b-line for the food. This presented a challenge in itself as Auckland airport has been turned into a “Fun Park” where one must navigate a series of obstacles, mazes, and tunnels to find food. I guess this is what happens in a “Hunter Gatherer Society”.

Anyway one really good thing about the flight is that it is not too full and for the best part of the trip the passengers have been well behaved, no mad Brazilian, no white trash and no Indians ( as in subcontinent) except for my beautiful darling.

So you may ask why I have called this blog “Solace in South America” ?,  
I have been traveling to South America for over ten years and in this great continent I find comfort, spiritual healing and opportunity for soul searching.

This last year has been one of those years. Not only for me but those close to me as well. My mum has deteriorated before my eyes, she has drifted to a place that none of us understand, my aunt who is like a second mother has health problems and I myself have become aware of my own mortality. So here I am again on the the plane to the great continent I love so much full of Hope Joy and Soul. Ready to experience the splendor of South America

Accomodation itinerary

Missionaries in Buenos Aires

Date:31_12_09 11:59 PM BACK IN TIME AGAIN
Here we are flying over the International Dateline and New Years Eve feels like it has been going on forever. We celebrated both New Zealand and Australian New year on the Plane.

The Aerolineas Flight attendants got excited for a moment but not too excited as at their age too much excitement can lead to, well you know....

I did think I could hear the song "The Monster Mash" coming from the back of the plane, the line "it was a grave yard smash" was particularly appropriate for the crew on board.

Met this very nice Brazilian girl at Auckland Airport with guitar in hand. She reminded me of "Sister Bertrille" from "The Flying Nun". She was on her way her was to São Paulo or so she thought she was.

Maybe she could sing as we endured the "Amelia Airhard" experience aboard Aerolineas. Thankfully we did not follow the same fate as poor Amelia and we arrived safely in Buenos Aires 3 hours late due to the ailing argentine airline.

We caught a taxi at 6:30pm from the building that was once and international airport and still tries to be but looks more like a factory that should produce Scrap Metal. Finally we were on our way to the Hotel Reconquista Luxor located one block from the famous Obelisk on Avenida De Julio

As we made our way through the city it appeared strange. The city had closed down. No people on the streets, no shops open, nothing. It was if life had ceased to exist, and this was New Years Eve!!.

Suddenly we were in front of shiny glass doors and a sea of Marble could be seen beyond. The taxi driver gestured that this was was our hotel.

Inside we were greeted by a charming and beautiful woman. We breathed a sigh of relief that all the people of BA had not been kidnapped and there was at least one person left standing. We chatted a little and told the lady how we loved BA and the Argentinian people and told a few jokes as well.(Obviously a generation far removed from the Aerolineas Crew)

It wasn't long before we were wisked away to our upgraded executive suite on the 9th floor with its own balcony and a view of the Obelisk.

My Bantor had paid dividends, we opened the door to a truly luxurious suite. We collapsed exhausted and fell asleep. We rested for a couple of hours in preparation for a night of feasting and enjoyment. I had already asked the lady on reception to make us a dinner booking.

We awoke, showered and changed and in were reception ready to go out. This time the reception had changed focus and we were greeted ( I use that word very loosly)by a surly young man. Mr Surly informed us that a booking could not not be made and sent us in a direction for something to eat. I had visions of eating Macdonalds for New Years Eve but even they were closed!

We ventured to Av Corrientes that looked desolate and abandoned as if there was an impending milatary coup about to take place( you never know in Argentina).

On the corner of Corrientes and Suipacha I could see a flickering light and a milling of what must have been the last remaining inhabitants of Buenos Aires. We made a hasty forward motion towards the light. The rations that Aerolineas had given us before landing had long since worn off and we were starving.

The flickering light beconed us and we were in front of a nice looking red coloured restaurant called Il Gatto Tratorias that was very busy. We went inside and asked for a table for two. The lady looked at the long list she had in front of her and asked if we had a reservation, I said "no but did say that we would be very quick if she could fit us in". She must have taken pity on us as we looked emaciated and gaunt and she said "one moment please"( I have learned that this is a very good expression in Argentina.

In no time flat we were being escorted by the friendly owner of the restaurant to a table for two. He chatted to us in spanish and we nodded with enthusiasm and laughed appropriately when he was telling us a joke.
We were seated, the very cute friendly waiter took our order and dinner was on our table in no time We chomped away happily. It was somewhere between melon and the proscuito and the Beef which were delicious that I became aware of the Americans talking away at the next table.
Not being a shy person I said hello and wished them a Happy New Year, we got talking and asked "where are you from" The reply was "Bolivia" I retorted " what do you do in Bolivia" "We are Missionaries" I thought how 1930's Africa is this. It turns out that June and Brad were second generation missionaries, funny of all the people I choose to talk to I get ot spend New Years Eve with Missionaries in BA.


We farewelled the Missionaries, went back to our hotel, watched fireworks from our hotel balcony, kissed and wished each other A Happy New Year. Tomorrow is a new decade and who knows what it will bring. We have been informed by Mr Grumpy at reception that no taxis will be available to take us to the airport. So who knows if we will have another opportunity to enjoy the Aerolineas experience.

One thing is certain though as long as we can get the taxi at 4am and survive the plane trip. Is that tomorrow we will be with our dear friends Gil and Nando in my spiritual homeland Brazil

Frustration, Friendship and Spiritual Awakening

Date:01_01_10 3:00 AM

It is 3am , neither of us can sleep. So we decide to get up and get ready for our 6:50 AM flight to São Paulo.

We sadly vacate our luxury suite and lob into the “sea of marble” about 4am. We know our first goal of this new year is to find a taxi to take us to the airport. We ask “Mr Hospitality Plus” if he has managed to organize a taxi, of course as expected his reply is “no”. So out in the street I venture to find one. Suddenly I turn around and find Michael is behind me also looking for a taxi. He had been previously been instructed to look after the the luggage(in South America you do not leave your luggage unattended, even if it is in a bank vault)so off he goes to stand guard and I resume my search.

The streets are now so deserted that any vehicle using them takes advantage and starts practicing Formula 1 racing. This makes it difficult to differentiate between taxis, cars and the occasional bus as they whiz past in blurred oblivion. Not one to give up I now find myself waving at any vehicle that passes in my direction, "The Formula 1" drivers must have thought that I was a crazy loco.

I was getting desperate when on the horizon appeared a taxi going slow enough for me to actually identify it. I waved frantically to get its attention and received a corresponding headlight flash (this was not a sign of joy not so long ago. As often people would disappear in the middle of the night by getting a headlight flash and taken away to who knows where during the period of the Military Junta). Thankfully this was not the case and soon we were packing our luggage into our Saviour from the horizon and on our way to the airport.

We arrived at the airport, had plenty of time. Made sure we were well watered and fed before the flight. Previous experience had taught us to be prepared for the “Aerolineas Famine”.

After eating enough food to get us through the next 24 hours we thought we should check the departure time of our flight. “Shock Horror” the plane was actually running on time.

Clearing immigration and customs we found ourselves waiting outside Gate B for our flight when suddenly I spotted the nice Brazilian Girl with Guitar in hand, whom we had previously met at Auckland. She told the story how she missed her connection to São Paulo due to the late Aerolineas flight from Australia as no planes fly out of BA after 6pm on NYE.

So she along with all the other people who missed their connection would be joining us on our sojourn to São Paulo. All the display boards still state that the plane was on time, so all was good.

An announcement was then made in regard to our AR flight that is would be now boarding from Gate A. So Brazilian Girl with guitar , Michael and myself traipsed our way to Gate A.

At Gate A our boarding passes were torn and we were ushered down steps to be confronted by shuttle buses which were to take us to our plane for departure, “How Provincial” we tottered up the steps onto the plane and kind of reveled in the whole old fashioned experience. It was at this moment we, “well we” made a shocking discovery, 2 of the flight attendants were under the age of 50!! We recovered from the shock and made our way to seats 11E & 11F. All was well or at least we thought it was.

Another group of well behaved people boarded the plane and all was looking good until we noticed that there were a number of people at the back of the plane not seated( this is not unusual in South America as people like to talk to to friends on the plane), it later became apparent that the were not enough seats for the amount of people who were on the plane. Our flight was overbooked.

This sent the younger flight attendants into a flap( they had not had the experience of their older colleagues) We were stranded on the tarmac, abandoned and forgotten.

Customer service and communication are not one of Aerolineas's strong points, so me, Michael and Brazilian Girl complete with guitar and 133 other passengers were left wondering what was going on. Left in the hands of the “flappers”.

Finally after an hour had passed and announcement was made informing us of the situation. A decision was made to change planes.

So all passengers disembarked, got back on shuttle buses to the terminal, whilst all our luggage was unloaded below, We waited to be called through original Gate B. Eventually we began boarding onto a different plane, same procedure as before. This time there were enough seats. We were finally on our way to São Paulo Brazilian Mega City.

We touched down in São Paulo. The international airport is a little depressing yet functional. We were 2 ½ Hours late. We did all the formalities and were greeted by our friends
on the other side. As soon as we met our friends the frustrations of the day quickly dissapeared. It had been 2 years since we saw them both and we had much to talk about.

All of us made our way to Gil's car for the trip to the hotel. The only problem was that our friends had been waiting for us so long that they had completely forgotten where they had parked the car. Our first tour of São Paulo was the Car Park of the International Airport.

Luggage in Toe we searched for the car. Eventually after examining nearly every little black Peugeot we found the one that belonged to our friends. We were then presented with out next challenge of the day, how do you fit 4 queens and their luggage into a little black Peugeot.

After much juggling and laughter we were all strapped in and on our way to the Hotel Sonesta São Paulo Ibirapuer Located at Avenida Ibirapuera, 2534, Moema

São Paulo is a vast Metropolis surrounded by Favelas, It is a very vertical city, this verticalness spreads a span of more than 30 kilometres

With check in completed and our room inspected the 4 of us went to lunch. I consumed my my first Brazilian Buffet of the trip and decided after lunch that we would drive around the city.

The four of us drove around looking at this never ending metropolis when I remembered reading about the old part of the city and suggested we visit. In many Brazilian cities the old part is neglected and allowed to fall into decay. Sao Paulo was no exception. We stared in awe at the unique and beautiful architecture and visited the point where Sao Paulo was founded. We wandered around the the area cautiously, (as there are many homeless people and danger is ever present )when we came upon the Church in the center of Sao Paulo called the Catedral Metropolitana, or Catedral da Sé de São Paulo

This church stretches high into the air ( as I guess most of them do) but this church felt uniquely spiritual. An aspect of places of worship that I do no usually feel. We entered and New Years Mass was just beginning( How lucky were we).

The choir began to sing transcending into angels as if somewhere from the spiritual world. Bringing to us the joys of their beliefs. The priest gave his sermon about compassion humility and worship ( I guess aspects of life that all of us could take guidance in ) The congregation were deep in the moment. Many different people of all races and nationalities were brought together in this moment of worship. The rich, The poor and everything in between, " The Melting Pot of Brazil. All four of us were very overwhelmed by the spirit we could feel.

United in spirit, friendship and love the four of us wandered back to the car feeling enlightened renewed and grateful. What a great New Year's Day