Sunday, January 26--Thursday, January 29

We departed LAX on Lan Chile flight 601, bound for Buenos Aires, after a ground stop in Lima, Peru, and a change of planes in Santiago, Chile.  We had never flown LAN before and were quite impressed with the quality of aircraft, a brand new 787 Dreamliner, as well as, the quality of the crew and the cabin service.  It was long flight:  eight hours to Lima, a ground stop of two hours, another four hours to Santiago, a connection of three hours and another two hours to Buenos Aires.  Needless to say, we were tired when we arrived, mid-day Monday in Buenos Aires.

We were staying at the Plaza Hotel, the designated hotel for Gohagen Travel, the coordinator of our trip to Antarctica, with Washington University Alumni Travel.  The Plaza Hotel, still an architectural vision, was once a proud and stately building.  Much like the rest of Buenos Aires, suffering from 41% inflation, 7% unemployment and very poor government, the Plaza's glory had faded.  That afternoon we rested, but got up for dinner and a walk around the area of the hotel.  We were directed to La Nazarene, a traditional BA steakhouse, where we had a mixed grill and a disappointing bottle of Argentinian wine.  We made our way back to the hotel, along the Calle Florida, where numerous folks offered to trade money for us and where the sidewalk was missing large chunks of pavers.  

On Monday, we walked to the Museo Nacional de Belle Arts where we viewed two special exhibits:  one of El Greco paintings and one on "The Art of Seduction."  The collection was impressive but, unfortunately, despite the 90 degree day, not air-conditioned.  The government was making hard choices about expenses.  

That afternoon, we took a cab to the only gluten-free bakery, that we could find, in BA.  We stocked up for the journey south.  That evening, there was a welcome party, where we met a number of our fellow Antarctica travelers and discovered that gluten-free meant "no dairy" to the hotel staff.

Our tour of the city, the following very rainy morning, Tuesday, took us to the Cathedral where Pope Francis was once Archbishop.  Known for his simple ways and active work with the poor, he is clearly a beloved figure. 

We also toured Palermo, La Boca, a revival area near the waterfront and the City Centre with its many government buildings, museums and monuments.  

Our tour ended at the grave of Eva Perone, the Duarte family grave.  

We met a lovely woman on our bus, who summered at Crystal Lake during her youth.  As it happened she was married to the just retired Supreme Commander of NATO, who was now a Dean at Tufts and one of the lecturers on our Antarctic journey.  

On Wednesday, we repacked into our duffles since we were allowed only one bag each on the airline we were to fly to Ushuaia, where we would disembark for Antarctica.  Our other bags would stay at the Plaza until our return.

On Thursday, we bused to the domestic airport, in the downtown BA area, where we took our four hour flight to Ushuaia.   We traveled on the middle of three flights that would take our 220 travelers south.  We met an Ohio surgeon and his wife, the Aeders, he a graduate of Wash U Medical School, and our host couple, Dr. Barbara Schaal and her husband, Dr. Joe Leverich, he from St. Louis University.  Both were biologists; Dr. Schaal, apart from being the Dean of Arts and Sciences for Wash U, serves on President Obama's Council of Scientific Advisors.

We landed in Ushuaia with time for lunch, local crab, and in time for post card shopping and exploring odd shops before boarding La Boreal in early evening.  

Our first task aboard was a mandatory lifeboat drill, followed by dinner and cocktails on the aft deck.  Our first night's sleep followed as we began the trek across the Drake Passage leaving South America in the backgound.