Leaving on a Bus. And a Plane. And Another Bus. (Eclipse Trip Day 7)

I woke too early this morning, but it meant that I got to have a leisurely breakfast before we left Buenos Aires. Between breakfast and the bus to the airport, Andy, Katie, and I took a short walk to a nearby park, where we saw some birds and some homeless people but not much else. Buenos Aires, at least where we were, is a sleepy city on a Sunday morning in winter. At least during the drive to the airport we got to see the Casa Rosada.

I dozed off and on during the flight to Mendoza, but I was awake enough for a slight view of the Andes over the clouds as we came in for a landing. From there we piled on a double decker bus for the two hour drive to San Juan. Mom and I were in perfect position for us to get the front windows up top, but then the bus pulled forward two feet so we just ended up with regular seats.

The drive took us past vineyards and olive orchards, with a view of the Andes out the left of the bus. The homes we passed were usually part of a cluster of several neighborhoods with the occasional cafeteria or shop between them. Some of the buildings were brightly colored, others were cobbled together with sheet metal for roofs. Several times there were horses in the yards. Something about this area really reminds me of walking through parts of the meseta in Spain.

Our hotel in San Juan has seen some better days, but the rooms are clean and I have WiFi, at least in the hallway, so everything is good for me! Our room has a great view of the mountains (with a relay tower in front, of course). This poor town must be so overwhelmed with eclipse tourists; it wouldn’t surprise me if every hotel is full.

After a bit of relaxation we headed downstairs to figure out dinner. Every restaurant near the hotel was closed because it’s Sunday, so we planned to just eat at the hotel. At the last minute a few of the other trip people (Brad, Melissa, Jaimee, and Ian) convinced me to join them for a dinner out. We walked a fair distance to find Berlina, a local brewery, where I had a yummy stout and one of the best burgers I have ever had.

I loved Berlina, absolutely loved it. And they were happy to have us, even taking a picture of us for their Instagram. After the long walk back, I was more than ready for bed. Tomorrow, we explore San Juan.

MDW✈️ATL✈️GIG (Eclipse Trip Day 1)

This eclipse trip did not start off according to plan.

It began with a 5 hour drive to Midway in Chicago, something we chose to do rather than pay a ton of money to fly from closer to home. Of course, traffic turned that trip into longer than we anticipated, but we made it in plenty of time for our flight, especially since it had been delayed slightly.

The delay didn’t worry us because we had a two hour layover in Atlanta, and even in that busy airport two hours should be enough to make it between terminals. I checked our flight to Rio de Janeiro as we landed to find out our gate and instead discovered that it had been delayed…for almost 8 hours. Instead of leaving at 11:00 pm and getting in late morning, we were now leaving at 7:00 am and getting in to Rio in the early evening.

We waited in line at the help counter in Terminal A to see if Delta would offer us hotel or food vouchers, but were told the delay was due to weather so they couldn’t help us. Most of the restaurants were closed by then, but we found one and got some sandwiches. Then we walked to each terminal at my insistence before making it to E, where our flight would leave in several hours. There we settled down to try to get some sleep in chairs and on the floor, but with announcements and TVs making noise all night long it was a lost cause. At least I got to appreciate a lot of the art installations in the airport.

In the morning, the gate agent let us know that the delay was actually due to a fire truck colliding with our original plane! The 7:00 departure turned into 8:00 by the time all the crew and passengers were on board, but at last we were on our way. It was a long and moderately eventful flight, complete with in air medical emergency; the passenger was ultimately okay, but there is nothing calming about flight attendants asking any nurses and doctors on board to press their call buttons.

We did get to see Puerto Rico from the air, as well as the rainforest in Brazil. It was depressing to see bare patches in the middle of the jungle where trees had been cleared. We also flew directly over Brasilia. Somehow I never realized how mountainous Brazil is, though Dad insisted they weren’t mountains but rather really large dirty snow piles, since it’s winter here.

My seat neighbor Juliana lives in Rio, though she’s originally from São Paulo. She gave me some recommendations for restaurants we should check out and some safety tips for Rio—don’t flash a lot of jewelry, don’t walk around with your cell phone loose and easy to grab, don’t flash money on the beach, the usual warnings—based on some of her own experiences. She’s a big traveler; she told me she was at Everest Base Camp just a few years ago, among other trips.

Once we finally landed and cleared customs, we met our guide for the city at the airport. We took a small bus to our hotel, getting a nighttime tour of Rio along the way. There is a lot of public art and also a lot of traffic. Our guide, Hanna, told us that the suburbs are the poorer areas, and the lights on the hill are the favelas.

Andy and Katie were at the hotel when we arrived, since their flight got in on time. They took us back to the restaurant where they had lunch, a buffet where you pay a quilo (by the kilo) and where the food was super tasty. Back at the hotel we checked out the rooftop bar and the views of the beach (and the terrifyingly thin glass wall separating us from the ground far, far away) and then headed back to the room for bed.

We don’t have an early morning tomorrow, fortunately, so I should be able to catch up on some of the sleep I missed during our flight adventures. I’m excited to go out touring and see Rio by daylight!