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Click HERE to see our photos |
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We woke abruptly at 2 am (midnight Tucson time) due to the blaring phone announcing our wakeup call. Showered, dressed and made our groggy way to the lobby, where Seth was waiting. |
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Seth Freeman is a twenty-four year old, incredibly talented professional symphony-level master of the violin. This entire trip developed because Seth decided to have an Argentinian master violin builder craft a custom violin for him, a three-year process. Being friends of his parents, Bill and Barb, we decided to accompany Seth to Buenos Aires to document the process of his violin adoption. Seth must return on Monday, but Carol and I will stay and tour Buenos Aires, Iguazu Falls, Rio de Janeiro, Cusco, Lima and Machu Picchu.
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Caught the 6 am American Airlines flight from Houston to Miami and after a short layover, we boarded the 777 and settled into our comfy, spacious and quite luxurious first-class cocoons/suites. Unfortunately, doe to some mix-up in Houston, Seth was not able to upgrade, but he’s young and will survive and eight-hour coach ride.
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The huge 777 took off on time at 10:45 am and we settled in for the 4,500-mile, eight-hour flight to Buenos Aires, Argentina. |
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Passed east of the Florida Keys, south across the Strait of Florida, entered Cuban airspace and flew 37,000 feet over Camaguey in central Cuba, then out across the Cayman Trench. Before long, Kingston, Jamaica was directly below, and then we were over the blue Carribean. |
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Entered South American airspace over Barranquilla, Columbia at 2 pm and passed east of Cartagena. |
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Enjoyed a delicious lunch and a movie as Medellin, Columbia passed six miles below. We can see the northernmost chain of the Andes. Bogota, Cali and Quito lie to the west. The temperature outside is minus 54 degrees Fahrenheit. |
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Passed the Equator near Quito, Ecuador and entered the Southern Hemisphere at 3:27 pm. Below us lies the Amazon region. At this point we still have 2,700 more miles to Buenos Aires. |
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Another movie and 1,000 miles later we found ourselves southeast of Lima and high over the Andes. |
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At 6:30 pm we changed to a more southeasterly course, and at 7:30 pm we began our descent into Buenos Aires. At 8:45 pm we were on the ground. |
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The American Airlines first-class service was terrific. We were pampered the entire way and we were sorry to have to vacate our suites. We wish our living room was this comfortable. |
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Cleared customs in about 30 minutes and paid 350 pesos ($75 US) for a Manuel Tienda Leon ride into Retiro and Recoleta. Dropped Seth off at the Sheraton Libertador and a few blocks later found ourselves at our hotel, the Intersur Recoleta. |
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We are much impressed with our suite of rooms and king-sized bed. We settled in, stowed our things and sat in the restaurant/bar and enjoyed a glass of delicious Mendoza Malbec. |
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At 11:30 pm we found our way back to our fifth-floor room, fell into our comfy bed and dreamt about adventures to come in the beckoning lands of America del Sud. |
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