Living on road time

I wish we could say that we are moving. But we are not.

After we made the application, the vehicle inspection should take place within 10 days. We are at day 14. Yesterday I emailed asking for an explanation. The interpreted response was “we have your application and we are at your disposal”.

According to Cristian this means they are working on it. At least they haven’t lost our application. On second thought maybe they have.

Not being able to drive anywhere reminds us of the pandemic. We feel stuck. The difference is there are no restrictions on our movements, just on Vanna.

There are some nice restaurants within walking distance. Two nights we walked to a parilla, a lively out door restaurant full of local couples and families. Continue reading “Time on our Hands”

Processes move slowly in Argentina so having time on our hands we decided to book a hotel in Recoleta, one of the more popular neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires. The hotel had the modern amenities of wifi and TV, with the older charm of dark wood, tiny slow elevators, and skeleton keys locks on the closet doors.

The hotel lobby was full of suitcases, backpacks, water bottles and chatter. Bob soon got talking to Jeff, a teacher from California, here with a group of about 30 students from a private Jewish high school.  We learned that Buenos Aires has the largest Jewish population in Latin America, Jews having arrived over several different waves including while fleeing the Nazis during the war.  Interestingly, many Argentinians were sympathetic to the Nazis, and allowed Nazi leaders to gain refuge here as well.

We found Recoleta to be quite walkable and we spent mornings taking in the parks and tourist attractions. This area was once home to the wealthy, and their mansions have been turned into theatres, galleries and apartments. The Parisian style buildings are close to the narrow streets, but even so the greenery is abundant with trees lining the sidewalks. We passed many spacious parks with huge trees dominating the space.

Continue reading “A Short Stay in Buenos Aires”

We are back!

On Tuesday night we arrived in Buenas Aires. It has been 3 years since we left here, making our way home at the start of the pandemic in 2020.

It was a 24 hour journey. Our flights were  Calgary – Vancouver- Mexico City – Buenas Aires. The first flight left late due to de icing, leaving us to run through the Vancouver airport to get our gate on time. We left Vancouver late also and arrived in Mexico City with only 2 hours to our next flight. To our dismay we disembarked on the tarmac and had to board a bus and wait for it to fill, before driving slowly to the terminal. We anxiously looked at our watches.

Running through Vancouver airport was not too difficult. Running through the ginormous Mexico City airport on fat aging legs was torture. Checkpoint after checkpoint and then a stop for new boarding passes, then the baggage check, the body check with arms up, arms down, turn around and you get spit out. Still 40 more gates to go. Fortunately that flight was delayed by an hour and we arrived in time to board. Unfortunately, I happened to check my phone and discovered that our expected pick up in Buenas Aires had been cancelled. Cristian who has taken care of Vanna all of this time, said he could not find a driver and it would be a dangerous drive that late at night.

So it was alarming that we were now set to arrive in Buenos Aires near midnight, with no one picking us up and no hotel booked. Bob had to run to the bathroom. So as the boarding line moved forward, I held my phone and credit card in one hand, typed with the other and shuffle kicked my suitcase forward, frantically searching for a hotel near the airport. The reservation whirled around and around, then went through just before we boarded. Thank you booking.com! Continue reading “We are back!”

It’s almost 9000 kilometres from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Toronto, Canada. As the crow flies.

Although that is quite a distance, in normal times it’s not difficult to arrange flights. Just use a reliable online booking agent like Expedia, and the logistics are figured out for you. 

But getting home during the pandemic proved to be no simple matter.

Continue reading “Crossing two Continents During the Pandemic”

For the third time now, we have tickets to home.

On a flight to Miami via Eastern Air scheduled for April 18. 

It is not a repatriation flight which means we are not prohibited from boarding, but when we land we may have to show proof that we have onward tickets to Canada. No problem, because we also have American Airlines tickets from Miami to Toronto, scheduled for the next morning. Don’t know for sure, but we assume we have to overnight in the airport. We will see when we get there.

Continue reading “Third Time’s a Charm – Getting home during the pandemic”

We were so close to getting home. Thanks to the Embassy here, and the Canadian government, a repatriation flight was scheduled with Air Canada for April 5.

We were excited. But over the week our situation changed and unfortunately we were unable to take that flight. Continue reading “Buenos Aires- Missed it by That Much!”

For all of us, this pandemic has presented challenges like never before. We are faced with decisions, yet have no precedent to guide our response. Continue reading “Argentina – Stay or Go?”

We arrived in Argentina with a plan. First stop to see the wonders at Glacier National Park. Then a pit stop at Ushuaia, on the tip of South America. Then head for home, dropping off the van in Uruguay where we have a storage spot lined up. Finally, a short hop to Buenos Aires and fly home. A manageable schedule in the 5 weeks remaining.

But then, the world turned sideways. Continue reading “Argentina- in viral times”

Extending into the remote southern end of Chile, Route 7, the Carretera Austral, is a 1240 km road through national parks, lakes, mountains and glaciers of rural Patagonia.

Continue reading “Driving the Carretera Austral, Chile”

For our first two days in Argentina, we stayed in San Martin de Los Andes. In town, the spacious campground had large trees, beautiful rose bushes, and wifi if you sat near reception.

Continue reading “A Taste of Argentina”