Monday 9th April – a day and a half (literally!)
Dropped off at the airport, with a big trolley load of bags
and three kids, we made our way to the check-in counter. The kids looked so
professional, each with their own wheeled bags and back packs, following one after
the other. Found them on special for $29. However, having not travelled
overseas for 12 years has its disadvantages. We had enquired about what you can
carry or not and had heard that shampoo etc. must be in bottles of 100ml or
less. Check, but somewhere I thought I had also heard that unopened bottles
would be alright too. Unfortunately, I hadn’t got it quite right. Carry-on
baggage = Bottles of 100ml or less in size are fine. More than that and it can
go in your suitcase. So, very
unfortunately, the beautiful bottle of wine that our neighbours had sent with
us to give Roberto’s parents was taken at customs. If it had been in our
check-in luggage it would have been fine – but I had worried that it might get
broken there, and so had encouraged Roberto to carry it on board, thinking it
would be the same as someone buying duty-free wine and would be allowed. I
guess the logic is that if it was something dangerous, 100ml won’t do too much
damage, while 1 litre could. Also a new sealed bottle of soya sauce and
something for my hair. Gone!
Anyway, as you could guess, the kids were all very excited
and wondering how the trip would go. My plan was to try to get them and us to
sleep as much as possible to avoid too much jet-lag when we arrived. Throw that
plan out the window when kids (and Roberto) see their own personal computer
screen behind every seat, with movies, TV, games, news and constant flight
information in front of each chair. The bright side of this was that the 11
hour flight to Santiago in Chile passed very smoothly with a lot of fun. The
down side was, of course, that when we reached Santiago (and the computer
screens were not there anymore), they all slept like dead people, and when it
was time to board our flight 3 hours later, they were still so tired and sleepy
we had to practically push them onto the plane. Ah well, the benefits of the
modern age!
As we flew into Chile, the sun rose and we could see the
foothills of the Andes, and on the horizon one peak stood out like Mt Fuji in
shape - Aconcagua it was, said Roberto, the highest mountain in the southern
hemisphere. The hills and coastal land strip were quite brown and dry looking –
the people there confirmed that they hadn’t had much rain at all for the past
year – yes, we know we said; it has been falling in Australia instead. Because
we travelled eastwards, we arrived actually half an hour before we had left!
Yes, on the same day, Monday the 9th, 9am. Perhaps that is how Santa
does it.
They slept again on the plane from Santiago to Buenos Aires,
and we also some, as we flew over the Andes Mountains, undoubtedly the bumpiest
flight I have ever been on. For all the bumps we could have been driving over the
mountains, but no, it was all clouds so we didn’t get to see any mountians, save
the one we had seen at sunrise. Que lastima (a shame).
The closer we got, the more I wondered what it would be like
in Argentina. How would it be again seeing Roberto’s parents, and also meeting
the rest of his family? What would Buenos Aires be like? I had heard it
described as the Pars of the south with lots of beautiful old buildings from
its heyday earlier last century, before economic problems became the norm for
this rich country.
Next post will be from the city itself! Till then, signing out,
Kerrie.
