On a recent trip to Uruguay, I managed to capture some pretty good pictures of the beautiful country and thought I'd share. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves and keep the narration to a minimum. It's been a while since I've done a proper trip report, so let's get right into it.

The Journey
American Airlines
Los Angeles, CA (LAX) - Miami, Florida (MIA)
777-200
Business

There is no easy way for most Angelenos to get to South America, particular a less known destination such as Montevideo. In fact, I was surprised to learn that American Airlines even flew there. Since AA operated twicely daily 777 service from Los Angeles to Miami as their South America feeder flights in the summer, I decided to book a ticket.

AA's domestic meal service, although better than most other US based carriers, is nothing to write home about. In particular, AA's transcon lunch service is often deemed as subpar by its frequent flyers. It usually consists of a hot sandwich or a cold plate served with a side salad followed by an ice cream sundae.

On this flight, AA happened to serve one of my favorite AA items, salmon Niçoise salad, which I pre-ordered before the flight. AA's pre-order service has been a hit or miss IME, but the cheerful FA promptly came to confirm my order before takeoff with her handy dandy Samsung Galaxy Note device that many AA FAs now use for inflight services.


I'm not going to describe in detail of how the salmon tasted, or post another 20 megapixel zoomed-in picture of the salmon because afterall, this is AA food. I'll just leave it as being delicious

Here's the after meal heath bar ice cream sundae (another one of my favorites):


After a quick snooze in the ever-so-wonderful (not) angle flat business class seat, we arrived at Miami International Airport. Since we had a few hours to kill until our flight to Montevideo, we decided to check out the oneworld premium lounge at concourse E. I've always wondered why AA currently does not have a Flagship/International First Class lounge at one of it's major hubs, Miami. After visiting this lounge, the reason became apparent:


The oneworld premium lounge was surprisingly spacious, comfortable, and nicely furnished. They had an excellent spread of hot and cold food. I particularly enjoyed the prosciutto mozzarella mini sandwiches drizzled by aged balsamic vinegar as well as a bowl of lobster bisque. There was also an open bar with all the premium booze, a separate dining room, as well as a shower facility. I noticed the showers had dermatological products (currently only available at Admirals Club/Flagship Lounge) which revealed that the lounge was probably operated by AA. Although the lounge was designated as an international business class lounge, it was far better than any of AA's Flagship lounge in the system.