Buenos Aires October 7-9, 2005 Meat & Malbec Fest 2.0
Oct 8, 2005, 7:59 am
#61
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Im leaving now for Terroir, to check that all the arrangements are made to receive the tasting group at 3pm. Glad to hear everybody is having a good time and I look forward to having everybody with us later today.
Cheers,
Alex (Gaucho100K)
Cheers,
Alex (Gaucho100K)
Oct 8, 2005, 8:12 am
#62
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Originally Posted by Gaucho100K
Im leaving now for Terroir, to check that all the arrangements are made to receive the tasting group at 3pm. Glad to hear everybody is having a good time and I look forward to having everybody with us later today.
Cheers,
Alex (Gaucho100K)
Cheers,
Alex (Gaucho100K)
Hans and I just ate a giant breakfast so we don't get squashed...
Are you going to join our little group tonight? We all hope so!
d
Oct 8, 2005, 9:36 am
#63
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Originally Posted by dedehans
Are you going to join our little group tonight? We all hope so!
d
d
Oct 8, 2005, 3:39 pm
#64
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A HUGE thank you to Gaucho100k and his team for a wonderful afternoon!!!!! Thank you SO much for your hospitality!!!!! It's too bad you can't join us for dinner tonight, but hopefully the next time.
See y'all in a short while at the Alvear!
See y'all in a short while at the Alvear!
Oct 8, 2005, 3:44 pm
#65
Join Date: May 2003
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Originally Posted by cawhite60156
A HUGE thank you to Gaucho100k and his team for a wonderful afternoon!!!!! Thank you SO much for your hospitality!!!!! It's too bad you can't join us for dinner tonight, but hopefully the next time.
See y'all in a short while at the Alvear!
See y'all in a short while at the Alvear!
Oct 9, 2005, 6:31 am
#66
Join Date: Apr 2004
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Funny money/we are NOT moochers!/late wedding
Seasoned travellers that we are, KLC and I got a crash course in Argentine "funny money."
Picture this:
We had gotten 2 and 3 hours sleep respectively on Wed nite, out of concern for the predicted bad weather in ATL on Thurs and our need to arrive in ATL on Thurs AM so we wouldn't miss our connection. And then of course we didn't get a full night's sleep on the plane Thurs nite. We had a late dinner Fri nite with a few malbecs each. Well, maybe more than a few, but who counted? After dinner we went out for a dulce de leche, so by then (1AM? 2AM?) we were walking zombies.
We then found a taxi to take us back to the hotel and as it turned out, teach us a valuable lesson! KLC handed him a $10 (peso) for the fare, which was a little less than that. He said it was fake and handed it back to her. She then handed him another $10 and he said that was fake also. I then handed him a $100 hoping he would have change, but he immediately handed it back to me and said that he didn't. KLC then found a $20 and he gave her $10 in change. All that I had were some $100s I had received from the ATM.
The next morning, we decided to get change at the hotel for KLC's $100 and a $100 that I gave her since I had to go back to the room. The desk clerk said she could only change one of them because: she could only spare change for $100, and the other bill we had was a fake.
She then showed us how to tell the fake from a real $100, and KLC showed her the 3 $10 that she had, all of which turned out to be fakes!
So now we had $130 in funny money, and thought that one of us had received the fake $100 from an ATM and that she had received 2 fake $10s as change somewhere during the previous day, and one fake $10 from the taxi driver. Then I remembered that the taxi driver had held my $100 for a second or two, which was long enough to switch a good one for a bad one. He had dropped us off at the curb on the street outside the hotel, rather than driving through the well-lit entrance. I was sitting behind him and couldn't see much over his shoulder. KLC possibly had a better line of sight to his hands, but was busy looking in her purse for some good $ to give him.
So we slowly came to what is the only likely conclusion - the driver had skillfully parted us from $140 (pesos) for the $10 taxi ride. He had switched both of her $10 bills for funny money, and my $100, before giving her $10 change for her $20. He dropped us off at the curb outside the hotel because he didn't want any doormen to approach and see what he was doing, and he didn't want us to have the advantage of better light.
On a lighter note, monitor accused us of mooching. KLC had brought her (cute little) ethernet hub so we could both be online at the same time. We were tired and hungry when we checked into the room, but called "At Your Service" when the modem didn't work. The lady came and tried to get it to work, but it seemed to be broken. So she gave us the code we needed to use the wireless network which was in the lobby and meeting rooms. From our room on the 2nd floor, we had a strong signal on the network and are both able to use the network. The code hasn't changed, and we're still able to use it. Monitor, from him room on a high floor, can't get the wireless signal so he has to pay for his connection.
The downside of being just above the ground floor is that last nite there was loud music when we wanted to sleep around midnite. I called and was informed that there were 2 parties - a 15-year old's birthday party, and a wedding. Hmm.... Well, it's probably not the birthday party that we heard, probably the wedding. I was hoping that there would be a hard stop on the wedding, like maybe they had to be out of the room by 2AM or something, but no luck! They had the banquet room for the entire night, and who knows how late the party was going to go on in this country of night owls who don't even eat dinner till 10PM!
The hotel generously offered to give us a (presumably quiet) room that we could sleep in and still keep our suite. But I think I'll see if we can exchange our inconvenience into a trade of our (60-min plus a 30-min) massages into 2 60-min massages. Man, could we both use a relaxing massage! And see if they can help us a little with our bill.
Picture this:
We had gotten 2 and 3 hours sleep respectively on Wed nite, out of concern for the predicted bad weather in ATL on Thurs and our need to arrive in ATL on Thurs AM so we wouldn't miss our connection. And then of course we didn't get a full night's sleep on the plane Thurs nite. We had a late dinner Fri nite with a few malbecs each. Well, maybe more than a few, but who counted? After dinner we went out for a dulce de leche, so by then (1AM? 2AM?) we were walking zombies.
We then found a taxi to take us back to the hotel and as it turned out, teach us a valuable lesson! KLC handed him a $10 (peso) for the fare, which was a little less than that. He said it was fake and handed it back to her. She then handed him another $10 and he said that was fake also. I then handed him a $100 hoping he would have change, but he immediately handed it back to me and said that he didn't. KLC then found a $20 and he gave her $10 in change. All that I had were some $100s I had received from the ATM.
The next morning, we decided to get change at the hotel for KLC's $100 and a $100 that I gave her since I had to go back to the room. The desk clerk said she could only change one of them because: she could only spare change for $100, and the other bill we had was a fake.
She then showed us how to tell the fake from a real $100, and KLC showed her the 3 $10 that she had, all of which turned out to be fakes!
So now we had $130 in funny money, and thought that one of us had received the fake $100 from an ATM and that she had received 2 fake $10s as change somewhere during the previous day, and one fake $10 from the taxi driver. Then I remembered that the taxi driver had held my $100 for a second or two, which was long enough to switch a good one for a bad one. He had dropped us off at the curb on the street outside the hotel, rather than driving through the well-lit entrance. I was sitting behind him and couldn't see much over his shoulder. KLC possibly had a better line of sight to his hands, but was busy looking in her purse for some good $ to give him.
So we slowly came to what is the only likely conclusion - the driver had skillfully parted us from $140 (pesos) for the $10 taxi ride. He had switched both of her $10 bills for funny money, and my $100, before giving her $10 change for her $20. He dropped us off at the curb outside the hotel because he didn't want any doormen to approach and see what he was doing, and he didn't want us to have the advantage of better light.
On a lighter note, monitor accused us of mooching. KLC had brought her (cute little) ethernet hub so we could both be online at the same time. We were tired and hungry when we checked into the room, but called "At Your Service" when the modem didn't work. The lady came and tried to get it to work, but it seemed to be broken. So she gave us the code we needed to use the wireless network which was in the lobby and meeting rooms. From our room on the 2nd floor, we had a strong signal on the network and are both able to use the network. The code hasn't changed, and we're still able to use it. Monitor, from him room on a high floor, can't get the wireless signal so he has to pay for his connection.
The downside of being just above the ground floor is that last nite there was loud music when we wanted to sleep around midnite. I called and was informed that there were 2 parties - a 15-year old's birthday party, and a wedding. Hmm.... Well, it's probably not the birthday party that we heard, probably the wedding. I was hoping that there would be a hard stop on the wedding, like maybe they had to be out of the room by 2AM or something, but no luck! They had the banquet room for the entire night, and who knows how late the party was going to go on in this country of night owls who don't even eat dinner till 10PM!
The hotel generously offered to give us a (presumably quiet) room that we could sleep in and still keep our suite. But I think I'll see if we can exchange our inconvenience into a trade of our (60-min plus a 30-min) massages into 2 60-min massages. Man, could we both use a relaxing massage! And see if they can help us a little with our bill.
Oct 10, 2005, 9:08 am
#67
Moderator, Argentina and FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: MIA / EZE
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Posts: 35,681
Originally Posted by dedehans
I am with cawhite60156 in echoing great appreciation to Gaucho100k for a most informative and wonderful afternoon. We all learned alot. We have left the long complicated words to KLC to post a report....
^
Oct 10, 2005, 12:21 pm
#69
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Heading to Costco for more popcorn...
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Thanks again to everyone who made this a great weekend! And we couldn't have asked for more perfect wx! I hope y'all are enjoying the rest of your trip!
At Saturday's dinner I was on the fielding end of questions regarding Meat & Malbec Fest 3. Since I'm a fan of BsAs and springtime in BsAs, I'd say it's a very stong likelihood that I'll be in BsAs the same weekend next year...and of course "the more the merrier"
At Saturday's dinner I was on the fielding end of questions regarding Meat & Malbec Fest 3. Since I'm a fan of BsAs and springtime in BsAs, I'd say it's a very stong likelihood that I'll be in BsAs the same weekend next year...and of course "the more the merrier"
Oct 11, 2005, 4:33 am
#70
Join Date: Mar 2001
Programs: AA EXP, BA Gold, UA LT-Gold, SPG Plat, HH Dia, Hyatt Dia, MR Gold
Posts: 2,221
Originally Posted by cawhite60156
Thanks again to everyone who made this a great weekend! And we couldn't have asked for more perfect wx! I hope y'all are enjoying the rest of your trip!
At Saturday's dinner I was on the fielding end of questions regarding Meat & Malbec Fest 3. Since I'm a fan of BsAs and springtime in BsAs, I'd say it's a very stong likelihood that I'll be in BsAs the same weekend next year...and of course "the more the merrier"
At Saturday's dinner I was on the fielding end of questions regarding Meat & Malbec Fest 3. Since I'm a fan of BsAs and springtime in BsAs, I'd say it's a very stong likelihood that I'll be in BsAs the same weekend next year...and of course "the more the merrier"
Btw, Cheryl, I scored the P. suite again at the Liberator. They remembered me and placed me in there without asking. I feel much at home here than at the Sheraton BA CC, as I'm sure you feel similarly with the Park Tower (ala butler service
).Definitely count me in for next year.... although this time, I'll have to consider going the award route.... SQ SIN-CPT, CPT-EZE on SAA... F all the way
It's been great meeting everyone at the EZE-Do, and I do hope to see u again at the SIN-Do 2006! Take care and safe travels!
EZE out!
Oct 11, 2005, 9:37 am
#73
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Heading to Costco for more popcorn...
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Posts: 8,461
Originally Posted by ws8n
I sure did.... My friends drove me around Palmero and San Isidero . Traffic was really bad because of the 3 day long weekend. FYI, the actual Columbus Day for Argentina falls on Wed, but the gov't pushed it to Monday to make it a long weekend. Isn't that great?
Btw, Cheryl, I scored the P. suite again at the Liberator. They remembered me and placed me in there without asking. I feel much at home here than at the Sheraton BA CC, as I'm sure you feel similarly with the Park Tower (ala butler service).
Definitely count me in for next year.... although this time, I'll have to consider going the award route.... SQ SIN-CPT, CPT-EZE on SAA... F all the way
It's been great meeting everyone at the EZE-Do, and I do hope to see u again at the SIN-Do 2006! Take care and safe travels!
EZE out!
Btw, Cheryl, I scored the P. suite again at the Liberator. They remembered me and placed me in there without asking. I feel much at home here than at the Sheraton BA CC, as I'm sure you feel similarly with the Park Tower (ala butler service
).Definitely count me in for next year.... although this time, I'll have to consider going the award route.... SQ SIN-CPT, CPT-EZE on SAA... F all the way
It's been great meeting everyone at the EZE-Do, and I do hope to see u again at the SIN-Do 2006! Take care and safe travels!
EZE out!
As for next year...glad you're in! Mark your calendar -- same weekend!
Oct 13, 2005, 6:59 am
#74
Join Date: Mar 2001
Programs: AA EXP, BA Gold, UA LT-Gold, SPG Plat, HH Dia, Hyatt Dia, MR Gold
Posts: 2,221
Originally Posted by cawhite60156
I was just commenting yesterday that you always seemed quite amused whenever we walked out of the PT
As for next year...glad you're in! Mark your calendar -- same weekend!
As for next year...glad you're in! Mark your calendar -- same weekend!
For those still in EZE, airport tax is US$18 or 53 pesos. My radio taxi cab ride cost me around 55 pesos, and took around 45 mins during evening peak traffic.
It's been marked!! And I might extend it much longer this time to visit Chile and Brazil.
Oct 13, 2005, 8:46 am
#75
Original Poster
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: Heading to Costco for more popcorn...
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Thanks for posting the updated departure tax. I'd intended to post that from IAD and, well...it was early & I wasn't quite awake.
I'm hoping next year to do the side trip to Iguazu that I didn't get to do this year.
Enabler??? Are you saying there was another at the PT as well???
I'm hoping next year to do the side trip to Iguazu that I didn't get to do this year.
Enabler??? Are you saying there was another at the PT as well???