Feb. 14
Valentine’s Day – decided to treat myself to a burger … it was definitely not a good burger. I am not one to post negative reviews of restaurants based on my personal experience mainly because I don’t think, in most cases, that it is a restaurant problem but more of a chef problem. Enjoyed the beer though ... and liked their door handle.
The staff were friendly and I had found this place through search for best places to get hamburger in El Calafate. This one came up highly recommended. It was not overly busy today, as it has been on other days, so I expected the burger to taste better. The bun was burned and it is the first time I had to remove a tomato from my burger from being wrinkled up as if over cooked, but not burned. Oh well, such as is the lesson of the day … sometimes you hit a bad meal. LOL
Lots of things happening in El Calafate today.
They had an open market with local vendors … music still playing in the open theatre, and various things happening around town.
After taking a stroll, I decided I would head back to the hotel and get to bed early. About 11:00am, I heard some loud banging noises. I looked out my window to see fireworks! I was too tired to watch them and proceeded to go to sleep … fireworks seem to last a lot longer when you are trying to sleep. LOL
Feb. 15
Left this morning and headed to a hotel in central town for the night. I arrived at 11:00am and they were kind enough to have a room ready for me at 11:00am even though check-in isn’t until 3:00pm. I dropped my stuff off into the room and decided to go for a 5km urban hike. I went down passed Lago Argentino and observed the birds … no pink flamingos today.
Walking down to the centre of town there was a large line up of trucks, etc. They were having a parade! Lots of activity.
Tonight I went to bed at half decent time as I am leaving in the morning for a long flight to Santiago. The bands were still playing, but was certainly a lot louder as this hotel was only 3 blocks away from where the bands were playing.
It was a long night of bands playing … drums banging … and electric guitars blaring. I didn’t mind that as much as all the cars that drove by my room with no mufflers. LOL
Feb. 16
Got up and ready to go. Had a fantastic breakfast here at the hotel.
Shuttle picked me up and now on to my next journey … with my brother Charlie. He will be joining me tomorrow in Santiago!
It was a long day of flying … El Calafate to Ushuaia to Buenos Aires to Santiago.
Flights worked out very well indeed … arrived early. Went through customs in a breeze and then had to wait … wait for my luggage … wait for my luggage that didn’t come. I waited half an hour and then went over to the desk to fill out a report of my missing luggage. It turns out that two other parties from the same flight had their luggage lost as well. To look on the bright side … they are leaving early the next morning to their next destination in a different country. I am fortunate to be here for 5 days to give them time to find it. Being an optimist, I feel very confident they will find it. Really. Yep. They will find it. Oh yeah, I know they will. Uhm, I think so. LOL