Flying to Buenos Aires this morning on our way to Iguazu is bringing back memories of two months ago when we flew from BA to Mendoza and met our host families for the first time. It seems so long ago, but also seems like yesterday. Those first two days were a blur.
I remember getting on the plane to start my trip and I barely understood the Spanish around me. This time, I understood what the flight attendants asked me, and was able to have an entire conversation with the man next to me in the plane, because I noticed he was reading Game of Thrones and couldn't help geeking out about that.
Also, for our first flight back in July, I remembered Jose telling us about the great service on the Argentinian airlines and how great the snacks were. This is the first time I'd heard about an alfajore. And then I fell asleep for the entire flight and didn't get to experience the amazing snacks. I wouldn't be surprised if Phoebe and Miles sitting next to me got me the snack and then just ate it themselves.
So today I made sure to be awake. I woke up right in time for the snack cart, and today I ate the best alfajore I've ever had. It came in a colorful snack pack with a picture of an Argentinian mountain on it, and was the kind of alfajore that's so gourmet that it needs to be refrigerated. It had the thickest dulce de leche in between two moist cake-y chocolate cookies, and covered in cold vanilla chocolate with a hint of orange. This is the kind of dessert that just has to be eaten slow and seductively like in chocolate commercials on tv. And this wasn't even the only part of my snack pack. There were also parmesan crackers and chocolate cookies. I was so happy, sitting there in my middle seat stuffing my face with desserts. And the best part is: since we had a layover in Buenos Aires, I got another snack pack on the second flight!! I was like a child eagerly eying the snack cart as the flight attendant got closer to my row. I opted out of buying lunch during our layover because I knew something better was waiting for me.
Airport processes in Argentina are so much easier. We don't need to remove our shoes or even jacket, there are no rules on liquids. Its a joke getting through the airport in five minutes.
However, flying within Argentina is difficult because there are two airports, one for domestic flights and one for international flights. We are staying within Argentina for this trip so we went to the domestic airport. When I booked my flights, I learned about the difference between prices for US citizens and people from South America. US citizens have to pay twice as much for air fare. Sam and Skylar didn't know this when they booked their flights, and ended up buying the fare for Argentinians. When they went to the Lan airlines office to try to switch the details of their flight, the Lan officials told them that quite often the people at the airport don't care what kind of ticket you have, whether it's for US citizens or for South Americans. And turns out they were right. There was a chance Sam and Skylar might have had to pay the difference in the ticket price at the gate, but nobody gave them any problems, so they ended up paying half the price they should have! I'll be keeping this is mind if I travel by plane again here.
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