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Where are Christopher Columbus’s Pants?

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Having slept from takeoff to breakfast, I have nothing to report about the flight here.  It was entirely uneventful for me at least.  Immigration was equally uneventful, if not pleasant.  All of our bags arrived.  Our flight drama was apparently all concentrated on a single flight cancellation. Joel just stared at the map for the last hour of the flight.  We arrived!  Everyone’s first trip to the southern hemisphere.  Around 8 am, we arrived at the Doubletree feeling hungry and sleepy.  We didn’t cancel our hotel room for last night so we could immediately check in, shower and nap in our rooms before tackling the day. Croissants have been the theme of our trips, and finding one in Buenos Aires was a good omen.  Finding the best light for makeup.  Some of us were bothered by the drizzle more than others, but it quickly subsided.  We ventured out to exchange money, landing in an upscale mall.  Because Argentinian pesos are such a...
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Wheels up

TRAVEL UPDATE:  After a comfortable (if not short) night at the Hyatt, we had a hearty breakfast before heading to the airport. It’s a gorgeous clear sunny day in Chicago and delays were a distant memory.  We arrived at the airport early at 9:15, as there is no TSA published data on wait times at security. We didn’t want to be caught off guard. Pleasantly surprised, we made it through security in less than 10 minutes and spent the extra hours we should have slept at the United Club.  Not sure what precisely ICE is doing at the airport because we didn’t see them. We are now in flight, headed to Houston where we have a 3 hour layover. Our plane to Buenos Aires is already parked at the gate so chances of successful arrival in Buenos Aires tomorrow morning are high.  Next update will hoepfully have pictures of fall in Argentina  
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Going where the weather suits my clothes

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Our flight to Chicago was ultimately cancelled, with no alternatives offered today. We had a choice of taking an early flight out of Traverse City or driving to Chicago. It was unanimous, we drove. Captains of our own fate, we arrived in Chicago 5 hours later.  The $8.10 toll was Skyway Robbery Tomorrow we continue our journey, hopefully to Buenos Aires but ultimately to wherever United can get us that (1) suits the clothes we’ve packed (2) doesn’t require a visa. 
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Puerto Rico, Playa Del Carmen, Portugal… or Buenos Aires?

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 Welcome back, loyal readers, both new and returning.  A warm welcome to Teri and Thom if they’re following Teaghan’s adventures. School ended mid-day and the girls came home ready for us to go to the airport.  Despite our 4:30 flight departure, we needed to get to the airport early to straighten out our visas.  Our flight itinerary takes us from Traverse City to Chicago to São Paulo Brazil and then finally Buenos Aires.  For that, we had to have complete Brazilian visas, and United wouldn’t let us check in until they confirmed we had them. After a hearty lunch, we checked in our steamer trunk bags (and Teaghan’s modest size bag).   TSA had a 0 minute wait, and they were friendly too.   We boarded the plane and got notified that we were taking off 10 minutes early, even with deicing.  Superior!  We were off on our adventure, planning our Starbucks pickup order in Chicago on our way to our gate when everything changed. Our first clue that our ...
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The most ridiculous fish of all

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Sunday we had plans to visit a ring making workshop in the afternoon, but no earlier plans. So we decided to go to the Kaiyukan aquarium in Osaka to see the fish, including whale sharks. By the time we got there, they were selling timed entry tickets for 12:15 or later. Rather than wait around until then, we bought tickets for 4:30 and went to find air conditioning. We found it at Osaka station and one of the tracked malls. While there, we happened upon a spontaneous J-Pop performance on a pedestrian bridge! The ground floor of the shopping center had a craft fair with the products of various makers being sold from booths for much less than typical department store prices. We wandered around admiring the different things. Soon it was time for our ring making workshop. The studio was a couple of stops away from the station, so we got there quickly and were shown the ropes on how to make our rings. The rings had options of different textures based on the type of hammer used. The names we...
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Loco Burger

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 Saturday morning we got breakfast at the hotel and headed to the station to take the train to Nara. Japan has one nationwide railway line, JR, plus a number of smaller regional and local trains plus the metro systems in cities. Most use the same fare system (locally) and the same stations, but the tracks vary. So a good chunk of our time was finding the correct track in the station for the train to Nara. We found it a few minutes before departure. Several folks were waiting on the platform, but a nice lush train to Nara was waiting right there, so we got on board. It was a very pleasant ride through the first stop. On the way out of that stop, a gentleman came to our seats and sternly indicated that those were his seats. We got up and moved somewhere else, and decided we needed to lay low and get off at the next stop, which we did. It turns out the train was a limited express with reservable seats and an extra fare. Back on the platform, we asked if we needed an extra fare to ride...
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