Sunday, December 16, 2012

Flight Report: Buenos Aires to Seattle



Every trip comes to an end. We had a whirlwind trip that took us from Rio de Janerio to Buenos Aires, with side trips to Iguazu Falls and Uruguay. It's been a fantastic trip and for our trip back, we ended up flying in First on United.

The airport, EZE, is well outside of the city. There is no rail connect to the airport, so your options are to take a cab or take the bus. Buses can be extremely inexpensive, but they do take longer (up to two hours) and are not as easy. Some buses are semi-express to BA, while others are local buses. A taxi ride will run about $30, which is cheap when traveling with other people. We took a taxi, which was the right choice. We ran into traffic and would have been late if we had chosen to take the bus.




We didn't have too long, but we did take a swing through the United Club here at EZE. It's fairly basic and a little cramped, but it gave us a quick place to rest and refresh before getting on the plane.



Once on board, we took out seats in first class and settled in. While we were boarding, we spent the last of our pesos on an Oreo alfajor. Alfajores were one of the surprises of the trip, and we couldn't miss the opportunity for one last one.


Once aloft, we didn't have much to see out the window. This was the last view of Buenos Aires we had. Overall, the flight was pretty good. The United BusinessFirst seats are all lie-flat with personal AVOD. After a brief layover, we were again in the air back to Seattle. The skies there were sunny and we were treated with a view of Mt. Rainier as we were coming in. There's nothing better than that when coming in to Seattle.



After the break, we have our inflight first class meals on the Buenos Aires to Houston leg. Keep reading for the details!

Saturday, December 01, 2012

McDonald's Around the World: Non-Kosher Buenos Aires McDonald's

Last time, we saw the world's only kosher McDonald's outside of Israel, but this time we will be looking at the regular McDonald's in Buenos Aires. I present to you, Cono Oreo!

Cono Oreo!

McDonald's desserts at the Albasto de Buenos Aires Mall
The dessert menu is the pretty standard mix at most of the McDonald's. We have your McFlurry, sundae, and the cono oreo. The cono oreo was alright, but the chocolate flavor came across as burnt. The dulce de leche sundae was far more successful, with a smoother and richer caramel flavor. Argentine is also one of the countries that has been trying out the McCafe. While the McCafe brand is common place in the US, in Argentine (and other places) the McCafe stands out as it's own space inside the restaurant. Here, they offered a range of both coffee drinks and traditional cafe treats like macaroons, cakes, and the ever present alfajore. I opted in the end for a simple McFrappe with dulce de leche.

Alfajores! Delicious!

This is no LaDuree.

Assorted treats at the McCafe by the obelisk in Buenos Aires


McFrappe + Subte
Aside from the treats, we also have the South American menu. For this menu, we are at the McDonald's directly beside the Obelisk in the heart of Buenos Aires. There are a couple of things different from the US menu, but most of it is pretty recognizable. We have the Triple Mac, the CBO (which is now being run in the US after years of it being available abroad), the McRoulette, the McNifica (which I tried in Rio de Janerio), the renamed quarter and double quarter pounders, the Cuartro con Queso. They also had the premium "Angus" burger line up available.







Overall, the menu didn't hold too many local surprises except for the local focus on dulce de leche and a couple burgers with interesting names. Too bad! I was hoping for something a little more exciting! If you are interested in checking out the whole line up, end to end, check out McDonald's website for Argentina!