A “parrilla” is a casual restaurant serving all types of meat, are extremely popular in Argentina and other South American countries (hello, Uruguay!). Buenos Aires is home to several famous parrillas, and you really shouldn’t visit Buenos Aires without a proper meal at one. When Dan and I first visited Buenos Aires, we dined at a famous parrilla called La Brigada, and decided that this was the spot for our only dinner in Buenos Aires this trip!
La Brigada!
If you are traveling between Buenos Aires and Uruguay, even for a day trip, chances are that you will at least look at taking the ferry across the Río de la Plata. Dan & I have done it a few times, and its much easier than one would think. Its also much quicker than flying between countries considering the time getting to the airport, security, etc.
THE BASICS
Buenos Aires (BA), Argentina is quite close to Uruguay, only separated by the Río de la Plata. As such, a common and convenient way to get between BA and Uruguay is to take the ferry, generally referred to as the “BuqueBus,” between the two countries.
Busy BA…
To sleepy Western Uruguay…
In fact, ferries depart several times a day between BA and Colonia, Uruguay and BA and Montevideo, Uruguay and back. The journey to Colonia takes a little over an hour, while the journey to Montevideo takes around 3 hours.
Dan and I found ourselves in Buenos Aries, Argentina for 24 hours in November en route to our wine-cation in Uruguay and Chile! Pro tip – its easier to get to Western Uruguay (Carmelo and Colonia) by flying into Buenos Aires and taking the ferry across the Río de la Plata than flying into Montevideo and driving (who knew?!). Since we had been to Buenos Aires on a previous visit and were short on time, we got right to down hitting our very favorite spots!
Hello, BA!!
In follow-up to my last post, I decided to review one of my favorite airport lounges – the American Express Centurion Lounge in Ezezia International Airport in Buenos Aires!
Favorite part: unlimited Chandon.
I visited this lounge in December during a layover in Ezezia Airport. The lounge is located on the second level in Terminal C. There are no big signs or flashy entrances, so you will have to look for it.
Once we checked in (need your card, ID and boarding pass), the lounge opens up into a very modern living room! There are plenty of seats, outlets, great wifi, international papers, TVs, etc. in the main room. In addition, there are some small areas separated from the rest of the room – see below. Good for groups.
Complimentary, self-serve food was set up buffet style in the main sitting room. There was no hot food when I was there, but there was a good selection of cold options, from small sandwichs, breads, meats, cheese, fruit, yogurt, cereal, jams, jellies, wraps, Havanna cookies (which are so expensive in Argentina; these are not wrapped so you cannot take them with you), etc. While I found the food to be more breakfast-snacky than dinner, our flight left pretty late so we may have missed a more substantial dinner spread. Plus, the sandwiches were delicious! I could have easily made a complete meal of the offerings, and everything was regularly replenished. Here’s the food:
In terms of drink, all types of beverages were also complimentary and self-serve in the buffet area. Our favorite was the endless Chandon! Yum!! Aside from Chandon, various types of liquors, beer and red and wine Argentinian wines were available. We tried the Argentinian red wine and it was delightful. In addition to alcohol, a variety of name brand sodas – including the at-the-time-not-in-the-US Coke Light – were available, as well as bottled water, all sorts of juices, mixers and two expresso machines! Again, everything was complimentary and you can take as much as you want (Note – the alcohol and coffee are not in to-go bottles)! Dan and I really loaded up on bottled water, soda and snacks for the flight; however, US travelers beware, while the Argentinian airport security is rather non-existent, US flights almost always make fliers go through a second round of security at the gate, where the 3-1-1 rule applies and no bottled water is allowed, even if its from the airport! Also show up a little early for this task…
In other categories, the lounge has nice, large, clean private bathrooms with private sinks . This makes for a great place to change clothing, etc. before a long flight. Note – there are no showers in this lounge.
Finally, the Lounge had a pretty big child play area separate from the rest of the lounge with tons of toys, etc. This seemed like a great place to keep children occupied – plus it kept them out of the lounge!
Overall, one of my favorite lounge experiences! Definitely worth a visit if you are in Ezezia International!
American Express Centurion Lounge Buenos Aires – Terminal C, Level 2, access near Gate 15
Access to The Centurion Lounge is complimentary for global Platinum Card and Centurion Members. All other Card Members with a valid American Express Credit or Charge Card can purchase a day pass for $50 per day (includes children under 18).
Once you’re in, everything in the Lounge is complimentary.
Note – While part of the American Express Centurion Group, apparently the international locations are run separately from the U.S. lounges. As such, depending where you are, you may not get the same accommodation you are used to in the U.S. lounges.
If you are thinking of traveling to Argentina, you should research the status of their currency, the Argentine Peso, and the Blue Rate.
What is the Blue Rate you may ask? It is the black market value of the Argentine Peso. The Argentine government artificially sets their currency. This results in an official exchange rate of $1 US to 8-9 Argentine Pesos. This is the rate you will get using credit card, withdrawing from the ATM and at places run or monitored by the national government.
However, this rate does not reflect the true value of the Argentine Peso. There is a “black market” rate, the Blue Rate, which is currently about $1 US to 12.5 Argentine Pesos. This is a huge difference. When exchanging $100 US, the difference is enough to pay for dinner and a bottle of wine at a mid-range restaurant. Definitely makes your money go further and decreases the cost of the trip significantly.
