Brought to tears

The glaciers are more stunning and massive than you possibly could ever imagine. I was brought to tears. Like Iguazu, it is very difficult to try to describe... nothing I say or write can do it justice. I was 100 ft away from 300 ft. Icebergs- it was out of this world. The color of the glaciers were equally as impressive as their size, they were a mix of blue rock candy and opaque, like light blue cotton candy. When the sun hit them, they seemed to glow a darker blue in every crack and crevice.
We went to Perrito Moreno for our first excursion and did two different boat rides to the glacier, one facing the south side the other facing us to the north side. I´ll just say this... our tour guide was super cute and asked me out! All in all, great day! We had lunch in front of the vista... to have a panoramic view of these massive ice formations while eating a ham sandwich is surreal.
That night our new friend Sebastian, one of the local waiters... from the lamb empanada place... took us out to dinner to Pura Vida. This hippie-chic restaurant with Shepard's pies and pot pies.... comfort food to warm us up... yummy! We had plans with one of the hotel staff guys to go dancing... but we had to call it an early night and cancel because we had another early day ahead...
The next day we went on another excursion. An all day boat ride to see three different glaciers. We saw Upsala and two others... eh you know, see one glacier, you see them all... joking! I just can´t remember the names... but that is not to say it wasn´t again the most spectacular natural sight I have ever been privileged enough to see with my own eyes. The crisp cool air was blowing pretty hard on the boat- but it was so clean and fresh... I have never felt anything like it. I can´t wait for you all to see the photos... which will be this week!
That night we went out on my date (I was Ev´s chaperon the day before with Sebastian and she was mine this night)... We went for drinks at this one bar that had an amazing view of the lake and then we went to Don Diego´s for some dancing.
We were suppose to leave on Sunday, but had all day to spend there. We wanted to slit our wrists by the end of the day. We were so bored... not to mention the couple of hours of sleep I got was not enough!!! We went for lunch at Sebastian´s place and hung out there for a while... and really did nothing (but you better believe I ate like 5 empanadas and tried to get the recipe off them). We walked around the town and oddly, there was a line at the airline´s office... it went down the block. I remember looking at it and thinking it was strange... but when bored, your mind doesn´t really think very clearly... so I said and did nothing. Finally it came time to leave. We went back to our hotel and the adorable reception desk dude just started laughing and said he had bad news... our flight had been delayed till 6 am!
So... we were then one of those same people on line at the airline office. We had to get our hotel and dinner vouchers... BUT, we had a plan. There is one hotel in Calafate with a swimming pool, we had our suits with us... could we achieve an upgrade?! We were next in line, hoping to get one of the two guys working behind the desk... we knew our smiles would not work on the lady behind there. Our amazing luck... we got the male manager... so we got the private office where the other passengers could not hear anything. I will also say that they were all grumpy, annoyed and taking it out on the employees... so there we come, with smiles... ´´Hola, que tal?!¨ All happy... Ev, not so discreetly, laid her Delta ID card on the desk... and as he asked us if we liked the 3 star hotel we were staying in... I very innocently said ´´oh yes, but do you have one with a pool?!¨ This of course in spanish... Well... a success... we walked out of there with an upgrade to the 5 star hotel... it was all too easy!
Our boys at our hotel were sad to see us go and saw us off to our cab... We had bought them a box of chocolates for all their hard work in making us feel at home! Best service I have ever gotten! We got to our new hotel... A big... in my best Brooklyn Accent... ¨Oh, My GOD!¨... dope. Let me tell you about this massive, heated pool who´s water goes right up to the rim of the edge to be level with the floor... it had lights that changed the color of the water every few seconds... it was surrounded by windows that overlooked the glaciers from afar. We went in the private whirlpool baths with essential oils in them... talk about relaxing! We were in them for about an hour and have never felt more relaxed. A mere hour before this... we wanted to shoot ourselves from boredom... and now we were here... why us?! The amazing good fortune we encountered in Calafate is unprecedented in my life... after the sauna we went to prepare for dinner.
Sebastian met us out again... we had a wonderful dinner, his treat again, and in the middle of it he ran off and returned 15 minutes later... with traditional Pampa cross necklaces one for each of us. Too sweet! We went out afterwards.... had a lot of wine... and made it back at the hotel at 3:50 am just in time to catch our ride to the airport. I was not in the best shape... but there was a dude in much worse shape than me!
I cannot explain our luck... we had a vacation from our vacation... it was unreal! Karma... that morning I had a moment of truth... I had to pay a bill for something and no one was around. We left and it would have been a great story... exciting as we ran off... but I just couldn´t skip out on it (in fear that the Calafate police would come and find me... no thanks for going to jail in some foreign land!)... anyway.. so we went back and the bill was paid (not by me though... but it was my honesty that made that happen)... so I think I had karma on my side.
All in all the trip was amazing. Seriously, the town loved us... except for this one girl that gave me the evil eye in a chocolate store... we didn´t get to the bottom of that... but eh, what are you gonna do... not everyone is gonna love me. Mostly everyone was so sweet and hospitable... el Calafate is highly recommended... but splurge and go to the 5 star hotel... I think it is priced at about $250 USD per night. And don´t go longer than 4 days... because well... just don´t.
I have to end with the glaciers again and just say that I feel extremely fortunate that I got to see them. It is really unfair to think that some people will never get the chance to... they are something everyone should see. I am truly lucky.