January 3, 2007 at 8:18 pm
This next trip is a continuation of AMS-GRU. I continue on connecting onto a Tam flight to Buenos Aires Ezeiza Airport.
FLIGHT 2
Sao Paolo (GRU)-Buenos Aires (EZE)
TAM flight JJ8006
ETD-22.15
ETA-23.59
A/C- A320
LOAD- 70%
After arriving off the KLM flight from AMS i made my way to the nearest TAM transfer desk where i recieved my boarding pass to flight JJ8006 to Buenos Aires. I had seat 09A on the A320 a/c. Now relaxed and sure that the KLM ground staff would safely pass on my luggage to TAM flight i found myself alone in the middle of the terminal with 4 and a half hours to kill. So i did what i could, i sat by the window seeing all these new a/c such as TAM, Varig etc and drunk endless amounts of water from having a dry throught off the KL flight.
Even though my ipod has around 1100 songs it didnt seem enough. Time went by so slowly.
Finally boarding began at around 21.15 and thrilled to leave i made my way onto the familiar A320. I felt quite disorriented being surrounded by Brasilians and not understanding most of what they said. But the cabin crew were great and spoke spanish to me which made me feel more relaxed. The flight was not full. I had the window seat with the middle empty and a business man with a newspaper at the isle.
Taxi was short and i soon said goodbye to the lights of Sao Paolo. To be honest this flight felt long and dull. Not due to the airline or aircraft but for myself as i had been travelling so long. I ate some chips i had bought in the terminal earlier and then listened to music as i read each detail of the inflight magazine and even safety card to kill time. Nearer to landing (somewhere over Uruguay) the captain said in Portuguese and Spanish that we were only 25 minutes from landing! My adreneline kicked in! Finally i was to see my cousins! Descent was good and weather was clear and out of nowhere came the lights of the huge Buenos Aires. We then came nearer to Ezeiza as the flaps extened, cabin lights went out and landing gear down. Then we touched down at almost midnight, with various Aerolineas Argentinas on the ground preparing to go to Madrid, Rome and Auckland/Sydney. A long landing brake brought us to the end of the runway with taxi being around 5 minutes. I made it! We got off at the international terminal A (i think!) and i saw a huge Iberia A340-600 board for Madrid as well as a delayed American B767 to Miami.
I was back! More relaxed when i heard people around me speaking the language i knew! The wait through immigration was fine as there were only around 5 people travelling on international passports (excluding Brasil, Chile and Paraguay i think which went through differant lanes). The small baggage hall brought out my suitcase just as it was when i left it at AMS. I made my way out and heard a person yelling ‘LUCAS!!’ which was my cousin and aunt. The airport was pretty empty but nice with the wide and open new check-in zone. I was so glad to be with people i knew! All i had left to bear with was the 6 hour coach journey to Mar Del Plata where my family lives and so we would arrive at dawn..!! Thanks a lot back soon with my return trip!