I reached Buenos Aires at 11:30AM local time. Most of my team had already left for sight seeing (a small island near Uruguay) early in the morning. I was all alone and I had the chance to explore the city all by myself.
I set out to check out the downtown Buenos Aires. I put on my tourist hat and strolled around the city for 6 hours - conversing with strangers in my broken spanish requesting them for directions and/or to click a picture for me.
Towards the evening I was so exhausted that I was itching to taste the local "cerveza" - Quilmes. Later I grabbed some food, I got back to the hotel by around 11:30pm and hit the bed for my 1st cricket game in Argentina.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Plight for the flight
My flight was to leave at 3:50PM (17-FEB-2008). I reached the airport at 1:40PM, checked in my luggage, grabbed a quick bite and was waiting at the gate only to realize that the flight was delayed by an hour and the new time of departure is at 5:30PM. Little worried, I went to the counter to check alternate routes to reach Chicago so that I can safely board my 8:10PM (9:10PM EST) flight to Argentina. To spice things up, there were no alternate flights - all flights going into Chicago were delayed due to bad weather.
At 5:20PM EST we were all seated and ready to taxi only to hear the captain say "we will have to stay seated on the tarmac and the next update whether we fly out today or not will be relayed to us at 6:40PM EST." The lady next to me was worried and called her son-in-law to confirm the status of outbound flights from Chicago. The flight from Chicago to Argentina was to leave on time 8:10PM CST. There were 8 other passengers that were going to Argentina. They were letting people choose to get off the plane to stay back in NJ or stay on baord. I told the captain that I would like to get off the plane if we do not start by 6:40PM EST.
At 6:35PM EST we got the go ahead and our flight took off at 6:50PM EST. The captain said he will do his best to take us safely by 7:45PM CST and that the only thing we could hope for is we might make the 8:10PM CST flight - before reaching the destination airport, captains normally radio in on their position to request the connecting flights to wait, if they can.
The crew was kind enough to let all 8 passengers bound to Argentina to move to the front of the plane and sit in the 1st class. The crew announced that the connecting flight to Argentina was to leave from gate H15. We made it into Chicago at 7:45PM CST and we taxied to gate H17. We hopped off the plane at 8:00PM CST and hurried to board our connecting flight to Argentina.
All in all it was one eventful start of the journey to the Southern Hemisphere.
At 5:20PM EST we were all seated and ready to taxi only to hear the captain say "we will have to stay seated on the tarmac and the next update whether we fly out today or not will be relayed to us at 6:40PM EST." The lady next to me was worried and called her son-in-law to confirm the status of outbound flights from Chicago. The flight from Chicago to Argentina was to leave on time 8:10PM CST. There were 8 other passengers that were going to Argentina. They were letting people choose to get off the plane to stay back in NJ or stay on baord. I told the captain that I would like to get off the plane if we do not start by 6:40PM EST.
At 6:35PM EST we got the go ahead and our flight took off at 6:50PM EST. The captain said he will do his best to take us safely by 7:45PM CST and that the only thing we could hope for is we might make the 8:10PM CST flight - before reaching the destination airport, captains normally radio in on their position to request the connecting flights to wait, if they can.
The crew was kind enough to let all 8 passengers bound to Argentina to move to the front of the plane and sit in the 1st class. The crew announced that the connecting flight to Argentina was to leave from gate H15. We made it into Chicago at 7:45PM CST and we taxied to gate H17. We hopped off the plane at 8:00PM CST and hurried to board our connecting flight to Argentina.
All in all it was one eventful start of the journey to the Southern Hemisphere.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Start of the tour to Argentina
I am all excited about the upcoming tour to Argentina. I have been doing some reading about Argentina and some places to visit there. Lets see how well I can manage both cricket and tourism in Argentina.
A part of my cricket team (Maddogs Cricket Club) is about to land in Argentina now. I start on 17-FEB-2008 to reach Buenos Aires on the morning on 18-FEB-2008. I will miss out on the "Tango" dance at the bar on Sunday, because I will be arriving couple of days later than most of the team.
A part of my cricket team (Maddogs Cricket Club) is about to land in Argentina now. I start on 17-FEB-2008 to reach Buenos Aires on the morning on 18-FEB-2008. I will miss out on the "Tango" dance at the bar on Sunday, because I will be arriving couple of days later than most of the team.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
An offer up for grabs
One fine morning, I received an e-mail from Neil, VP of Marketing at Cadbury-Schweppes here in Stamford, CT. We had played some cricket last fall and he stored my contact information in his good books.
The offer was to go to Argentina with their team for a week to play 4 games and relax 3 days on the warm beaches of Buenos Aires. I had some vacation time left to burn (use it or lose it - kinds) and I jumped to grab the offer.
I took care of all the prep work that goes into being a cricket player in another country plus the tourist, on the off days.
The trip is scheduled to start on 17-FEB-2008 and come back home on 25-FEB-2008. I am really excited to be part of this voyage on my first trip to a Latin American country.
The offer was to go to Argentina with their team for a week to play 4 games and relax 3 days on the warm beaches of Buenos Aires. I had some vacation time left to burn (use it or lose it - kinds) and I jumped to grab the offer.
I took care of all the prep work that goes into being a cricket player in another country plus the tourist, on the off days.
The trip is scheduled to start on 17-FEB-2008 and come back home on 25-FEB-2008. I am really excited to be part of this voyage on my first trip to a Latin American country.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Cricket in me
Cricket - the sport, not the bug - ironic, that its like a bug that just wont leave you, if you hail your roots to be from the sub-continent (India/Pakistan/Sri Lanka/Bangladesh)
I'm not immune to that bug either, am down with it myself and cannot just get enough of it. After reaching the far shores of the western hemisphere almost a decade ago, I managed to play a bit here and there until I reached Virginia (Mid-Atlantic state of USA.) From then on, there is no stopping till to date. Numerous encounters with talented and not so talented players alike, kept my passion for the game, going.
This is an attempt to journal my cricketing encounters henceforth, to re-live the memorable cricketing moments and just about anything to do with cricket, as seen through my eyes and felt through my heart.
I'm not immune to that bug either, am down with it myself and cannot just get enough of it. After reaching the far shores of the western hemisphere almost a decade ago, I managed to play a bit here and there until I reached Virginia (Mid-Atlantic state of USA.) From then on, there is no stopping till to date. Numerous encounters with talented and not so talented players alike, kept my passion for the game, going.
This is an attempt to journal my cricketing encounters henceforth, to re-live the memorable cricketing moments and just about anything to do with cricket, as seen through my eyes and felt through my heart.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)