Friday, January 20, 2023

Mar del Plata: Day 2 - The New Year's Eve Party!

It was 8:45 p.m. and the hubs and I were running 15 minutes behind schedule. But that was okay because so was the rest of our group.

With one member still unaccounted for, we went into the hotel restaurant to grab a table. We soon learned that the hostess already had a table assigned for us. There was only one problem. She had us down for a party of eight. How was that possible? I thought. I asked her to check again, and she confirmed that the reservation was for four adults and four children. 

WHAT?!?!

Then our friend arrived and cleared things up. He had made the reservation for eight because he was afraid that the hostess would seat us with other people.

Eventually, the hostess found a smaller table near a window for the four of us. It was actually pretty nice. We couldn't see the beach as much except for the foamy waves crashing on the shore. But we were hopeful that we would get to see some fireworks later that night.
So, after taking selfies, we went and helped ourselves to some food. I wouldn't exactly call it a buffet, but it was all you can eat. You just had to ask the servers to put what you wanted on your plate. It was easy as that.

Speaking for myself, I was still full from our late lunch at Antares. It had only been a few hours since we ate. This, of course, did not stop me from trying everything they had to offer.
The food and conversation were enough to pass the time before the New Year. Oh, and the alcohol helped too. But the servers kept refilling my glass with wine.
It was almost magical. My empty glass was full moments after I set it down. That's how efficient the staff was. Unfortunately, I hadn't drank this much in my life and I was starting to feel tipsy.
It might not look like it, but I was on my fifth glass of white wine by this point. That's probably why I was smiling so much. Anyone who truly knows me is well aware that I rarely smile unless I've had alcohol. But I switched to coffee and desserts to avoid a hangover.
Halfway through my second cup of coffee, one of the servers came by and filled our glasses with champagne. I was like "Uh-oh! Here we go again." Then I realized they were serving us the champagne because it was almost midnight.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1....

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

While the crowd inside the restaurant was cheering, clapping and laughing, it was virtually silent outside. I did see a small group of people gathered across the street from the hotel. But where were the fireworks? Then we heard what sounded like fireworks, only they weren't quite what we were expecting.
The fireworks could've used a serious dose of pizzazz! At this point, we were starting to wonder if we would see any real fireworks.

Then...
About thirty minutes later, we took a midnight stroll to burn off some calories. Only three of us went. Number four decided to call it a night.
There wasn't a whole lot to see except for a couple of people celebrating outside, drinking, and in some cases, dancing. So after taking a couple of selfies, we headed back to our room to follow one final New Year tradition.

We used our TV to link up to the internet, so we could watch the ball drop in Times Square. For us, the New Year wasn't officially upon us until this happened. This is something we've been doing since we moved to Argentina, and we didn't feel like this year should be any different.
Well, now that we had officially welcomed 2023, we decided to rest and prepare for what was supposed to be a fun day at the beach. But Mother Nature had other plans for us.

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