Category Archives: Things To Do

Despedida

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We’re coming into the last couple of days of our time here in Uruguay. This weekend was a busy one filled with last hoorays.

We went to our last board gaming night on Friday where we played some new games and some old favorites. We got to see some friends and say our goodbyes. We were welcomed back to our apartment at 5 am to a car alarm that proceeded to go off until about 9 am. We did manage to get some sleep, but not much.

On Saturday night we headed to our friend Chandro’s house for a small going away party (a despedida) for us and another frisbee player, Yasu who is leaving Uruguay on Monday. We had a great time “shooting the s*&t”, although between severe lack of sleep and too many people trying to talk at once, we had a bit of a hard time following the spanish conversation at points.

Here we all are hanging out!

The frisbee team got us gifts: posters with photos of our time with the team and some really cool coffee cups!

We will be headed back to the states on Tuesday night. We fly through Miami and arrive in Los Angeles on Wednesday morning. Then we’ll be taking the Amtrak surf liner up the coast to San Luis where parents will hopefully be waiting with open arms and extra sharp cheddar cheese!

For those friends that we leave here in Uruguay: We thank you so much for your wonderful hospitality and friendship, your understanding of our horrible spanish, and for making us feel so welcome so far away from home. We won’t forget your friendship and hopefully we will meet again. Nos Vemos!

For those friends and family in the states: Thanks so much for following our adventures and giving us your support and love on our journey. We’ll hopefully see you all soon!

Farmer’s Market Perks

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One of the perks about the farmer’s market near our house, other than being super close, is that there is the added benefit of lunch.

There is a pair of people that set up shop on the corner each week to sell fresh empanadas and torta fritas. What makes this even better is that they are fried to perfection.

We can’t figure out if the empanadas are made by them or picked up at a store prior to their farmer’s market appearance. Regardless, they usually have “carne” (beef with some hard boiled egg – yeah they put hard boiled eggs in a lot of things, especially empanadas) and “jamon y queso” (ham and cheese) empanadas.

Torta fritas are basically discs of fried bread with a hole in the middle. It is a traditional Uruguayan food to eat when the weather is nasty or rainy. If people don’t want to make them at home, there are plenty of these little stands that get set up to sell them. Usually there are at least one at most farmer’s markets.

At our little farmer’s market, this pair does great business. Regardless of the time we arrive to claim our snacks, there is always a line. It’s definitely worth the short wait!

One of the other great things about empanadas and torta fritas: the price. A single torta frita sells for 13 pesos (about 50 cents US) and an empanada costs a mere 23 pesos (about a dollar US). I can easily get a lunch for a buck fifty US!

Journey Along the Ramblas

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On Friday’s long run I decided to take photos to document my adventure and show you guys where I run every day. It was a bit chilly with a temp of about 48 to start with and the wind was blowing about 15-20 mph.

The “Before” Picture

I decided to head towards the airport and away from the city on my long run. At the point is the end of Pocitos and there is a little park there.

Park at the point.

On the other side of the point is a bus depot. This is where buses go to rest and get cleaned. (mile 1)

I’m not quite sure what this is, but my guess is some kind of waterway 🙂

This is the Buceo yacht club and marina.

There is a nice grassy area to run on instead of the pavement. In the distance you can almost see one of the only “hills” on the route.

Yet another deserted little beach (gotta remember that it’s probably about 50 degrees and a little cold for beach going).

View of the Buceo marina from the top of the “hill”.

Looking the other way down the “hill”. I can’t decide whether these paths are made solely by people or also by mowers.

This is an oceanographic museum that I haven’t been to yet. (mile 2)

Around the corner from the museum is yet another beach (Buceo Beach) and more paths to run on.

Looking back at the museum.

Top of the second “hill” on the route and there’s a little playground.

This is the “Nautical Club”, another small yacht club.

This is the view coming up on Malvin beach. Tons of high-rises lining the road. (mile 3)

Malvin beach. We played ultimate out at that point once. Yep, still windy!

This is the view from Malvin Beach looking back at Pocitos. Just to the left of the museum is a wide building. To the left of that is Pocitos, or I should say, home.

The point at Malvin beach. There is some exercise equipment here that anyone strolling along the Ramblas can use.

Yet another beach awaited me as I rounded the corner. Honda Beach.

Turnaround point at Honda Beach. (mile 4)

This is zoomed in a little so that you can see the buildings in the background. That’s home. So far from home. I passed all the same landmarks on the way home. The only difference, I had the wind in my face. Yuck!

Yep, I made it back home and really the only evidence I have are the sweat stains on my very pink hat!

Here’s the google maps version of my run if you’re interested!

Nacional vs. Peñarol

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I told you all we were going to go to another fútbol game while we were here. Thanks to Carlos (again!), running to the nearest Abitab (more on those in another post) to buy us tickets, we were able to go. Carlos’ other brothers are Peñarol fans and he and his parents are Nacional fans, so we were more than happy to hang out with him and get to see an awesome game.

Fútbol games here are a bit different than in the US. One big difference is that you literally have to choose sides. Peñarol fans were allowed to buy Peñarol tickets a week before Nacional fans. Peñarol tickets sold out in 30 minutes and were only available to those people who were part of a Peñarol club. When Nacional tickets went on sale they were available to buy at local venues and also sold out fairly quickly.

Not really knowing what to expect on game day, we strategically did NOT wear yellow and black (Peñarol colors). We took the bus up to Carlos’ house and on the way lost count of the number of Peñarol jerseys we saw walking along the streets. Not until we got near Carlos’ house did we see truck-loads of Nacional fans setting off fireworks in the middle of the street, decked out in their blue and white.

Our experience at the stadium brings new meaning to the term “sports fan”. There were separate entrances for Peñarol and Nacional fans, which later made sense when we realized that the stadium was divided into sections for the two teams. Between the fans of the two teams there was an entirely empty section, presumably so that aggressive fans couldn’t hurt each other. Bags were checked at the entrance and a quick pat down was given. No bottles were allowed. There were separate lines for men and women to be checked, although the fans were composed of 10 men for every woman.

Inside the stadium, one side was entirely yellow and black and the other side entirely blue and white. Fan clubs for each side hung banners from everything and anything. There were police everywhere in their swat gear, including helmets and shields (just in case).

The game started with a fanfare of fireworks, colored smoke, pieces of paper, flares, and much singing. The teams have their own songs and chants. It would have been good to have learned them prior to the game, but our excitement was well shown through our screaming and cheering.

The game was exciting and suspenseful, with Peñarol scoring a goal in the first minute as the result of an unseen handball, quickly followed by a penalty kick goal by Nacional. Peñarol scored a second goal with a nice kick from a wide cross which was followed by a Nacional goal that was very similar. Another Nacional goal came from an indirect kick outside the penalty box that didn’t touch a soul and we were on the winning side. Carlos won himself bragging rights for a while with his brothers!

The fans around us were animated. They sang songs, they taunted the Peñarol fans (even though they were far away), they stood up in their seats at every goal opportunity, they whistled instead of booing (Uruguayans are really good at whistling), and they cheered. It was an impressive display of support.

On leaving the stadium we learned that our way home wasn’t going to be as direct as we had expected. Fans from each side were only allowed to exit the stadium in opposite directions. In a country with such devoted fans, I can understand the precaution.

Check out some videos from the game!

– Nacional penalty kick goal

– Nacional Fans!

РPe̱arol Fans!

Mexican Food In Uruguay

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We decided to celebrate a couple things last week with a trip to experience Mexican food here in Uruguay. We celebrated the move to our awesome new apartment as well as mine and Asa’s third anniversary.

As luck would have it, our apartment is within walking distance of not just one, but two mexican restaurants. After pouring over the menus for both places online, we settled on “La Lupita“.

The restaurant is a 15 min walk from our apartment through nice neighborhoods with big houses. The restaurant itself was nestled in the middle of a block and had a couple tables outside. We knew it was going to at least be decent because it was 8:30 pm, it opened at 8:30 pm, and there were already at least 5 different parties inside.

For those from the South, there was no “queso”, but they did serve tortilla chips (which are rather scarce around here) with salsa. We of course ordered a round of margaritas ($4.50US each), which surpassed our expectations in terms of both the flavor and the amount of alcohol in them.

The food was delicious all around, and even had a hint of spice to it! No room for dessert, but I expect we’ll be there again!

Asado with the Chiale Family

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We had the pleasure of joining the Chiale family for an Asado last weekend.

This family has been every kind of nice to us. The three sons, Carlos, Juanma, and Maxi led the welcoming charge from the frisbee community when we first arrived. The Chiale family put on a wonderful birthday party for Carlos, which we were lucky enough to attend. Carlos generously invited us to join him and his parents at a fútbol game and we have participated in numerous activities, both social and ultimate related, with Carlos and Juanma. We have thoroughly enjoyed spending time with the Chiale family and are so lucky to have found such nice people so far from home.

Matt posted previously about an asado he had in Buenos Aires, but this one was a little different because of the weather. It was cold. None of us wanted to stand outside to watch the meat cook, so we took the token photo and then spent a good amount of time inside chatting.

From left to right: Juanma, Asa, Randi, Matt, Carlos, and Maxi. Photo credit: Juan Carlos Chiale!

The asado meat and the chorizo were both really tasty. We had french fries with egg and spinach mixed in and some salad as sides. Dessert was an incredible dulce de leche ice cream dish with pieces of cake mixed in and meringues on top. Oh and don’t forget the Uruguayan flags in the dessert!

After we were done eating we made our way to a local fútbol field where Maxi, the youngest brother, was having his weekly game. They unfortunately tied 2-2, but Maxi scored a goal!

Thanks again to the Chiale family for making us feel so welcome!

Montevideo Botanical Gardens

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Yet another adventure to blog about while my parents were here! We decided that it would be nice to take the bus up to the area around the Prado. This is apparently an old and affluent neighborhood in Montevideo that boasts a very nice and large park, rose garden, and the botanical gardens.

We hopped on the bus and rode the 20 minutes up to the botanical gardens. The botanical gardens is yet another Montevideo attraction that is free to enter. The day was a little cloudy, but the temperature was nice.

The gardens are nicely arranged into areas of flora from certain parts of the world and specialty areas. Our tour took us around the outside of the gardens. Our first stop was the greenhouse that housed numerous potted tropical plants. The pots and their plants were so uniform that I wondered if they raised them in the greenhouse and sold them at the local markets once they were big enough.

Next we walked through some of the different regions of the world including: Africa, Uruguay, and Japan. The gardens have signs for most of the flora, but the writing on the signs near the walking paths were either worn away or scratched off (one of the downsides of free entry). We found a nice climbing tree, which Asa made short use of.

We then found ourselves wandering through a collection of medicinal and “utility” plants, which included aloe, rosemary, oregano, and lavender. The lavender was especially attractive because of the butterflies.

They also had a section for water plants, which contained some cattails and some very beautiful black and neon orange koi. The fish were clearly used to someone feeding them, as they followed us when we wandered by.

There is also a museum on the grounds, but it was closed for renovations. After we made our way back to the entrance, we relaxed on some benches and enjoyed the relative quiet. The botanical gardens would make a great place for a picnic, or just a nice walk on a sunny day!

Montevideo Museum Day

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When my parents were visiting we decided to check out some of the museums that Montevideo had to offer. We started off the day by walking down 18 de Julio, the major street heading towards Ciudad Vieja (old town). The street hits Plaza Independencia, which contains the mausoleum of General José Artigas topped by a magnificent statue of him on a horse.

Palacio Salvo on one corner of Plaza Independencia

Statue of General José Artigas in the middle of Plaza Independencia.

From the plaza we took Sarandi Street, a pedestrian walkway, and wandered into the heart of Ciudad Vieja. Sarandi is full of shops, restaurants, and people selling things from stands. We made our way to 25 de Mayo which is apparently a street of museums.

Our first stop was the  MAPI (Museo de Arte Precolombino e Indígena) ,which contained precolombian and indigenous art from South and Latin America. The collection that was open was fairly small, but well taken care of. The building in which the collection is housed was beautiful with a marble stairway leading up to the second floor and skylights in the ceiling. It appeared that the museum’s collection was much larger than what was on display and that they were renovating the second floor to house the rest of the collection. Thoughts: Small, but educational, cost = $30 pesos.

Our second stop was Museo de Artes Decorativas at the Palacio Taranco. This collection is housed in a beautiful mansion that was constructed in 1907 by the Taranco family. It was converted into a museum in 1972, and in 1975 was declared a historic monument. The collection was composed of numerous paintings and sculptures, furniture, tapestries, and musical instruments mostly of a french style. Another part of the museum is a fine collection of classical art and archeology in the basement. The specific exhibit contained artifacts involved in the making and storing of perfumes. Thoughts: Lavish, free.

Our third stop was Museo Romántico housed in yet another old house. It doesn’t look like much from the outside but once you go through the doorway it opened up into a beautiful courtyard. The museum (or at least the accessible parts) are in the upstairs living quarters. The collection is very lavish and has a couple of things I was not expecting including: an old opened music box, an old toiletry kit for traveling, and some nice pieces of furniture with inlayed wood. Thoughts: Small, free.

Our fourth stop brought us back to Sarandi street and the Museo Torres García. Torres García is one of Uruguay’s most famous artists. Born in Montevideo, he and his family moved to Spain where he settled for a time in Barcelona and attended art school. He moved to New York for a period of time and eventually came back to Montevideo. He wrote numerous books about art theory. For more information on Torres García, check out wikipedia. The museum had a great collection of his sketches, water colors, paintings, and toys spread out over three floors. Thoughts: Interesting, bigger, cost = $60 pesos.

One of Torres García's most famous drawings.

By this time it was well into the afternoon and we were exhausted and happily museum-ed out. There are many more museums in Montevideo that we’ll hopefully be able to experience before we leave.

Bouza Bodega Boutique Winery

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When my parents were in town they decided that they wanted to get out of the city a bit and sample some of Uruguay’s fine wines. Luckily there is a small, yet popular, winery and vineyards about 20 minutes from downtown Montevideo called Bouza Bodega Boutique. They specialize in low quantity, high quality wines.

Bouza Bodega Boutique

They made a reservation for the three of us to get a tour of the winery and vineyards and then do a tasting. We headed out there in a taxi, only having to pay about $15 US. The sky was blue and the grass was bright green. It was a perfect day.

View of the old church turned fermentation room and cellar at Bouza.

The property was built in 1942 as a small farmstead and church. It was refurbished in 2002 to it’s present state consisting of a restaurant and fermentation rooms. They have also expanded their operation to have a small farm where they produce milk and raise chickens and cattle (all in small quantities). The vineyards produce grapes of 5 different varieties including two whites and three reds: albariño, chardonnay, merlot, tempranillo, and tannat. Tannat is a varietal famous in Uruguay.

The tour started off with their classic car collection. The Bouza family has a collection of more than 30 vehicles representative of those driven since the 1920’s in Uruguay and  includes Fords, Fiats, Vespas, and Volkswagons. They even have an old railcar from 1929 on display in the gardens.

Just one of the cars in the classic car collection.

From there the tour went into the vineyard where the tour guide discussed the different varieties of grapes that were grown and how and when they are harvested.

View of Tannat grapes. They are harvested in February/March each year and in August the vines are cut and treated with an anti-fungal because of the humid weather.

Oh, I forgot to mention that the tour was all in spanish. The tour guide knew english very well and told us that if we didn’t understand (we told her we spoke a little spanish) to ask her and she would explain in english. I must say that I understood the majority of what she was saying and relayed to my parents when needed. Progress is being made on my spanish skills.

The next stop on the tour was the primary fermentation room where they have wines fermenting for up to 8 months in steel, cement, or oak barrels. The differences between the containers being the amount of oxygen and flavor (in the case of the oak) imparted to the wine.

These are the stainless steel barrels for primary fermentation.

Following that, we headed to the cellar where the wines undergo a secondary fermentation in american and french oak barrels for up to 3 months. This is also where they store bottled wine for at least 6 months before it is sold in stores. There is also a special section of the cellar under the floor where the winery maintains about 40 bottles of it’s wine from each harvest year for posterity. For being a small operation, there were quite a few barrels in the cellar.

Barrels of wine in the cellar undergoing a secondary fermentation.

That ended the tour and we were led back to the restaurant and seated at a table dressed with one large glass and four smaller glasses at each place-setting. Pretty soon a setting of bread with various cheeses and meats was brought to the table along with four bottles of wine. The man leading us through the tasting spoke very good english and did a great job explaining each of the wines to us. He went through each wine individually, explaining and pouring, until he had gone through all four wines and then left us alone to taste them. It was much nicer tasting at a table with snacks than the usual tasting standing up at a bar.

These are the four wines we tasted. From left to right: tannat, merlot-tannat mix, merlot, vino blanco (which I already drank most of before I remembered to take a picture!).

The wines… The first was their “Vino Blanco” which was a special mix of albariño and chardonnay grapes that they make only for their tasting room and for sale at the vineyard (i.e. it cannot be bought in stores). The second was a merlot. The third was a merlot-tannat mix and the fourth was their special 2011 tannat. This wine was special because it was purportedly the best grape harvest in the last 40 years for taste, and because of this they did not apply a secondary fermentation to it. The result is a very strong-flavored, crisp, 15.5% alcohol content wine.

We enjoyed all the wines, but my favorite was the tannat, my mom’s was the merlot-tannat mix, and my dad seemed to enjoy all of them (especially toward the end, wink wink!). Of course we couldn’t leave without purchasing a few bottles, especially because they were cheaper than expected (in the $12-15 US range).

We had them call us a cab and we made our way back to the city, tired and a bit tipsy, but very happy!

Iguazu Falls – A trip to the edge

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Excited to start the trip to the falls today, we shoveled down a few more (un)healthy servings of eggs and headed to the bus station. We found out the day before that buses every 20 minutes so we knew we’d have very little wait at any time of day. When we got to the station everything was running smoothly and in about 10 minutes we had started our 40 minute bus ride to the Falls. When we got to the Falls we grabbed tickets and headed into the park.

To start we headed to an overlook next to the main falls to see the full power in action. This required us to catch a train and naturally it pulled out just as we got to the station. Luckily it’s a slow train taking a circuitous route for the first stop and we were able to walk to the next station before it left and off we went to the main falls. From the station, there was a 2/3 mile raised metal bridge over the river. There has been a drought so the river level was a bit low and the water flow for much of the walk was very gentle. This allowed us to be able to see and even identify a number of fish and even a turtle along our walk to and from the falls.

At the end of the pathway, the bridge opened up to an amazing view of the main falls. We were at the top of the falls looking down and the roar was quite loud. We stayed there for quite a while, marveling at the various parts of the falls. It was incredible to watch the water go over the edge, turn into streams and then into vapor that hits the bottom with such force to send up a constant cloud of mist. It was raining off and on for most of the day but here the drops were raining up instead of down. We probably could have stayed here for the rest of the day but we had other views to see.

After this trip, we rode back and had some lunch. As is typical of parks, the lunch was quite expensive so we opted for the cheap fast food and Dick and Karen got their first hint of just how prevalent ham and mozzarella are down here. We got hamburgers and they came with a slice of ham and mozzarella (not advertised). After watching the painted jays get their fill off leftovers outside and finishing our own plates we headed on to other views.

Unfortunately, though the park closes at 6 many of the trails, trains and boats, close earlier. We had seen some of the closing warnings but not all of them and the trail that was highest on Karen’s list was already closed. This was the only trail that boasted a chance to see monkeys and tucans and while that might seem a little hokey, I would’ve really like to see a tucan outside of a zoo. We chose another trail and set off down the path to see what we could see.

The path we chose afforded many panoramic views of the larger falls and close ups of several lesser falls. It was a beautiful sight and I’m  very glad we took the opportunity to go. When we hit the end of the last trail we weren’t ready to leave and Dick and Karen said they would meet us at the exit after a trip through the gift shops. When we separated ourselves from the waterfall we managed to go back up the wrong trail but finally found our way out. After meeting up with Dick and Karen we headed home on the bus exhausted from another awesome day.

As we disembarked at the bus station, the rain stopped and the clouds opened just a bit for an incredible rainbow that you could follow all the way across the arc. And just in case we hadn’t had enough beauty for one day as we left the bus station walking back to the hotel a vibrant sunset painted the sky.

For anyone considering a trip to the falls, I would definitely recommend going. Don’t let the water level at the falls deter you. When we were there the water level was very low and it was still quite impressive. You could see the wear of constant water flow on all the igneous rock. That said, I saw some recent pictures and it looks like some rains increased the level and they’re flowing quite nicely right now. Either way take the trip!

You can see more photos in the photoset on flickr.