We're back....kind of. We're sitting at Gate D40 in MIA. It's 6:20am and we had a pleasantly uneventful 9 hr flight from Buenos Aires. We did enjoy the best seats in the house (other than 1st or business class) as we were in the bulkhead, with about 2 feet of leg room. From my past 2 yrs of flying for work, I've learned the ropes on how to get premium seats. We'll be boarding soon and are flying to Chicago, then on to Des Moines. We should land in DSM around noon today.
We've read the many comments regarding Maryann's interaction with the UY government official with much interest. While she hasn't addressed this issue yet (she's still working up a plausible story), I'll let everyone know that she tried to conduct an illegal driving maneuver directly infront of about 5 Montevideo policeman. Much whistling, honking and pointing was involved. But, these type of things are part of the adventure!
All for now!
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Friday, June 12, 2009
Buh bye Uruguay...
We´re headed to the airport in Montevideo, then to Buenos Aires, then Miami, then Chicago, then Des Moines! That´s alot of airports! I´ll post about our adventures at the Uruguay Red Cross when we get home and add the photos then too. And, apparently I´ll need to offer an explanation about the reason for the discussion with the Uruguay police - my portion of that conversation was, ¨lo siento, lo siento!´´ ... once again, it was a good thing Carlos was with us.
Ciao!
Ciao!
Friday morning....
It´s Friday morning and Maryann is still asleep. We had a very full day yesterday and it lasted long into the night.
We spent Thursday in Montevideo. It was a sunny day, with temps in the mid-50s, so it was perfect for walking around and shopping in the Centro district. After spending 15-20 minutes looking for parking space on the road, we found a parking lot and were off on our shopping adventure.
Maryann looked for shoes and a purse, but unfortunately she was not successful finding either. My guess is that she will continue her pursuit of these elusive items again today.
We did find the ´Mercado de los Artesans´ (Artists Market) which was filled with amazing works of art from Uruguayan artists. We spent over an hour there and bought many treasures for family and friends. I found a beautiful necklace and earring set that I gave to Maryann. This jewelry will always remind us of our time in Uruguay.
After the shopping adventure (lunch was in there also) we picked up our friend Carlos and headed to the Red Cross. The drive there was an adventure in itself. We had a conversation with a government official regarding Maryann´s driving skills, but were able to move along without further incident. I´ll allow Maryann to blog about the visit to the Red Cross, but it was another amazing experience.
Back in our hotel room, but prior to dinner, Maryann and I enjoyed the bottle of Bouza Chardonnay which we had purchased at the winery on Monday. Delightful! Note to our California friends.....Uruguay´s wines are world class! We then headed out for a short walk around Pocitos prior to dinner. During this walk (and only 2 blocks from our hotel) we found the Montecristo (http://www.montecristo.com.uy/), which is an old house, built to look like a castle. This place has much history and now houses both a museum and garden. We quickly changed our dining plans to include the Montecristo. We met Carlos, his cousin Gladis, and long-time friend Enrigue for appetizers at Old Maz and then headed to Montecristo around 10:15 pm for dinner. The evening was filled with conversation about the Montecristo, wine, Europe, Uruguay and the US. We enjoyed several bottles of Bouza Merlot as well! Maryann had ravioli and I had Thai Chicken. We both agreed that these were the best meals we´ve had while in Uruguay. The meal and conversation lasted until 1:00 am, when the Montecristo closed. It was an excellent last night in MVD. I can´t say that I´ve EVER had a meal go that long, but it was well worth it. Maryann and I have commented repeatedly that Marlene-Oma would fit right in here as she likes to nibble throughout the day and then have a late evening meal.
Today, we head for home. It is with much sadness that our time here has come to an end. We have made many friends and have seen many aspects of life in Uruguay. This country has much to offer....the ocean, large bustling cities and the beauty of the countryside. We´re already thinking about our next visit. As to whether we are moving here to pursue our winery, that decision isn´t made yet, but no matter how that decision turns out, we will come back to Uruguay.
I´ve been writing for almost an hour, so I am going to sign off now. I am certain that Maryann will want to tell you about her experience yesterday at the Uruguayan Red Cross.
Ciao´
We spent Thursday in Montevideo. It was a sunny day, with temps in the mid-50s, so it was perfect for walking around and shopping in the Centro district. After spending 15-20 minutes looking for parking space on the road, we found a parking lot and were off on our shopping adventure.
Maryann looked for shoes and a purse, but unfortunately she was not successful finding either. My guess is that she will continue her pursuit of these elusive items again today.
We did find the ´Mercado de los Artesans´ (Artists Market) which was filled with amazing works of art from Uruguayan artists. We spent over an hour there and bought many treasures for family and friends. I found a beautiful necklace and earring set that I gave to Maryann. This jewelry will always remind us of our time in Uruguay.
After the shopping adventure (lunch was in there also) we picked up our friend Carlos and headed to the Red Cross. The drive there was an adventure in itself. We had a conversation with a government official regarding Maryann´s driving skills, but were able to move along without further incident. I´ll allow Maryann to blog about the visit to the Red Cross, but it was another amazing experience.
Back in our hotel room, but prior to dinner, Maryann and I enjoyed the bottle of Bouza Chardonnay which we had purchased at the winery on Monday. Delightful! Note to our California friends.....Uruguay´s wines are world class! We then headed out for a short walk around Pocitos prior to dinner. During this walk (and only 2 blocks from our hotel) we found the Montecristo (http://www.montecristo.com.uy/), which is an old house, built to look like a castle. This place has much history and now houses both a museum and garden. We quickly changed our dining plans to include the Montecristo. We met Carlos, his cousin Gladis, and long-time friend Enrigue for appetizers at Old Maz and then headed to Montecristo around 10:15 pm for dinner. The evening was filled with conversation about the Montecristo, wine, Europe, Uruguay and the US. We enjoyed several bottles of Bouza Merlot as well! Maryann had ravioli and I had Thai Chicken. We both agreed that these were the best meals we´ve had while in Uruguay. The meal and conversation lasted until 1:00 am, when the Montecristo closed. It was an excellent last night in MVD. I can´t say that I´ve EVER had a meal go that long, but it was well worth it. Maryann and I have commented repeatedly that Marlene-Oma would fit right in here as she likes to nibble throughout the day and then have a late evening meal.
Today, we head for home. It is with much sadness that our time here has come to an end. We have made many friends and have seen many aspects of life in Uruguay. This country has much to offer....the ocean, large bustling cities and the beauty of the countryside. We´re already thinking about our next visit. As to whether we are moving here to pursue our winery, that decision isn´t made yet, but no matter how that decision turns out, we will come back to Uruguay.
I´ve been writing for almost an hour, so I am going to sign off now. I am certain that Maryann will want to tell you about her experience yesterday at the Uruguayan Red Cross.
Ciao´
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Random thoughts and Punta
Food...cheese, more cheese and then, some more cheese! My muffin top is growing steadily here as meal choices include pizza or pasta. Seriously, other than the eggplant dish I had a few nights ago, I have had pizza (plain cheese or cheese and mushrooms) or pasta )ravioli or crepes - both filled with cheese - for all of my lunches and dinner. It´s usually quite tasty, but wow, it´s a lot of cheese! I think Steve has had steak for almost every lunch and dinner, except for when we ordered in to the hotel and he got spaghetti with cheese sauce. Often we have found that you order what you would like and you receive what they have in the kitchen. We also typically have ensalada mixta which is lechuga (lettuce) y tomate. The lettuce has been very fresh butter lettuce at nearly every restaurant and comes in a large bowl so we split it. The dressing is oil and vinegar at each place.
There are small shops everywhere that have many pastry options... their pastries-cookies are very different than ours. First, they are very small. When I get a cookie at Palmers, Panera or Starbucks, they are huge! Here, to get the same amount, you would get maybe 4-6 of their little goodies. And, they have many more options, some dipped in chocolate, some with fruit, most with dolce de leche. Dolce de leche (caramel) is HUGE here and available almost everywhere. The shop keeper will have a flat styrofoam tray and load up all of your choices - each of which costs about a dime - and then they will wrap the flat in paper and send you to the cashier.
That brings up another thing we have noticed. There are no help wanted signs here and, there are an abundance of workers at each place we go to even though there may not necessarily be work for them to do. So, as one of the ex-pats explained: one person will help you get your item, another will ring it up, another will take your money, another will package it up for you. We haven´t really experienced something quite like that, but we notice many employees hanging out chatting and working their cell phones and we recognize that back home, that wouldn´t fly!
So, yesterday we headed to Punta de Este without our friend Carlos as he had a worker coming to his apartment. Punta was about a two hour drive and gave us a good idea of life outside Montevideo. We saw some suburbs, some countryside and then, when we arrived in Punta, some major Beverly Hills-style mansions!! You can google Punta de Este on the internet and you will see that it is THE place for the rich people of Argentina, Brazil, Spain and Italy as well as some American movie stars. We thought we would do some hob-nobbin´ with the stars, but they apparently didn´t know we were coming and weren´t available. We found a great place near the yacht harbor and had lunch (steak and pasta!) and wine there.
We also visited the home and studio of a famous artist, Carlos Paez Vilaro. Check this link out to see his unreal home! http://www.carlospaezvilaro.com/casapueblo.swf
We then visited the following famous art sculpture and took several pictures:
http://www.welcomeuruguay.com/puntadeleste/the-hand-monument.html
After heading out of Punta, we went to Bodega Ballena which is a winery just outside of Punta. Sadly, they were closed, but it was a beautiful drive.
We have adjusted to Montevideo time/customs so we ate again at 9:00 p.m. and this morning we slept until 9:00 a.m.! We have to confess that prior to dinner last night we went to McDonalds and had hot fudge and dulce de leche sundaes!! We paid in US dollars too. Sometimes you just need a little bit of home.
Today, we are off to do some Montevideo shopping and at 3:00 p.m. we will pick up Carlos and go the the Red Cross Uruguay! I brought them some pins from home and am excited to share them and learn about their activities here. there aren´t many swimming pools here, so I suspect they are not big on the swimming lesson madness we have at home.
Ciao!
There are small shops everywhere that have many pastry options... their pastries-cookies are very different than ours. First, they are very small. When I get a cookie at Palmers, Panera or Starbucks, they are huge! Here, to get the same amount, you would get maybe 4-6 of their little goodies. And, they have many more options, some dipped in chocolate, some with fruit, most with dolce de leche. Dolce de leche (caramel) is HUGE here and available almost everywhere. The shop keeper will have a flat styrofoam tray and load up all of your choices - each of which costs about a dime - and then they will wrap the flat in paper and send you to the cashier.
That brings up another thing we have noticed. There are no help wanted signs here and, there are an abundance of workers at each place we go to even though there may not necessarily be work for them to do. So, as one of the ex-pats explained: one person will help you get your item, another will ring it up, another will take your money, another will package it up for you. We haven´t really experienced something quite like that, but we notice many employees hanging out chatting and working their cell phones and we recognize that back home, that wouldn´t fly!
So, yesterday we headed to Punta de Este without our friend Carlos as he had a worker coming to his apartment. Punta was about a two hour drive and gave us a good idea of life outside Montevideo. We saw some suburbs, some countryside and then, when we arrived in Punta, some major Beverly Hills-style mansions!! You can google Punta de Este on the internet and you will see that it is THE place for the rich people of Argentina, Brazil, Spain and Italy as well as some American movie stars. We thought we would do some hob-nobbin´ with the stars, but they apparently didn´t know we were coming and weren´t available. We found a great place near the yacht harbor and had lunch (steak and pasta!) and wine there.
We also visited the home and studio of a famous artist, Carlos Paez Vilaro. Check this link out to see his unreal home! http://www.carlospaezvilaro.com/casapueblo.swf
We then visited the following famous art sculpture and took several pictures:
http://www.welcomeuruguay.com/puntadeleste/the-hand-monument.html
After heading out of Punta, we went to Bodega Ballena which is a winery just outside of Punta. Sadly, they were closed, but it was a beautiful drive.
We have adjusted to Montevideo time/customs so we ate again at 9:00 p.m. and this morning we slept until 9:00 a.m.! We have to confess that prior to dinner last night we went to McDonalds and had hot fudge and dulce de leche sundaes!! We paid in US dollars too. Sometimes you just need a little bit of home.
Today, we are off to do some Montevideo shopping and at 3:00 p.m. we will pick up Carlos and go the the Red Cross Uruguay! I brought them some pins from home and am excited to share them and learn about their activities here. there aren´t many swimming pools here, so I suspect they are not big on the swimming lesson madness we have at home.
Ciao!
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
The winery, wine institute and Juanico
We have a lot to post; here goes:
Javier and Carlos met us at our hotel yesterday morning and we took off for the Canelones region (Uruguay´s premier wine region) to see an abandoned winery currently for sale that Steve found on the internet. Javier is the local fellow representing the owner, John, in New York. He drove us straight to it and called the next door neighbor who worked for ten years at the winery when it was in production nearly 35 years ago! We can´t remember his name, but he was extremely passionate about the winery and explained in great detail what they used to do, how everything worked, how many people worked there, how much and what type of wine was produced and where and to whom it was sold. He was quite a talker and it took both Javier and Carlos to keep up with him translating for us. We took many pictures and Steve again became very excited as it was a large production facility and the cement tanks in the basement of the building are still in very good condition. We liked the ´neighborhood´ by the winery much more than the one by the vineyard, but to be clear, it was still in an extremely rural and rustic area. We learned that the name of the winery was Santa Teresa which was very well known across the country.
It also happened to be right down the road from the Uruguay Wine and Viticulture Institute, so we went there next and again Carlos and Javier translated for us as the professors spoke no English. Steve learned about their programs and how they´ve been working to improve the vineyard and winemaking practices in Uruguay. They were very welcoming and would be willing to help us if we started making wine here. Coincidentally, one of the professors was the son of the old man who lived next door to the winery and had shared so many stories with us.
As I mentioned, we were in a very rural area again yesterday as we had been on Monday. As such, it was fortunate that yours truly - who is never without food - brought snacks! As we tooled down the rural roads passing horses pulling their carts and commenting on the variety of homes and landscape, we munched away on Trader Joes almonds and Bare Naked granola!
Next, we headed to Juanico Winery. It was simply amazing! The largest producer and exporter of wine in Uruguay. We didn´t have an appointment for a tour, but it was no problem at all. After a short wait in their unbelievable facility - think super rustic, very spacious, beautiful yet simple and understated art all tied together with Spanish accents - an adorable French-Spanish ´guia´ (guide) took us on a private tour of the grounds and cellars. The facility was quite opposite from what we saw on Monday ' Juanico is a place of mass production, whereas Bouza has chosen to concentrate on a few wines and be the very best they can be at them. We liked them both very much! Juanico is most famous for their Don Pascual wines, but they also currently own the Santa Teresa name. (See above.)
Headed to dinner...will post more later...
Javier and Carlos met us at our hotel yesterday morning and we took off for the Canelones region (Uruguay´s premier wine region) to see an abandoned winery currently for sale that Steve found on the internet. Javier is the local fellow representing the owner, John, in New York. He drove us straight to it and called the next door neighbor who worked for ten years at the winery when it was in production nearly 35 years ago! We can´t remember his name, but he was extremely passionate about the winery and explained in great detail what they used to do, how everything worked, how many people worked there, how much and what type of wine was produced and where and to whom it was sold. He was quite a talker and it took both Javier and Carlos to keep up with him translating for us. We took many pictures and Steve again became very excited as it was a large production facility and the cement tanks in the basement of the building are still in very good condition. We liked the ´neighborhood´ by the winery much more than the one by the vineyard, but to be clear, it was still in an extremely rural and rustic area. We learned that the name of the winery was Santa Teresa which was very well known across the country.
It also happened to be right down the road from the Uruguay Wine and Viticulture Institute, so we went there next and again Carlos and Javier translated for us as the professors spoke no English. Steve learned about their programs and how they´ve been working to improve the vineyard and winemaking practices in Uruguay. They were very welcoming and would be willing to help us if we started making wine here. Coincidentally, one of the professors was the son of the old man who lived next door to the winery and had shared so many stories with us.
As I mentioned, we were in a very rural area again yesterday as we had been on Monday. As such, it was fortunate that yours truly - who is never without food - brought snacks! As we tooled down the rural roads passing horses pulling their carts and commenting on the variety of homes and landscape, we munched away on Trader Joes almonds and Bare Naked granola!
Next, we headed to Juanico Winery. It was simply amazing! The largest producer and exporter of wine in Uruguay. We didn´t have an appointment for a tour, but it was no problem at all. After a short wait in their unbelievable facility - think super rustic, very spacious, beautiful yet simple and understated art all tied together with Spanish accents - an adorable French-Spanish ´guia´ (guide) took us on a private tour of the grounds and cellars. The facility was quite opposite from what we saw on Monday ' Juanico is a place of mass production, whereas Bouza has chosen to concentrate on a few wines and be the very best they can be at them. We liked them both very much! Juanico is most famous for their Don Pascual wines, but they also currently own the Santa Teresa name. (See above.)
Headed to dinner...will post more later...
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Reflectiones by Esteban
¡Hola! It´s Tuesday morning and we´ve already had a strenuous workout at the deluxe workout facility here at the hotel. We´ll post photos later..... Today, we´re headed to look at the winery for sale. It should be interesting as it has been vacant for about 10 yrs. But, during our conversation with Bodega Bouza yesterday, they started with something very similar and now its beautiful. We can use that as our inspiration.
Several people have asked about our meals. Unfornatuately for Maryann, the veggie options are limited to salads, pasta and shrimp with heads. They don´t eat veggies here....ie, no squash, zucchini etc. Additionally, they don´t have any type of ethnic food, such as Chinese, Indian or Thai. But, they DO have beef! Lots of beef. I´ve had steak several nights for dinner and they´ve been excellent.
We´ll post more tonite after the winery adventure. Ciao.
Several people have asked about our meals. Unfornatuately for Maryann, the veggie options are limited to salads, pasta and shrimp with heads. They don´t eat veggies here....ie, no squash, zucchini etc. Additionally, they don´t have any type of ethnic food, such as Chinese, Indian or Thai. But, they DO have beef! Lots of beef. I´ve had steak several nights for dinner and they´ve been excellent.
We´ll post more tonite after the winery adventure. Ciao.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Lunes continued...
This afternoon we spent an hour or so in an old cafe in Las Piedras where we had capuccinos and coca-cola light. Looking out the windows we were struck by the contrast of the old - really old - things we saw (cars, bikes, storefronts, equipment, etc.) and the new (cars, cellphones, advertisements for remote control t.v.s, movies that JUST came out at home, etc.). Being there is almost (but not quite) like stepping back in time as the mule and cart pass by carrying large burlap sacks, except the girl behind them is sending a text to her pal.
We then headed to Bodega Bouza ... I think we had their link on the first post. We met with the owner for a long tour and were completely impressed by the immaculate and beautiful grounds and winery. We were also amazed to find a very classy restaurant operating inside the refurbished barn. The whole scene was right out of a Polo advertisement. She was exceptionally stylish and lovely, fresh flowers in the banos, exposed brick in the main dining area with a large fireplace and overstuffed leather furniture welcoming guests to sit and sip their fine wines. Her husband also sat with us and for about an hour they shared advice and Steve shared his plans. It was a really nice afternoon and we felt very welcome there. Following our goodbyes, Steve, Carlos and I went to the cashier to purchase some wines and the owner came back in and told us her family has a property with a nice house and hectares to grow vines. We may go look tomorrow.
That´s all for now... Cheers!
We then headed to Bodega Bouza ... I think we had their link on the first post. We met with the owner for a long tour and were completely impressed by the immaculate and beautiful grounds and winery. We were also amazed to find a very classy restaurant operating inside the refurbished barn. The whole scene was right out of a Polo advertisement. She was exceptionally stylish and lovely, fresh flowers in the banos, exposed brick in the main dining area with a large fireplace and overstuffed leather furniture welcoming guests to sit and sip their fine wines. Her husband also sat with us and for about an hour they shared advice and Steve shared his plans. It was a really nice afternoon and we felt very welcome there. Following our goodbyes, Steve, Carlos and I went to the cashier to purchase some wines and the owner came back in and told us her family has a property with a nice house and hectares to grow vines. We may go look tomorrow.
That´s all for now... Cheers!
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