Montevideo
URUGUAY
Uruguay's Capital
By AARON
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Normally I pride myself on my witty or at least interesting titles to our blogs, but right now I’m in Perito Moreno, Argentina and can’t be bothered. But more on that in later blogs…
While in Punta del Este, Lyndi and I had made reservations at a quaint hotel in Montevideo, right in the old town district and close to a lot of outdoor artesanal markets and restaurants. When we arrived at the bus station, we were once again greeted by the friendly winds of Uruguay, so we quickly jumped in a public bus and got dropped off about 1 block from our hotel. The hotel itself was great (Hotel Palacio)- mini fridge, cable TV, hot showers and a really nice old owner named Alejandro. After getting situated, we walked through some markets selling old antique items such as Coca-Cola serving trays, old cameras and even those old viewfinders where you put the wheel of photos in the red binocular-like thing and click through pictures of Africa, Star Wars, or whatever theme they have. Wait, I played with those as a kid, and these are now considered antiques? Okay, now I feel old.
After walking though the “antique” stalls and realizing that I maybe should have kept all my viewfinders and Star Wars action figures, we headed down to the Montevideo Port, where locals and tourists can eat all types of grilled meat and seafood right on the bay. Heading back later that day, we decided to eat out that night at a nice steak restaurant. Inquiring to Alejandro on the “best steak place around these parts”, he without hesitation pointed us in the direction of El Fogon, a local steakhouse with a great reputation. Unfortunately, El Fogon turned out to be a disappointment, as we were treated to an overpriced T-bone that was overcooked and served on a cold plate. Not letting that dampen our spirits, we quickly paid our tab, and headed back to the hotel with a bottle of wine and watched triumphantly as the Texas Rangers won their first World Series game ever, playing against the SF Giants.
Next morning we went to visit Bouza Winery just outside of Mendoza. Having been in wine sales before Lyndi and I left the States, I was quickly transported back to that time as we walked among the vineyards and took a tour of the winery, viewing the fermentation tanks and the barrels filled with the aging wine below in the naturally cold cellars.
After the tour, we opted to do the 4 wine tasting, where you get to try four of their signature wines, along with a nice cheese and bread set-up. The wines did not disappoint and all of them turned out to be quite nice. So nice, that Lyndi and I decided that the little tasters weren’t enough, so as the other people on the tour filtered out of the tasting room, we stayed behind and when the waiters and workers weren’t looking, we helped ourselves to a couple more “tastes” of our favorites of the four wines. Whether they knew or not, we didn’t really care, but in case they did have any suspicions, all were put to rest when I tried to walk through a pane of glass next to the actual door on our exit.
Bumping my head quite hard, it turned all heads in the place, and also caused Lyndi to laugh uncontrollably. In my defense, the window was immaculately clean and I wasn’t drunk, but regardless of that I did manage to make myself look like a dumb-ass. After tucking tail and leaving the winery (Lyndi still laughing), we headed back into Montevideo and decided to eat at a nice small restaurant for the evening.
Next day, we called our friend Claire who now lives in Montevideo and set up a time to meet up with her, Gabriel (her husband) and Mateo (their son). We headed over to their place around 1pm and although we planned on just spending maybe a couple hours catching up, we ended up staying until about 10pm. Claire and Gabs were gracious enough to give us a mini-tour of the town of Montevideo, and also that night treat us to a home-cooked dinner of Uruguayan steak, sausage and roasted veggies. Although we’ve cooked many a time in our hostels, you always appreciate a nice home-cooked meal amongst good company. To top off the evening, Gabriel was gracious enough to give us a ride back to the hotel, which saved us the trouble of a 45 minute bus ride and was greatly appreciated- thanks again for everything Claire and Gabs!
Not thinking of any better way to end our stay in Montevideo, we checked out of our hotel the next morning, and headed to the bus station where we would travel to our final city in Uruguay- Colonia. Having stayed at a nice hotel, walked the calm (yet still windy) streets, visited a nice winery and caught up with some old friends, we left Montevideo with a good impression of this capital city of Uruguay.
