Halloween, Dia de Los Muertos y Dia de los Disfuntos

Although Halloween is catching on in South America it still lacks the flare and build-up we create in the US. Fittingly it is not part of their culture and celebrating down here would feel less than authentic.

These cultures have much scarier things to worry about than silly old Halloween. Like this mask for example: A native depiction of a Spanish conquistador

I think Halloween is more popular in Uruguay. Our hosts from couch surfers in Montevideo had Halloween candy and a pumpkin! In their kitchen they have a blackboard wall which we decorated with a few spooky sketches.

From Uruguay Stuart wrote:
“There were a lot of kids celebrating Halloween in Tacuarembo tonight.
The were dressed up, throwing stuff on each other, and running around. One was
dressed up like a ghost, but made the mistake of having his head pointed, so he
was actually dressed like a KKK member. Dad and I had a good laugh at that,
and yes there are photos.”

In Argentina there are a few parties at clubs and in resturaunts. I contemplated dressing Carlos up or going out in costume myself. But Carlos has been dressed up enough (see photo below) and with the heavy rain a movie seemed like the best option.

French Cat

Ghost Busters was a pretty good choice. I can’t believe I had never seen it. I drank some beer and watched it with our current couch surfers Mercedes and Mario.

Mario is from Switzerland and Mercedes is from Quito, Ecuador. The couple have been traveling for 3.5 moths and will be returning to their home in Quito next week. Merceds and I talked about the up coming holiday in her country, Dia de Los Disfuntos (Day of the deceased).

Families go to the graveyards to honor the dead by decorating the grave with flowers. There is a large dinner with a traditional blueberry (colorada morada) drink and bread shaped into little figures called Gua Gua de Pan which means baby-bread.

These traditions stems from their native heritage. Similar celebrations take place in Mexico, Dia De Los Muertos. Graves are decorated a huge feast is prepared with plates set for both the living and the departed.

Passed loved ones are honored with their faovirte tequilas, candies, flowers etc. In Mexico the traditional sugar skulls adorne homes along with candeles and marigolds.

If you can’t tell I’d really like to go to Mexico and stay with a family during this celebration…

Mexican immigrants in the US celebrate too. Hopefully when I get back I can get involved in a community and learn more about how their traditions function away from their native countries.

VISA RUN!

As the 90-day mark drew nearer Stuart and I tried to plan a small get away for our next visa run. 1 trip to Colonia is enough to last a lifetime. 4 times would start to feel like torture.
A few days after Chip left Stuart and I booked overnight ferry/bus tickets from BA to Montevideo. The fact the Uruguay has a population under 3.5 million compared to Buenos Aires’ 13 million made this trip a great opportunity to unwind.

That is until we arrived and I discovered I had to leave the next night to be back for a wine tasting…

We made good use of the time we had. On the first day we explored the city stopping at a few museums and lingering in Plazas. We found the Uruguayan people to be very friendly, laid back but also curious.

With Stuart blonde hair and our travelers’ backpacks people stopped to ask us where we from. On one occasion we met a very jovial fisherman who had lived in the states but is now retired.

The next encounter was an Italian dj working in the city. He talked with us in a main plaza and gave us all sorts of advice. His flattery about our language skills and his eagerness to help were well received at first.

He offered to show us the beach. Wrapped up in conversation we followed. When we came to a part of the city with not many people around we began to feel uncomfortable. He was nice enough, but the empty beach and run down apt buildings felt how most bad stories must start.

To give a made up example of how the conversation went
“You like squirrels?”
“I know everyone who sells squirrels in the city, come with me and I get you a squirrels.”

When he told us he had to make a call to one of his contacts Stuart and I decided it best not to follow him any longer. When the call was finished we said good-bye and bee-lined back for the city center.

Once there we stopped for lunch; ordering a Chivito and a cold Patricia beer.

Back to the museums Stuart found the Montevideo Carnival museum. We practiced our Spanish reading plaques and exploring the museum. It sort of reminded me of Las Fallas in Valencia, Spain, especially the harlequin in the entrance.

They displayed typical costumes, photos and floats. My favorite of all had to be the feathered centaur legs.

Pretty exhausted from the journey we stopped at an information office to make plans for the next day. I highly recommend using these tourists’ offices. Usually they are government run and give great advice. We walked away with maps and plenty of information about what to do and see.

One focus of the trip was to explore part Uruguay’s wine trail. Heading the advice of the friendly travel agent we rented a car. It is only fitting that our first car rental experience would be in South America.

Keys in hand we called our Couch-Surfing contact and arranged a time to meet. We were given directions to his office and met at 5 pm. Getting there was an adventure. Stuart’s adrenal glands went into over drive and we dogged buses and mopeds in the busy city.

We arrived unscathed and met our host; a certified doctor who opted not to practice but to go into marketing for himself. He instructed us to follow him. Rather than heading straight to his home he wound us around to several of the city’s parks and places of interest.

We took Las Ramblas which hugs the beach back to his house in Ciudad de la Costa, about 15 min outside the city. Sun sand and water (dirty water, but water.) I could not be happier to escape Buenos Aires.

We arrived at his lovely home where he showed us our room.  He invited us to have dinner with him and his wife. And left us to get settled in.

As our first CS experience as surfers we were very lucky. Dinner meant a full-blown asado! He and his wife returned later with steak, sausage, cheese etc.  He heated up the grill, which uses sticks not carbon like in Argentina. We drank wine and stayed up late chatting with them.

In regards to Couch Surfing I am always to hear strange stories. Most experiences are hardly negative, but being a nice person does not keep others from finding you strange. Our hosts once had a 50-year-old man live with them who had been couch surfing in Montevideo for a long time.

At one house he moved from the house to the backyard construction a small box or shed. On another occasion they hosted a famous jazz musician and his estranged wife who practiced healing with crystals…

We had a good laugh and turned in for the night.

CAMINO DE VINO! DAY II IN MONTEVIEDO

We woke up early and packed our bags. A big day in wine country lay ahead of us.
Map in hand we set out for our first winery.

Exiting the city there is nothing. Sweet beautiful nothing. Just cows which we loudly yelled at  “ Moo cow Moo!” Turns out there are more cows than people in this country.

As you can see from these photos we have some prime cow butt and 2 delicious baby steaks.

num num

We wound down country roads until we neared our first wine visit. En-route we passed a man working in the vines. We pulled over to talk with him.
“Spraying for ants” with a toothless smile.
He showed us this destruction some had done to the vines…. Very impressive.
We asked what he was growing.- He gave us an overview of the vines and told us we could wander through them as we pleased. I don’t think I’ve seen Stu happier!

At this point the vines have no grapes only buds, which will flower in the coming months.

We thanked him and hoped back in the car heading to Marichal Bodega. This is a winery operated by 4 generations of family. We were given a tour and sat down for a tasting with one of the enologists, Juan Andres.

Uruguay is primarily known for growing Tannat, a thick-skinned inky grape that can stand up to Uruguay’s humid climate. We were surprised to find a pinot noir, complex with lots of earth and mushroom.

3 hours went by. Spending time at one or 2 wineries is the way to go.  You can stop and pick the wine maker’s brain and get to know some fantastic people. We tried 6 wines including a pinot noir, a pinot noir tannat blend, and a chardonnay pinot noir rose. (And yes mom Stuart spit out the wine and was perfectly fine to drive.)

Thanking him for a great tasting we took off down the road to our next destination. Vinos de los Vientos. This winery is run by a young couple, Pablo and Mariana. Their project intrigued us.

Originally Pablo’s grandfather, an Italian immigrant from Piedmont planted several traditional varietals like Barbaresco and Nebliolo, Pablo was now growing Guerzteminer and Amarone- not something you see everyday in South America!

He currently was turning over much of the vineyard and planting new vines. His style seemed to be pretty experimental, with some traditional flare. While focusing on his own limited production wines from quality grapes he also grows chard grapes to sell as bulk wine. (Good source of income to fuel creative projects)

We spent some time out in the vines with Pablo and his three crazy dogs. We watched one of his workers graft vines and observed the unique trellising system. In the production facility we learned the origin of the winery’s name “Wines of the Winds”. Located closer to the shore strong gusts sweep through the area. They have knocked over some of his barns and blown off roofs!

We made our way inside for the tasting which included a very nice assortment of meats and cheeses. We really loved the two reds served and the desert wines.

Heading back into the city we passed a family zooming down on their moped. SAFE!

Unfortunately our trip ended shortly after. With the nature of my job I never know when I will have a wine tasting. I was called back for work. Stuart and I parted ways as he went to meet his father in the north. I left pouty and seething with jealousy.

Crime, Hand Talkers and Yatchs

This morning I witnessed an arrest. Like most crime in Buenos Aires this passing was non-violent. A fat middle-aged man stole a woman’s nap sack.

Cops are everywhere in the city but this was the first I’d seen take real action. Heaven forbid he take time away from whistle at short skirts and dipping his media lunas in café con leche.

I arrived with the man on his knees held at gunpoint by the cop. With a pistol inches from your temple you would think not to remove your hands from your head. However due to Italian heritage Portenos need to talk with their hands….

To explain, the thief raised his hands to gesticulate his innocence. All the while the victim yelled and swung her arms threateningly. Curse words (which I know understand) were exchanged.

Worse yet the cop also yelled and waved his hands/gun around in the air. I imagine this situation would carry on for some time. Portenos are slow to come any conclusion and must talk above one another and each feel like he or she ahd the last word.

I joined the other onlookers for a few last moments as I reflected on a few other stories. Our first couch surfers had an attempted robbery at the obelisk; 3 crazy bums came up with a filthy tattered sheet and put it over Derek’s head. When the two refused to hand over any cash the bums searched their pockets but were confused by Derek’s chain tethered wallet.
Making my way to the port I passed some people scratching their heads with a giant map. I offered to help and ended up saving their lives They were naively planning to walk to the danger zone; La Boca! I told them NO & to take the bus.

Down by the agua Brazilian tourists move in herds. While the “Buenos Aires Yacht Club” Members dress their sails for sea. The bridge was drawn while 3 sailboats full JCREW clad families smugly laughed on by.

I felt envious for a bit but then remembered most would only be headed to Rio de Plata, the brown sewage colored water between Argentina and Uruguay. A quick stretch later my attention refocused in on the bridge rotating back to link up a main road. Too bad for Stu being a late sleepy missed the engineering feet.

I walked home, woke Stuart up. We went to a farmers market on Balcare which seemed to have sprung up over night. We bought all of nature’s bounty, including herbs and tomatoes to plant on the terrace.

Cat, I’m Kitty Cat and I Dance Dance Dance

The other night we had the pleasure of hosting newly weds Keith and Radiance from NYC. They were married in her hometown in Florida before heading to South America for their honeymoon. Starting in Bariloche they eventually made their way to Buenos Aires. (Good news they loved Bariloche and said anyone could easily pass a week there.)

They were really fascinating people to talk to. She had her degree in Italian and he worked as a lawyer. They love to travel and all sorts of interesting stories. I took the opportunity of having two New Yorkers present to educate Stuart on the wonders of the great Empire State.

Lesson 1: Pizza- Only rivalry found was in Napoli (The birth place of pizza.) But on account of the freshest ingredients. Otherwise hands down stylistically NY rules.

Lesson 2: Snow- Not so bad, get over it. You will learn to cross country ski and like it.

At some point late in the evening Carlos and Pluma pranced into the room, uninvited. They escaped from the kitchen and came to investigate.
Fortunately our guests were also cat lovers.
We learned the Keith and Radiance are the proud owners of a kitten-cat. A cat with stunted growth that at an adult age appears to be a kitten! Iphones were passed, pictures were shared.
Carlos was fed left over cheese as we explained the reasons why our fur ball is semi-blind and dim witted

Pet lovers are an interesting breed. We were relieved to learn that we were not the only one to create a voice or persona for our cat. Their cat script sounds like Cartmen from South Park. Stuart describes our cat voice as an egomaniacal 3 year old prince. “ I am a cat and I do cat things”

The tangent really went off when this YouTube clip was presented. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpA2tMrQ4RU

At the end of the night I reflected on how wine makes for a good topic of conversation and after a few glasses inspires any topic of conversation.

BACK IN BUSINESS

I AM BACK!

An untimely death for my laptop prevented me from keeping a steady stream of blogs. Stuart’s inability to share his computer will keep the past 3 months a mystery.
Imagine two children pushing and shoving one another. Temper-tantrums ensued.
Aside from constant bickering our life has been pretty great these last few months.

With out a computer I have found other sources of entertainment;
Cat Fashion Design
Talking and getting to know my roommates
Reading
Studying Spanish
Walks
And my form of exercise; cleaning

Everything changed Friday when Chip came to town bearing gifts. A suitcase of cat toys, socks, gummie bears were slowly presented to eager recipients. A Mac book even made its way into the mix. –THANK YOU MEGAN, MOM, DAD, FEDEX and CHESCHEIRS!

Now please allow the following bullet point to feebly recap the past 3 months’ passings:

•    EDLUND FAMILY TRIP- A month from now the Edlunds and Boones will be in town. We are all set for a family trip to BARILOCHE We rented a house. I am so excited to escape the city for a few days and relax with my family who I will not have seen in over a year!
•    CHESCHEIR FAMILY TRIP! In January Stuart and I will be meeting his parents, brother and grandfather in AFRICA!

•    CARLOS- Full grown and fat. Down to 7 lives. He recently sustained a second massive head injury, smacking his head on a pot when falling from the terrace. You will recall his first when I stepped on his little cat head. He’s doing fine and still dumb as a rock. We often see him perched sitting wide-eyed, ears perked with a very far away look on his face. As the Germans put it Carlos is “evolution’s greatest failure”

•    WORK – work is going well. We have a steady flow of tastings and our kept busy with all the ins and outs of running the business. Lourdes returns tomorrow with my official business cards!
•    BRUCE- Our good friend Bruce has set out on travel through South America before returning to the States. We were sad to see him go but lived it up quite a bit before his departure.
•    SUMMER- Things are heating up. We have had many a dinner on the terrace. We have also begun to work away at the garden. We plan to plant fresh herbs and tomatoes either for gourmet cooking or if the cats have it their way, weak little plants to gobble up and destroy.
•    CHIP’S VISIT- Chip is in town for an agriculture conference. He heads to Uruguay tomorrow. Stuart and I may follow him as it is about time we marked our passports. During his stay we have had some very nice meals including a full asado prepared by Stuart.
•    There was some serious male bonding time while the two reconstructed our coffee table. We now have a Starbucks like setting in the space below the loft.
•    COUCH SURFING- we have become more involved with Couch Surfing. Hosting two separate couples; a peculiar pair of Kiwis and an exhausted set of French. The program is a great way to meet new people and prepare for our won travels ahead.

Expect updates regularly form this point on.

Couch Surfers

With any free time we find, Stuart and I have been reading guide books and studying maps.

Before returning to the States we would like to take a month (or if I have it my way 2 months) to travel South America.

 

Our destination list so far:

 

Costal towns of Chile (2-4 days)

Wine Regions of Chile (week)

Wine Regions of Argentina- Mendoza, La Rioja, San Juan and Salta (1.5 weeks)

Columbia (4-5 days)

 

… I couldn’t talk him into Venezuela though.

 

How do we plan to fund this trip?

 

Through a few connections I have with hostels Stuart and I would like to offer tastings to other travelers; affordable supermarket finds or the option to upgrade to the Anuva Tasting. Andrea is running a hostel with his girlfriend now and will send me a group or two.

 

For Accomidations-

We recently made Couch Surfing accounts, for those unfamiliar Couch Surfing is a free international service where people offer their couches, spare bed rooms, floors to other travelers free of charge.

 

It takes a while to build credibility so we thought it best to start now. We will be offering our loft as a place to crash and our happy to meet people for a coffee or drink. Tonight there is a networking event for surfers near our house which we plan to attend.

 

Travel

We have put ourselves on a rather frugal budget and have tried to save all we can to pay for bus/ plane tickets etc. We are exploring the idea of biking/hiking in certain places.

 

 

Food

-Street food and pasta.

 

My goal is to fit everything into one tiny book bag.

 

I picture us now returning to the states half starved with ragged clothing- It will be great!

The trip is a long ways off but I get giddy thinking about hitting the road with my favorite travel companion again!

Splendid Table

The Splendid Table

 

Daniel and Lourdes left for the States on July 22^nd. They are promoting the business on US soil and plan to return between October and December. Until that time Stuart and I are running the wine tastings and maintaining the business in Buenos Aires.

 

With the weather so nice we decided the terrace is ideal for hosting tastings. The wine bar is still an option but has yet to come to be.  Opting to do the tastings for the time being in the comfort of our own home we splurged/invested for a table and benches. I found a set used on Mercado Libre, a website in South America similar to ebay and Craigslist.

 

Stuart told me to shop around and not to get my hopes up. That I might not find what I was looking for. I challenged him and got it done in a day. I found a great deal and had it delivered to our house the next afternoon.

 

Last night we christened the table with a big house dinner and by giving carlos a bath. Carlos actually just needed to be washed, the table seemed like a good excuse. He now smells like strawberries and hates Stuart.

 

Spring Fever

About 2 weeks ago or so Stuart and I found ourselves very busy. Between social obligations and new responsibilities at work and home there has been little time to blog.

 

At the end of August the original lease on the house ends. Stuart and I love the house and decided to renew for another 6 months. This involved a large bundle of American bills and scrutinizing small print in Spanish.

 

Part of keeping the house meant finding new roommates as all of ours began traveling again or returned home to Europe. We had many going away parties and posted to Craigslist. For 2 weeks showed the house.

 

One evening 30 people came through our door. This process is quite comical; the hippies, the people who don’t speak Spanish or English, the couple with the baby?

 

Not to mention the other ups and downs and broken promises. We quickly learned that reservations need to be backed with cash as many people back out. The fickle French girl who “had second thoughts”, the two Austrians who had invalid visas and had to leave the country…

 

Eventually the right people showed up.

 

Annika from Germany sadly will be with us for a month studying Spanish.

MEAT!

 

Jasper also from Germany is studying history and industrial design at one of the universities.

 

Marine from Tolouse, France is studying international business for a year and then plans to volunteer in a sustainability project

.

Michale also from Germany will be with us until the end of December.

 

Taking Annika’s place will be Sohpie from Paris.

 

Everyone gets along quite well. Stuart prepared an AWSOME! asado this past weekend. Surprisingly no one became violently ill this time. Bruce came by as well to meet everyone.

 

Playing the landlord and keeping the house is going well so far. Stuart has started to purchase tools and has his hands full with chores. Unclogging fish oil and rice from the kitchen sink, deicing the freezer with a wooden spatula. The maid has been a no-show twice now. And our internet is in and out….

 

The weather gets better everyday. As we near spring cabin fever symptoms are notable and severe. The cats bask in the sun and beg to play in our mini rooftop jungle. Carlos has gone from and awkward little kitten to a somewhat overweight demented teenager. I die laughing each time I see him hanging from a plant or chasing shadows on the terrace.

 

 I have been cleaning everything. What I call “organizing”, Stuart calls “hiding my stuff so I can’t find anything.” I feel more and more like mom everyday…

Pizza Hop

 

Eventually after staying a in city long enough the question arises “Who has the best pizza?”

 

Hungry for the answer Stuart and I gathered up a group of friends to go on a pizza tour. Av. Corrientes is famous for theaters, old cafes, book stores and pizza. Many of the city’s first and most famous pizzerias are tucked away in this bustling street.

 

We started in Micro center and worked our way past the Obelisk to 4 or 5 pizza places.

In a traditional set up you can sit or stand. I prefer to belly up with a big slice and a cold beer. During the weekdays you can see all the business men rush in for a quick bite, with plates pilled high of cheesy deliciousness.

 

 

 

1^st stop, Palacio de la Pizza. 751 Corrientes. I had been here before. The dough is thick…almost as thick as the cheese. I gave a high score, other members of the panel felt we could do better. I submitted only account on our poor beverage selection. Bruce swears by the classic combination of Muscato and pie.  Taking his professional recommendation we committed to an entire bottle: 8 people, $15 pesos, 45 minutes lost attempting to down the sweet viscous fortified wine. 3 stars total

 

2^nd Las Cuartetas, Corrientes 838. Had less selection of pizza by the slice than #1. Greasy crust, overly salty cheese and bad service left me leaving a lower score. The group had mixed reviews, in part because the pizza did have a thinner crust than Palacio. I think the ice cold Quilmes helped as well. 2.5 stars total

 

3^rd. Banchero, a classic in the city. Av Corrientes 1300.- Stuart and I split a big slice of spinach and white sauce pizza which I liked a lot and wound up not sharing. Other in our posse went for traditional cheese and were not impressed. Once again cold icy beer. 2.5 stars total

 

4^th Guerrin Corrientes 1368- Now there is a reason why Guerrin makes every guide book. It is the best; great pie, great service and environment. We huddled in around the center island and worked to finish our final slices. Full and happy we gave Guerrin 4.5 stars.

 

We opted to quit while we were ahead.  #5 or Los Immortales- Corrientes 1369 is still on the list. Next time I plan to get my pizza to go or “ a llevar”. As a wine lover and a pizza lover I find the wine lists at each of these dinosaurs limited and I wind up getting beer, or in some unfortunate cases cheap Muscato.

 

But for me a good pie deserves a good bottle of wine. Pizza can be a difficult match; I tend to go by the toppings. A pizza with sausage or pepperoni goes great with a fuller body wine like Malbec or Pettite Verdot.  Another great combo is cheese, pineapple and ham (Hawaiian (sans tomato sauce!) with Torrontes.

 

If you visit Buenos Aires be sure to try the pizza. Keep in mind this city oozes Italian heritage and cellars some of the best wine in the world.