Week 3
Trip Start
Aug 15, 2008
1
3
4
Trip End
Sep 16, 2008
Montevideo,
Uruguay
Friday, September 5, 2008
3 pm - We walked a different way to the Port, up the rambla, to find the Info Center closed (not a surprise), but the Mercado del Puerto starting to boom at 11 am. There are many different restaurants in one very old building, and meat was being cooked in plain sight. Public baños were greatly appreciated, as well. We strolled around the neighborhood - quiet on a week-end (it is the banking and financial center, I think). As we headed back, we hit a mini-flea market in one of the plazas - some junk, but, for the most part, much nicer than the Sunday one. Then we spotted a few dressed-up and made-up little girls getting ready to perform the flamenco! Three different age groups took turns; two adults danced with the oldest girls, young teen-agers, dressed in long white skirts. The middle group was next - 8 - 10 year olds, in red and white dresses, with the real flounce on the hem. Finally, the very little ones (4 and 5 years old) took the stage, and, as usual, they were the hit of the show. This was something totally unexpected, and it really brightened up our day.
We stopped for some veggies, but Philip got upset when he got ignored, so we stopped at the SuperMercado, which was mobbed. Ate lunch about 2!
Got several emails as a result of this week´s email, so that makes me happy. Philip announced this morning that he is ready to depart now, and I agreed, but he isn´t interested in changing our departure date - yet. Now we´ve got two hurricanes to worry about, as well - Gustav and Hanna.
We saw something fascinating as we left our building. Five (3 on the porch and 2 on the ground) men were lowering a couch to the ground from about the 8th floor, using ropes.
7:30 pm - I worked on my blog for a couple of hours while Philip watched TV. He just viewed some highlights of the college football games today on espn.com and then made some delicious vegetable soup while I lounged around, washed my hair, and felt cold. ¨Hope you´re not coming down with something.¨ ¨Me, too!¨
Su., 8-31 - 3:30 pm - I slept well, after taking some prunes, while worked this morning, so I feel much better in that respect. After a yummy French toast breakfast (with miel (honey) instead of maple syrup), we puttered around, me on the computer and Philip watching TV, until 10:30 when we struck off via a taxi to the Sheraton Hotel, in the Punta Carretas barrio. It was very cold and windy, so we easily found our way into the adjoining P.C. shopping area, a mall almost as nice as Aventura (but not as big). Everything was beautifully displayed, floors were clean, and people were well-dressed. I bought myself a Sudoku book to help keep me entertained. Finally, we braved the outdoors and walked to the Parque Rodo, asking directions along the way. When we finally arrived, it was mobbed - another flea market! We avoided it like the plague and ended up eating our sandwiches in a fenced-in area nearby. The next-door building, a biblioteca (which I thought was a library), was open, to our amazement, and we looked at a collection of paintings, plus used the baños. As we continued our walk through the park, we enjoyed seeing the families, especially with children, taking advantage of a lovely day. Pedal boats were popular. We were surprised to see in the park: a white rabbit, a rooster, and a very interesting bird with a red head, face, and bib, possibly a red-crested cardinal. Since we were so close to España Blvd., we decided to look for the travel agency that we are going to visit tomorrow about the wine trip and actually found it. Instead of grabbing the first 149 bus we saw, we walked a bit more and then waited for one, finally (me, of course) asking someone else if we were waiting at the right spot. NO. We had to walk 3 blocks to Gonzalo Ramirez (always reminds me of Gonzolo Raventos from Turner Tech), where one showed up pretty soon. We got dropped off about a block from the apartment in just beautiful weather. Unfortunately, there is no place where we can enjoy the outside right around the apartment. So we are inside, doing our mutual things (TV and computer), after being on our feet and walking for about 4 hrs., except when we were eating lunch or riding on the bus.
7 pm -Well, we´ve gotten through another few hours, thanks to the TV and computer. I made some cream of chicken soup from Knorr and tossed in lots of rotisserie chicken. Came out good!
Mo., 9-1 - 8:30 am - We kind of enjoyed a remake of Black Dahlia on TV last night, but it was certainly more violent with tons of very bad language than the original (we think). Philip rested on the long couch, covered up, and I reclined on the short couch. This morning it is brisk, but sunny.
5:30 pm - I called Monica´s office, but she wasn´t there yet, and I should have left the apt. tel. no. for her to call back, but I didn´t. Then I recalled, only to get her answering machine. Finally, about 11, Philip announced that we HAD to get out, even if it wasn´t as planned. We walked downtown to the not-so-great Info Office (where the man doesn´t speak English) and got info about taking a bus to the Prado area (botanical gardens are there) and also to Santiago Vazquez. For Prado, we get bus #582 on Rondo (not spelled right) street, but we´re not positive that it´ll be going the direction we need. For S.V., we must go to the bus terminal (near us) and buy a ticket. We swung by the tourist agency to tell Sandra about our experience in B.A., emphasizing the good things first. She confirmed the bus to Prado. Philip announced that, since we had no idea of what would be available to eat in Prado, we should have lunch first, but it was a little too early, so we walked around a bit, on a different street downtown, with fewer people than de Julio. We people-watched at one of the plazas and ended up at the Madison Restaurant (2nd visit) where the nicest young woman - Elena - waited on us. I told her when we left: ¨You have a lot of personality!¨ We ordered a pork chop dinner for ONE, but with 2 plates; it came with salad and fries. Well, it was really good. We polished everything off AND shared (I had all of 2 oz.) a bottle of beer (described by the cute waitress as ¨blond¨). After that, we felt like going nowhere far away, so walked down the street, looking for the bus stop for Prado and making a pit stop at the Amcap gas station with a ¨minimercado¨ and also picking up some fruit. Numia was closed (lunch?). Barbara sent 198 pictures of the family reunion, which I really enjoyed. I called Monica and made arrangements to meet her at 3 pm at the Radisson (where she was scheduled to have a meeting), a big help for us. I made reservations for us at the local dance show, but only for a drink each; after it was arranged, Philip said he thought we´d decided to go for dinner, too, but that wasn´t my understanding. We went out to pick up a few things at Numia´s little store next to us. She was happy that we brought our plastic bags to re-use. She was NOT happy when Philip wanted to pay her with a $1000 bill! A man (spoke English) who owns the gym across the street helped out by changing the big bill and invited us to go to his gym. After putting our few items away, we walked up to the Pal. Leg. area and found out about the English tour (we think - 11 am) and then walked back via Lima St., where we found a very nice butcher shop and mercado, only a couple of blocks away. I called Copa Airlines; they´ll charge us $50 to change our tickets if we choose to depart early.
P has attempted to invite Edouardo (the concierge/building super) and his family (wife and 3 dtrs.) out to eat some evening, in spite of the fact that none of them speaks English. P: I can talk with the kids in Spanish!
Tu., 9-2 - 11 am - We finished up the delicious veggie soup last night and watched a sweet English movie (about a boy who befriended a rabbi in a tough section of NYC) until we called it quits and retired. Monica called last evening because her meeting at the Radisson was canceled and she asked if we could meet her at her office on España Blvd. at 3, but I said we couldn´t because we didn´t want to face all the bus passengers after 4 pm. So now we are scheduled to meet her at 10:30 tomorrow morning. I understood the laundry woman to say that our sheets would be ready by 9, but she was closed. (P very much admires hard-working people, and this woman is definitely part of that group!) We walked downtown for 2 simple errands: get money from an ATM and pick up a few groceries. Well, it turned into a big deal because the first ATM we tried had no money in it. A man gave us directions to another one, but we couldn´t find it, but did try at least 3 others, none of which would accept P´s card. FINALLY, near the SuperMercado, across from a Mariachi Club, we had success. It got progressively warmer, as well, and, per weather.com, is now 70 degrees! The sun is not shining, so it could be worse. It´s very comfie in the apt. We got back too late for the 11 a.m. tour at the Pal. Leg., but will try the 3 pm one. We need to rest up a bit to make the dance show this evening!
4:30 pm - After a good lunch, Philip rested on the couch, and I snoozed in the bed for an hour or so. We got to the Pal. Leg. about 2:40, only to find the damned tour had started at 2:30, in English, we think. (No one speaks any English there, at all.) We took the long way back, planning to check out that SuperMercado we discovered yesterday, but it was closed up tight. Perhaps it would reopen at 3, who knows? Back at the cooling-off apt., Philip found a wonderful movie on TV - ¨Dear Men Don´t Wear Plaid¨ with Steve Martin and a raft of famous, very old stars, from their original movies. Philip has announced that he is NOT interesting in attending the show tonight.
7 pm - We caught an interesting BBC show about men who participated in an around-the-world sailboat race in the 50´s or so and one, in particular, who committed suicide rather than return after breaking a few rules. We finished the cream of chicken soup - so good! I can work on Sudoku puzzles while watching TV, but may have to buy another book before we depart.
http://realtravel.com/montevideo-journals-j6664518.html
http://realtravel.com/buenos_aires-journals-j6670044.html
We., 9-3 - 1:30 pm - We stayed up until 11 pm watching a movie about a Harlem Elementary School teacher, Mr. Ron Clark, who worked miracles with a very low-performing class of 6th graders with unconventional methods. I love stories like that, plus it was based on fact! The dinner/show place called about 9 pm, wondering where we were! I invented a ¨both got ill¨ excuse. Philip cut up a tasty pear for breakfast and made us an excellent omelet; we took off for the bus about 9:20 a.m., to the street behind the red brick school across the street. Philip wanted to go to the opposite side of the street (where the bus dropped us off), but I thought we should be on this side, because we wanted to go back to the city area (where we´d come from the other day). A young woman was waiting for the bus, so I asked her, in my halting Spanish, about the bus. In perfect English, she answered! YES! She was going to the same area we were, we needed to wait on this side, and she knows English because her mother is a retired teacher who taught English. Well, we had a very stimulating conversation, about her college program - computer engineering - and the fact that the family spent 3 years in Italy when she was 14. P, meanwhile, started talking, in Spanish, with a blond woman who attends the teacher college in the very ugly building on our side of Libertador in the next block to us. One bus didn´t stop - too full; Josephina had to call her school to say she´d be late. Finally, we all climbed aboard, and I asked her if we could use the transfer for our return trip. It is NOT a transfer; it´s proof that we paid for the ticket. Learn something every day. Bus was packed; when a young man sitting behind me saw me looking at the map, he asked if I needed any help. He spoke pretty good English, and I was most appreciative of his kindness.
We got off as planned and walked the 3 blocks or so to the travel agency, to meet Monica and Rosario. The first floor office is teeny-tiny; we walked up a set of very steep stairs to a 2nd office, which seemed a bit more spacious, to discuss trips, Montevideo, Monica´s daughter (attends a British school where being on time is extremely important), and misc. We got details on the two-vineyard tour, from 2 until 7, which we reserved for next Tuesday; the car, with Rosario as the guide, will actually pick us up here, on the way via Rt. 5. It sounds like fun and should be worth the $150 Am. we paid for the two of us. Rosario assured me that baños should NOT be a concern or problem. They also are offering a week-end trip to Colonia at the end of Sept. (sorry, long gone by then), and Monica was very enthusiastic about Montevideo´s Carnaval in Feb., which doesn´t appeal to us at all. Hopefully, we weren´t too critical of their city; I did try to emphasize how nice people have been to us. Perhaps, as they whiz about in their cars, they don´t see all that we see, walking here and there. After using their lovely, clean baño, we struck off on foot, in lovely weather, even though the prediction was 20% rain.
We walked up España Blvd., which became Constituyente, and then took Dr. J. Barrios Amorin, which almost paralleled Libertador - less traffic, fewer pedestrians, and different scenery. When we spied a different Mercado (5 Hermanos), we did a little shopping and then went to lunch at the nearby restaurant that Pedro recommended 2 blocks away.
There was no menu, just a few things written on a board, plus what we could see in the case. A veggie quiche caught my eye, as well as some empanadas. The woman-owner-cook tried to explain things in Spanish, but we were lost. A young woman came to our rescue; she is Italian, living in London, and working on a Ph. D. comparing human rights between Argentina and Uruguay - a 3-year project! She was in between interviews and a visit to a Museum of Memories. The owner sent over a small helping of chicken and rice, just to taste, but we ordered the quiche and empanadas. Philip didn´t like the oil that the empanadas were fried in, but I liked everything, including the hot tea. Total cost was $152. Ur. plus $25 tip. Philip noticed a young woman using her bare hands to take food out; I thought she was getting an order to go, perhaps for a group from the school. The food is definitely home-made. I loved it!
Back home to rest a bit before tackling the 2:30 pm tour of the Pal. Leg., hopefully in English.
9 pm - I´ve discovered You Tube! Turner Tech, Riverside Mil. Ac., there´s a lot to keep me occupied! We walked to the Pal. Leg. to learn that the Engl. Tour is at 4:30. We gave it up for today.
Th., 9-4 - 2:30 pm - We saw not one, but TWO episodes of The Tudors on TV yesterday, pretty much in order. (But Queen No. 2 was pregnant once, and then she was not, and now she is again, plus someone (a woman) hung herself, and we haven´t figure out who that was.) Then, at 10, Philip discovered a good movie - Francisco and his Two Sons - plus Jane Palin (Rep. VP nominee) speaking at RNC at some point in time. He stayed up, standing up, so he wouldn´t fall asleep, and I tried to go to sleep, but ended up taking a very strong sleeping pill and didn´t want to get up that early this morning, sleeping until after 7:30.
I asked Pedro (during his daily call) if he thought it was a good idea to ask Eduardo to drive us to the airport instead of the car service (which has been extremely reliable); Eduardo does not have a car! I also asked him about the dripping bathroom sink faucet; they are going to replace several things in the bathroom when they return, including the entire sink, so, unless it is bothering us, don´t worry about it. (I have seen several public baños where the water, in the commode and/or the sink runs continuously, so guess water conservation isn´t a big concern here.) Instead of taking the bus to The Prado (Botanical Garden, etc.), we chose to walk downtown, simply because it was so cold and windy. We dressed like ¨onions¨- layered, with gloves and (me) Hermes scarf tied like a babushka, topped by my jacket hood (that doesn´t stay up well, needs a tie or something). Taking a different route was a breeze - different sights! We took the elevator to the 25th floor at the Radisson, to check out the dining room - very fancy, but not that expensive. We were in our walking duds - blue jeans and walking shoes - very out-of-place, but no one ever questions or challenges us there. We stopped next at the Teatro Solis to find out about the Salvador Allende concert. Three of the nicest and cutest young people greeted us there, in English! I dubbed them the ¨Three Musketeers¨; they are college students, majoring in tourism, and working 6 hours a day here for their internships. They looked adorable - black uniforms, with long-sleeved and turtle-necked tops. The two girls and one boy chatted away to us, asking questions and answering our questions. We may try to get to a free student concert one afternoon at 2. ¨Be here by one.¨ The Allende (we learned that, in Uruguay, the double L is pronounced ¨sh¨, so it´s ¨A SHEN day¨ and ¨ca SHAY¨for Calle) concert will be music, singing, and speaking, difficult for us. The tour of the Teatro in English is this afternoon at 4, but I doubt we´ll walk back for it today. We next strolled around the pedestrian streets, stopping in at a 3-floor department store with the name ¨cooperative¨ in the name. It was about 30 degrees warmer inside than out, and people continue to wear their heavy coats, etc. inside. We have to take jacket and sweater off! I´m looking for an outside mat for this apartment as a ¨thank-you¨ gift, but have had no luck yet. We made the mistake of shopping for hard candy (picking up a couple of other things, as well) after noontime, when EVERYONE is let out of work for lunch and has to shop. Will we ever learn? Finally, we returned to The Madison for lunch, mostly because of the personable Elena, the waitress, and, of course, good food. It was 1:00 by now, and the place was packed, with, again, just her running around to take care of at least 10 tables. I faced the kitchen and counted at least five people back there, including the cashier, plus a couple of delivery men. We had the canoneles(?) filled with veggies, mostly spinach; our original plan was to share one order, but we each ended up with 2, which we promptly demolished. Philip had a small bottle of dark beer, and I enjoyed my steaming hot, brewed cup of tea. It warmed up as the day progressed. The only incident on the way back was when I walked behind what I thought was a parked car. Somehow, I bumped into it, and said so. P: ¨No, he backed into you!¨ No harm done. It was a very gentle meeting.
Observations: Many men greet each other with a kiss; it´s very nice to see this. People have the job of standing in the sidewalk and passing out ads to passers-by. We try never to take any. Occasionally, a person (even a child) will ask for money. We see quite a few street people sleeping in doorways and in the parks. Per Rosario, at the travel agency, many people can get help from the government, but they prefer to root through the rubbish and beg, because they choose to live that way. Crossing the street is becoming easier and easier. We just walk off the curb if we are in a marked crosswalk, and, so far, everyone has stopped for us! Either the city isn´t as nasty as dirty as it was when we arrived, or else we are getting used to it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x20PH8C_bNY&feature=related THE BEST YouTube so far of Montevideo!
8:45 pm - I dropped off the laundry and made stir-fry for supper. Philip is watching a weird movie - Empathy - not my kind at all. We did enjoy looking at YouTube videos of Brevard and Franklin, NC, plus an excellent one (made me homesick) of H´wood Beach http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2UtS4JZMS0&NR=1 Fr., 9-5 - 10 am - Philip kept falling asleep on the couch during his movie, and we finally went to bed. Unfortunately, I had one of those nights when I couldn´t get to sleep. I heard every movement from every apartment surrounding us, I itched, and my legs were a bit jumpy. Finally, at 12:45 am, I got up, listened to the ticking of the two clocks, worked on 3 Sudoku puzzles, and drank the rest of the wine - 2 glasses. That made me drowsy, and I finally able to get to sleep by about 2. I spoke to Philip about the situation AND left him a note on the bathroom mirror, so he didn´t wake me up, but I was up by 8, a bit groggy, but functioning, albeit slowly.
Pedro sent us an email about the Alianza Cultural UY/EEUU with this email: FRIENDS, IT COME TO MY MIND THE ADDRESS AND PHONE AT THE PLACE WHERE I STUDIED ENGLISH IN URUGUAY , THEY HAVE A THEATRE AND MIGHT GIVE YOU INFORMATION FOR OTHERS TOPICS. PARAGUAY 1217 (corner of Soriano, three blocks from 18 de Julio ) Phone 900 7356 and the Library: 901 7423. love. Albita & Pedro
When I asked Pedro about restaurants, etc. at The Prado, he admitted that they´d never been there. Also, Alba is quite certain that there will be NOTHING open at the airport for a quick breakfast while waiting to depart at 5;13 am. It looked very cold out. I suggested we go out in the morning because it looks like rain; as usual, we need a few things (WINE), plus I wanted to check out the Alianza Cultural place. We bundled all up in our heaviest clothes, including lined raincoats, got rid of the rubbish, and walked about ½ block. Philip said he wished he´d worn his scarf, I asked if he wanted to go back for it, and he said, ¨Let´s just go back!¨ We managed (after 2 stops at others) to find a tiny store selling celery and then retreated, hoping for the weather to warm up and the rain to hold off because I feel we would go crazy having to stay indoors all day. P misses NPR.
