Montevideo, Uruguay: Short, Sweet and Spendy

(The blog was written Nov. 1st, we haven't had wifi for a while so were catching up on posting now :)

We arrived in Montevideo after a 24 hour, three bus trip from Puerto Iguazu. We caught a bus from Puerto Iguazu to Concordia, where the bus left us at the side of a dusty highway with two other foreigners and three Argentinians, at 6am. This was a bit of a shock to us, considering we assumed they would take us to a bus terminal, especially because the bus ticket cost $50 each! There was one lone cab waiting there and the cab driver called another cab for us, while she took off with the other travelers who were going camping. Our cab driver was super nice and turned out to also be a policeman. We spent some time in the bus terminal then went across the border to Salto, Uruguay, then onto Montevideo.

Our hotel was easy to find and we were pleasantly surprised with a large room, two single beds and a clean bathroom. The hotel staff at The Splendido Hotel was INSANELY nice. They were so friendly and took care of us very well. The breakfast was great, hot fresh coffee and a full kitchen we could use anytime. There was a pretty big common area and dining room where we met an interesting fellow traveler who had many great stories to tell. Jodi, a Canadian, was a corporate lawyer in NYC until she decided to give it up to travel full time. She had some truly amazing stories, if you want to know more check out her blog at http://www.legalnomads.com/. It is also full of great advice about traveling.

Montevideo isn’t really a tourist mecca so we just walked around the city quite a bit, ate A LOT and drank a fair amount. We mostly relaxed and enjoyed the port city, trying not to spend too much money but still keep ourselves entertained. It is very expensive, and after an incident where we accidently spent $10 on two sodas and two waters, we kept a very close eye on our budget. Our anniversary was the last night we were there (Halloween!) and we celebrated by going to an excellent paradilla restaurant, El Fogon (kind of BBQ meats famous in Argentina) where we had some of the first vegetables we’ve had in South America, and a ton of delicious meat. Dan may or may not have eaten liver. It was an awesome way to celebrate one magical year together!

The next day we checked out of the hotel, walked about 9km along the seafront and people watched a bit before we had to go to the bus terminal for another long journey to Mendoza, Argentina. Overall, we thought Montevideo was lovely and would be a fantastic city to live and work in.

Here's how I roll! And we are off to Mendoza....

Dan's P.S. I wanted to name this blog Montevideo killed the monteradio star, but Amanda wouldn't let me.

Healthy Living in Korea: Fighting!

In my quest to get healthy I have turned my attention to the last frontier of rebellion and craziness in my life: food. And drinks. And stuff disguised as food. In the states I was a vegetarian. Not because I don’t enjoy eating animals. Because I do. But because it is bad for the earth and terrible for my digestion. I’m also lactose intolerant. I LOVE cheese, milk and pretty much everything bad for me, but I feel like shit if I eat them. Anyway, when I traveled though Europe and arrived in Korea I kinda gave up my vegetarian lifestyle in exchange for more freedom and, well, being able to eat at restaurants. I believe in being flexible, especially with food. But now summer is coming and I’m less than three months from heading back to the states and I want to look and feel good again! Quitting drinking was definitely a step in the right direction, and now I’m going to try limiting meat to just once a week. I’m also going to try to go pretty much vegan during my workdays.

The big catalyst for my new found enthusiasm is the latest book picked by the book club I belong to. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life is about a family that decided to move to the Appalachian mountains and start a farm. Their main goal is to only live on what they can grow or buy from their neighbors. The rule is pretty much everything should be sustainable and if they don’t personally know who raised/ grew it, they can’t eat it. It is written by a wonderful novelist (the mother of the family), Barbra Kingsolver with help from her family and contributors.

In my opinion, we have gotten WAY too far away from where our food really comes from. Most people don’t have a clue about what fruits and vegetables are in season when, or even what continent they are grown on. One thing I will say I desperately miss about the USA is the space to grow a garden and the awareness of global food issues that has really started in the last ten years. I can’t wait to go to a farmers market and know none of the foods were grown with pesticides. I really hope the world comes around to these “liberal” ideas about growing food before it’s too late and the topsoil has been completely raped of all nutrients. Please check out this book if you are interested in these issues!

WINE

I am a wine lover. This has been less apparent to my friends in Korea, mostly because the selection here is pretty much limited to Yellow Tail and wineries I’ve never heard of before, with labels I can’t even read. As some of you may know, I spent five long years of my life working at Gustav’s German Restaurant in Clackamas, Oregon, and it was there I developed my taste for great German rieslings. Believe me, I served many a great glass of wine and drank more than my share. After a long day working a double shift at the restaurant (every Saturday) I would almost always stop by Safeway and buy a great loaf of rustic bread, a block of cheese and a bottle of Chateau Ste. Michelle. This winery is in the Columbia Valley, in Washington state, making it very cheap and usually on sale. It is also delicious. If I could afford it, or for a special occasion, I would get a bottle of Dr. Loosen from Mosel Valley, Germany. Seriously good stuff. They have cheap bottles too; it’s just more expensive because it’s imported.

Riesling is such a great summer wine, but in the winter I liked a great syrah or even cabernet. Nothing warms you up like red wine! Living in Korea was definitely a shock to my fine wine senses. It’s not that they don’t have wine here. They do. But it’s either complete crap or really expensive. It’s my opinion that you shouldn’t have to shell out more than $15 for a bottle of wine. And the whole sobriety thing has REALLY put a cramp in my wine drinking style. Hopefully after this year I can go back to enjoying a great glass of wine after work (a not drink the whole bottle!).