Category Archives: Uruguay

Our trip in numbers

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I’ve been thinking for a really long time about how to write this, the final post on our South America travel blog.  I thought about posting just photos, or writing some deep and meaningful post about what this trip has meant to me, to us.  I thought about writing a poem (bad idea) or summing up our trip with a review of our favourite moments, a highlight reel, if you will.

But the thing is, you can’t really sum up a trip like ours.  Four months of travel, challenges, new friends, new cities, old buses, lots of laughter and more than a few tears just kind of defies a nice, neat package at the end.

So, instead of a grand finale here on the blog, I’ll leave you with a list of numbers that we’ve composed.  Some of these numbers (the number of countries visited, for instance) come as no surprise at all.  Some of the numbers (the number of photos taken) were a little surprising to me.  It’s impossible to put a figure on what we learned and how much we appreciated being able to take this trip together.  But, we can count the number of bus rides we took.  So, here we go:

Total days travelled: 114
Number of countries visited: 8
Number of bus journeys: 20
Number of overnight bus rides: 5
Number of flights taken: 6
Number of train trips: 1
Number of ferry trips: 1
Number of broken pieces of luggage: 2
Number of things stolen: 2
Number of items lost: 4
Occurances of malaria: 0 (yay!)
Number of pictures taken: approx 3400
Number of dodgy South American haircuts received by Andy: 2
Cheapest meal eaten: US$2 for 2 people
Most expensive meal eaten: US$160 for 2 people
Number of sunburns: 4
Number of windburns: 1
Number of beaches visited: 5
Number of islands visited: 3
Number of volcanoes / mountains visited: 3
Number of canyons visited: 1
Number of doctors visited: 1

To those who inspire

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Sometimes in life you don’t know what you are capable of until you actually do it or you see someone else do it.  That is how we ended up in South America.  We had numerous friends who had been to South America (and been for a long time) that convinced us we could complete and enjoy a long holiday on the continent.

Our inspiration has grown since we’ve been in South America.  So many people that we meet have an interesting story.  So many people have done things we have not and have experiences to share.  Our journey through South America has been enhanced by these people who have inspired us:

Jose Miguel: Our guide from our Amazon trip, Jose Miguel was full of energy and knowledge.  He also had a wonderful story of how he had turned his life around to focus on what he was passionate about: preservation of the Amazon.

James and Briony: We met a couple of Aussies while traveling.  They turned out to be doing a similar sabbatical to us.  James and Briony are doctors who were backpacking and trekking their way across South America.  We shared stories and goals, usually over a couple beers.

Nestor: Nestor was our guide throughout our trek into Colca Canyon.  Nestor had been formally educated in the larger city, but he had returned to lead tourists into his native part of Peru with a point towards assisting the people who live there.  He was in amazing physical shape, and he could run in and out of Colca Canyon in an hour and 45 minutes.  Us tourists took over three hours just to get in it.

Petero: We rented a small cottage while on Easter Island.  Petero was a ball of energy and positivity.  He was the owner of our cottage.  He was one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet, and his view on life made us feel miles from home.

Andrea Connelly: We met Andrea immediately after she had been robbed.  The poor girl had had a shocking day.  We were impressed with how she pulled it together and recovered from the traumatic ordeal.  More importantly, Andrea had been living outside the USA and traveling for 19 months straight.  She would work remotely to earn money and that allowed her to live abroad.  She had lived in amazing places all over Europe, and she was currently touring South America.  Andrea demonstrated what was possible by ‘living abroad’ and how to overcome adversity.

Nils and Ilona: Another couple who turned out to be very close friends, Nils and Ilona were traveling and eating their way through South America, much the way we were.  They were very practical; saving money and planning their travels well.  They had completed the Trans-Siberian Railway and had nothing but encouraging things to say about it.  We shared many of the same views on life with Nils and Ilona.  We found ourselves intrigued by their travels and wanting more.

Bob Fetterman: We rented an apartment in Rio de Janeiro from Bob.  Bob was a nice guy who had moved to Rio and was loving the place.  He had a positive attitude toward life and Rio.  He seemed to be living his dream and enjoying the wonders of a new and different city.  Bob dismissed many of the fears we had about safety in Rio.  He was proof that life can be what you want it to be.

We could go on and on about the people who have touched our lives throughout our travels.  We’ve had to focus on the highlights to keep this blog post reasonable sized.  Many people have our thanks for their support and assistance during our travels.  We were touched by many.

 

 

Meat, meat, and more meat!!

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Our meaty adventure began on our first night in Mendoza.  Mendoza is a wine town and region in the west of Argentina.  We arrived at our hostel in the afternoon, and we signed up for ‘Asado night’ immediately.  Little did we know what this was to entail.  We’d heard that Argentina was big into red meat and red wine.  It did not disappoint.

Before I begin the adventure, you should be familiar with a few terms (definitions from Wikipedia):

Asado: Asado is a technique for cooking cuts of meat, usually consisting of beef alongside various other meats, which are cooked on a grill (parrilla) or open fire. It is considered the traditional dish of Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay, Chile and southern Brazil.

Parrilla: The grill for cooking asado over a bed of coals.

(Gran) Asador: The person who cooks the asado on the parrilla.

Churrasco: Churrasco is a term referring to beef or grilled meat. Brazilian churrasco contains a variety of meats which may be cooked on a purpose-built “churrasqueira”, a barbecue grill or barbecue, often with supports for spits or skewers.

Churrascaria: A restaurant serving grilled meat offering as much as you can eat: the waiters move around the restaurant with the skewers, slicing meat onto the client’s plate.

Asado at Empredrado, Mendoza, Argentina - This was the first time we tasted asado in Argentina, and it set the bar very high.  First, we did a walk to the market to see what we would be eating later.  The meal was multiple courses of deliciousness.  The starters were salad and potatoes.  This was quickly followed by empanadas de carne, chorizo, and then as much asado as you could eat.  It was all cooked rare to medium-rare.  It had a great char on the outside and was very tender.  We also had endless bottles of red wine on the table.

A parrilla full of meat.

Steaks at Don Mario, Mendoza, Argentina – This proved to be the best steak we had in all of our travels, and it was wonderful to share the experience with meat eaters, James and Briony.  I don’t need to say much here; the pictures tell all.  It was a ‘bife de chorizo’ or sirloin cut for non-spanish speakers.  It weighed in around 500 grams or just shy of 20 ounces.

Bring on the meat!

Cooked to perfection!

A brick of meat.

Steaks at Alacorte, Cordoba, Argentina – After being happy with the massive steak from Mendoza, we thought we’d try another big one in Cordoba.  This steal was decently sized, but the service was poor, plus they ruined SarahKate’s steak by overcooking it.  We finally got them to cook her steak correctly, but in the end the taste was just average.

Not bad, but not the best.

Asado at El Desnivel, Buenos Aires, Argentina – This local place in San Telmo turned out to be a find!  We ate here twice and had different things each time.  I think this place has the best chorizo we had on the whole trip!  We shared vacio (flank steak) and pork medallions on the first go.  On the second round, SarahKate tried sweetbreads (also known as the thymus gland) which turned out to be awesome and morcilla, which is black pudding.  I had a decent steak hoping for a good mushroom sauce, but it turned out to be drowned in a cheap milky mushroom goop.  SarahKate won!

Plate full of meat.

Steaks in San Telmo, Buenos Aires, Argentina - I could not remember the name of the place we went on this night.  It was a repeat of big steaks with our Aussie friends, James and Briony.  I believe we decided that the steak was as big as James’ head (see below).  The steaks were tasty, but we decided to share the Gran Bife de Chorizo (550 grams) between couples.  It was a wonderful night, but I wouldn’t rate the steak against Don Mario.

Wow.

As big as James' face!

Steaks at La Escondida, Palermo, Buenos Aires, Argentina – We journeyed to Palermo in BA to meet some other friends on this night, Ernesto and Claire.  Just like Groundhog Day, it was steak night!  SarahKate had a ‘lomo’ cut or tenderloin this night, while I went back to the standard, bife de chorizo.  Mine was cooked well and tasted good, though a bit on the small side. SarahKate’s lomo was brilliant though!  She won again!  Unfortunately, we have no visual evidence for this one.

Steaks at El Mundo, San Telmo, Buenos Aires, Argentina – This was a lovely night of tango lessons, serious steak, and a tango show!  The tango went down very well, especially the female instructor.  We were both sweating by the time it was over.  Then, on to steaks and red wine AGAIN!  This steak was very good.  This was a lomo cut with a pepper sauce, and I swear they put some chili oil in it.  Either way, check out this steak for it was the only one that got close to Don Mario’s amazingness!

The steak in pepper sauce was amazing!

Asado at Hostel Viuda, Punta del Diablo, Uruguay – So, we take a ferry to Uruguay; take a bus to Montevideo, then another bus (5 hours) to a small beach town call Punta del Diablo.  It was warm, sunny, and ‘Oh my God’ at the asado!  I call this picture, ‘Duo of Parrillas’!  Two individual parrillas cooking a combination of chorizo, morcilla (black pudding), asado, vacio (flank steak), pork rolls, chicken, and sweet potatoes.  Enough food was prepared to feed 25 people!  I hurt after this meal, and it was all tasty.

The left side

The right side

Just perfection.

Asado at Mercado Viejo, Montevideo, Uruguay – Meanwhile, back in Montevideo for our last days in Uruguay, we checked out the Old Town market.  Just when I thought I had seen it all, this place stepped up the cooking and the parrillas.  They used one parrilla for the general slow cooking of food, an they had a second one for ‘cooking to order’ for when a steak or specific item was required.  We had a delicious lunch with a tasty chimichurri sauce (see POTD: Chimichurri).  Also, we met the asador, who turned out to be slightly famous.  He had worked in the States before, but even better, he had been on an episode of No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain (well, he was in the background).  True to his word, we found the place we had eaten on YouTube. Check this out!

One of my favorite sites.

More meat than you can eat!

Churrasco at Carretao, Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil – The final leg of our adventure was a week in Rio.  Thinking we might have a break from asado and parrillas, we were welcomed into Rio by the churrasco, Rio’s version of the parrilla.  If you’ve ever been to Fogo de Chao, you’ll understand.  Basically, skewers of all kinds of meat are roasted on a spit over a fire.  They then pull the skewers off, trot around to the tables, and carve meat onto YOUR PLATE!  It was Meat Fest all over again.  We had sirloin, asado, cupim (the hump on a Brahma bull), chicken hearts, pork, chicken, sausage, etc……….  We went to Carretao twice in a week, thoroughly enjoying it.  Not many photos here, but it was definitely tasty.  If you look in the background on the left, you can see a waiter with a skewer serving a table.  Have a look at what I was able to find.

A happy, meaty dinner!