Please utilise this space to search this blog

Showing posts with label Mercado del Puerto. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mercado del Puerto. Show all posts

Saturday, March 9, 2013

It's a wrap - Argentina/Uruguay


Argentina/Uruguay
18 August 2012 - 29 August 2012

The two-timer tour - WRAP

San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina (2010)

As has become standard for me when I've ended a trip I've taken to doing a last summary or a 'greatest hits' review whenever I managed to complete the final entry on the 'how, why, when and whatever else may have been alcohol related' blog series of my most recent escapades. Sticking with tradition and therefore adopting the same template that I've used in the past, see also;
 
 
I therefore bring you the close out of the Argentina/Uruguay experience which now continues within the new life of my blog, known by the name, Life in a Year Full of Saturdays. In actual fact the two-timer final cut is more of a tale of two cities than two countries, that being Buenos Aires and Montevideo, but I'm sticking with tradition in terms of delivery for this final entry. So lets do it, lets check out the highs, lows, hits and misses of the two-timer tour!

Argentina-Uruguay - 'The Final'

Favourite places

Usually my 'favourite places' are  a city based list but as I didn't hop around from city to city on this tour this list is going to be more about places within the cities themselves.

1. Mercado del Puerto - Montevideo - (Uruguay) - Oh the irony! Actually, may I make the point of re-stating that by saying, 'oh, the dramatic irony!', because in that sense what I now say about Montevideo and it's relation to my ironic conidtion is in actual fact correct and hence I need 'no lecture or tickets to a disco!' regarding the use of irony and its context! Just to advise,when the character or shall we say main protagonist in a movie or play does something out of ignorance or that which is contrary to the truth that the audience is already well aware, then that my friends is known as dramatic irony. For example,  it's like that time I got married... (...ummm, ok, lets leave that story for another day also!). Anyway, many of my friends would have known that I should not have returned to Montevideo, we don't really gel all that well, and low and behold I got kicked in the teeth for tempting fate in any case. Broadcasting the fact that I think she, Montevideo, sucks sweet juicy balls, may not have done my cause any good at all, BUT...

..........then there came the Mercado del Puerto (sound the trumpets, or at the very least just imagine them being sounded!)

How is it that a place like Montevideo, a place so bland, so boring, so uninspiring, has a space that is a shrine to all things grilled meat related! If you were making a sauce from all things meat inspired then this place would be the exquisite reduction of all things good, and wholesome, and just and honourable about meat.

Prior to making my way to Montevideo I read somewhere that the Uruguayan love for meat makes Argentinians look like vegetarians! If you know anything about how Argentinians roll then that is a MASSIVE statement to be throwing out into the wind. The mercado however is literally just jammed with parillas, their wood fires churning out lomo, morcillas, chorizos, pollo, asado...just keep talking. It's smokey, it's intoxicating, it's got my stamp of approval! Montevideo, you may not like me but I can almost forgive you for providing me with the Mercado del Puerto. I'm happy to call it even!
 
Mercado del Puerto - Montevideo - Uruguay
 
Mercado del Puerto - Montevideo - Uruguay
 
C'mon, give me more jamon (yeah, I said that!)
...how about this then, 'I was jamon a good time!?'
Didn't Bob Marley have a song called jamon? I'm sure he did!
Mercado del Puerto - Montevideo - Uruguay
 
2. La Bombonera - La Boca - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - I sometimes wonder how it is that places just take up residence in your head and constantly nag you to hunt them down, ex-girlfiends aside. South America managed to somehow draw me into its space even as a youngster. It was a dark, mysterious continent that had an edge about it, a pervasive edge that permeated into that impressionable young mind of mine and ballooned into an enigma by the fact that (I) didn't know a great deal about it. In the same fashion La Bombonera, the home ground of the legendary BA team Boca Juniors, existed in my mind in the very same fashion. As a kid I would watch grainy games replayed on World Soccer each Saturday afternoon and wondered where the hell it in this world that crowds would erupt into a wild frenzy just for the fact that their team turned up on the pitch! Down the tack I ended up finding out the answer to the question, and on this trip I ended up satisfying one of the many travel wants (....or is it needs)! La Bombonera is a cauldron, the fans are typically passionate and emotional. Designed by a Yugoslav, painted in Swedish colours and with the atmosphere that you can only get in Latin America, this was a great place to be!
 
 La Bombonera - home of Boca Juniors - La Boca - Buenos Aires - Argentina
 
Game time! It's time to 'set it off' in La Bombonera!!
 
3-2 with 10 mins to go. It was a cracking game but unfortunately for Boca and the home town faithful the game ended up in a 3-3 draw. Advertising boards were thrown!
 
 
3. San Telmo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - Sometimes you learn by the process of osmosis, right? Isn't that when a liquid passes through a 'semi-permeable' membrane and then settles elsewhere? I don't know actually, I'm trying to recall facts from my Yr 8 science glass and I'm drawing blanks, but there's a point here. My first time in BA was in 2010 and I elected to stay in San Telmo for that initial stop. Why? Because somehow, from somewhere by some fanciful process that I haven't as yet figured out I made the assessment that San Telmo was the 'cool part' of Buenos Aires. In actual fact it's not - Palermo Soho is the 'cool part' BUT  San Telmo is my style cool. Cobble stoned streets, old classical style architecture, the aroma of charred meat filling the air from the  parillas that inhabit every corner, establishments that exude the charm of those old world speakeasy's...it just suits me down to the ground, and I have to say that if I was to ever live in Buenos Aires or stay here for any 'real' amount of time then this barrio would certainly be my home.
 
 
San Telmo street art - near the corner of calle Peru y Chile -San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina
 
Calle Chile, San Telmo, on a brisk Sunday morning
 
On La calle Defensa, Bernabe Ferreya, aka 'Gardelito' - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina
Bernabe has been peforming the songs of Carlos Gardel since 1972
 
Gente caminando por San Telmo
 
4. La Boca - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - This is the 'working class' barrio of Buenos Aires and is the cities true cultural melting pot. It has a strong Italian influence but also has pockets of Spanish, Germans, French, Arabs and Basque. It's kind of gritty in that true working class manner but also colourful, has soul and is full of life. Apparently it's not the 'safest' barrio to just wonder around but since when have I taken notice of 'safety measures' outlined in any notable travel guide - please see the entry on a puma tried to rip my nuts off for proof of that! It's right here if you're interested -  The 3:10 express from Yuma
 
La Boca - Buenos Aires - Argentina
 
La Boca - Buenos Aires - Argentina
 
Puerto La Boca Riachuelo Transbordador - La Boca - Buenos Aires - Argentina
 
Calle Caminito - La Boca - Buenos Aires - Argentina
 
Backstreets of La Boca near La Bombonera

5. Panamericano hotel - San Nicolas - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - I'd seen many photos taken of the famous Avenida 9 de Julio and the Obelisk but had not quite figured out  from where they were taken , that was until I zeroed in on the top floor of the Panamericano hotel. What the top floor of this hotel should be is a bar, perhaps one that opens out magnificently onto the BA skyline for all to enjoy. What it is however is some type of ordinary observation deck that backs off a pool that can only be utilised by hotel guests.I was not a hotel guest. I did however try my luck and took a ride to the top floor. I managed to time my run so perfectly that the gentleman attending the service desk just stepped aside for the briefest of moments as I took my first steps onto the floor - nice timing dude!
 
 The view was spectacular, let me say that now.
 
View from the Panamericano - San Nicolas - Buenos Aires - Argentina
 
View from the Panamericano - San Nicolas - Buenos Aires - Argentina
 
View from the Panamericano - San Nicolas - Buenos Aires - Argentina
 
 
 
Most Surprising
 
1. Mercado del Puerto - Montevideo - (Uruguay) - I had hoped that the Mercado del Puerto would be good, especially for the fact that I didn't make it there on my last visit to Montevideo, but man oh man, it exceeded all my expectations and then whilst in that process it  also held court as my heart palpitated and the exhiliration brought on by the endorphin rush made me forget that I was actually in a town that I had quite some contempt for. Love is blind, it's a fact!
 
Mercado del Puerto - Montevideo - Uruguay
 
 
Coolest place for a night out
 
1. San Telmo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - I know this isn't the 'cool bar' centre of Buenos Aires but that doesn't concern me, but it does have its fair share of cool bars let me just add that now. This barrio is vibrant, it's inviting, warm and like the rest of BA it only starts to think about turning in for the night when the colour of the dark sky starts to change. Heading our for dinner early here means that you're in a restaurant at 10:30pm, seriously, that's an early dinner and that in itself is the signature of a barrio that resides under the tag line that says 'Cool, yeah we invented it'.
 
2. Palermo Soho - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - Now this is the fashionable corner of BA. For those that are wondering the Palermo Soho cocktail is a shot of fashion, a shot of restaurants and a double shot of bars. It's hip (cliche), it's trendy (cliche), it strives to be hip and trendy in an alternative way (cliche squared) and it's where all the BA 'young guns' hang out.
 
Street art - Palermo Soho - Buenos Aires - Argentina
 
Palermo Soho - Buenos Aires - Argentina
 
3. Puerto Madero - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - This is reclaimed territory of sorts. An area that used to be a land of forgotten and worn docks and warehouses has in the last 20 yrs been revitalised and is filled with restaurants and bars that are more than happy to satisfy both the carnivorous and alcoholics amongst us, or if you're like me, then the carniholics amongst us.
 
Puerto Madero - Buenos Aires - Argentina
 
Puerto Madero - Buenos Aires - Argentina
 
 Puerto Madero - Buenos Aires - Argentina
 
Best accommodation
 
1. Ayres Portenos hostel - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - This place takes out the honour by default as I only stayed in one other place for a night and there's just no way that anything from Montevideo was going to take out a title, well other then the Mercado del Puerto but I think it claimed sovereign rights from Montevideo long ago under the 'We're not accepting responsibility for a crappy city like you' Act.
 
Ayres Portenos hostel - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina
 
 
Best place to get lost
 
1. Reserva ecologica - Castanera Sur - Buenos Aires - (Argentina)  - This may appear to be an odd choice in that my track record suggests that usually the best place to get lost would be in a specific town or suburb of a town, but the crown has to go to the reserve. Fronting the Rio de la Plata and acting as the 'intermediary' between the city of BA and the Rio de la Plata, this 3.5km2 tract of lowland is just the tonic for those jaded Portenos and tourists alike who just need to drop out and lose themselves in nature for a little while.
 
Reserva ecologica - Castanera Sur - Buenos Aires - Argentina
 
 
Best drink
 
1. Malbec - (pick your restaurant or bar) - Buenos Aires - (Argentina)  Its ubiquitous, it has become the national varietal style of wine and considering that the Argentinians predominantly drink red the odds are that if you're wanting a glass of red then you're going to be having a malbec, in all likelihood, from Mendoza...and who the hell is going to complain about that? It's freakin' glorious! It's absoutely my favourite grape variety and it flows in the streets as easily as the dulcet tones of Barry White will put you in the mood for some afternoon delight. It's partnership with Argentinian beef is what Serbian dreams are made of!
 
 
My malbec from Mendoza, my beef in Argentina!
(Apologies to E.Hemingway for bastardising his line)
 
2. Pisco sour - Avenida 9 de Julio - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - So this isn't Pisco sour heartland, in fact I'm having this drink a long way from Peru, the place where it originated...but....I haven't been to Peru, nor have I been to Chile where they have their own style of sours, and of the ones that I have had thus far the several in Buenos Aires were so far ahead of their predecessors that I had to honour it with a place on the roll of achievement.
 
Avenida 9 de Julio - Buenos Aires - Argentina
 
3. Cortado - Cafe Tortoni -  Avenida de Mayo - Buenos Aires (Argentina) - So this is just an expresso cut with a little bit of warm milk but that's the way I like my coffee these days, I think the location, Cafe Tortoni, had a lot to do with the sell of this caffeine hit. How could Jorge Luis Borges have been wrong? He couldn't! Don't think about it because I've provided you with the answer!
 
Cafe Tortoni - Avenida de Mayo - Buenos Aires - Argentina
 
 
Best meals
 
1. Mercado del Puerto - Montevideo - (Uruguay) - it was just THAT good! The morcillas were the best I had ever had! Some would say 'delicious', I would say delectable, and of course I could wax lyrical about the mecado but it still pains me that a place so exquisite, a place so in tune with my needs is located in THAT city! Damn you Mercado del Puerto, just move already!
 
Mercado del Puerto - Montevideo - Uruguay
 
 
2. Brasas Argentinas Buffet and Grill - Avenida Alicia Moreau - Puerto Madero - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - Some may not rank this the culinary experience as one that epicureans may strive for because a buffet by definition is more based on quantity that quality, but man alive, the meat! Of course, right!? Blood sausage, chorizos, beef, lamb, ribs! It's all that I wanted and as much as I wanted! It was bliss!
 
Make no mistake, I was in heaven!
 
 
3. El Desvivel - calle Defensa - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - I love this place, it's what 'tourists' would call 'authentic', whatever the hell that means. By the looks of it though its where the locals like to eat too. The decor isn't spectacular but it doesn't have to be, if I wanted to pay to sit in a place that likes nice then I would have gone to a day spa (or something like that).  This place did a mean bife de chorizo and I know for a fact also created magical morcipans, choripans and all else meat related. It was also a 5 min walk from where my hostel was located, it was an easy choice.
 
 El Desvivel - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina
 
 
Honorary mention - La Cabrera - Palermo Viejo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - This is on the higher end of the scale in terms of expense but it's well worth it, for the meal and for the service. I made it there one lazy mid afternoon and had a fantastic experience. It has been noted in my future to do list and I will return, with reinforcements!
 
My meal! La Cabrera - Palermo Viejo - Buenos Aires - Argentina
 
Dedication to the cow - La Cabrera - Palermo Viejo - Buenos Aires - Argentina
 
Best Bars
 
1. Pool bar - Faena Universe - Puerto Madero - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) -  I might have to spend a couple of nights in the Faena Universe, it's a world unto itself, suprise, suprise. The pool bar is the place to be seen and leans a greadt distance to having a type of Moroccan feel to it without going the full Moroccan monty.
 
2. La Poesia - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - This place was located one block down from where I was staying. From what I know it had only opened up in the last several years but felt as though it had been there from the turn of last century. Pleasant vibe, great service and its proximity to where I was staying made it an absolute favourite.
 
La Poesia - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina
 
3. Bar El Federal - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - this place IS genuinely old school and you can feel it the moment you enter. I love the warmth, charm and character that wood gives to an old style bar. San Telmo has plenty of them and this place for me was one of the best.
 
Bar El Federal - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina)
 
 
My guilty pleasure
 
1. The morcipan or choripan - El Desvivel - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - I've got a thing for blood sausage, and chorizo's for that matter, go figure. At El Desvivel they throw them onto the grill, with the wood fire flaming away and the smell of charred meat fills not just your nostrils but washes over your skin, seeping through your pores as you wait...And the reality of it is that it's very, very basic fair, it gets thrown onto a bun and then it's your decision as to what you'll utilise in order to construct your masterpiece. My masterpiece would include a little bit of salsa and then I'd flood the market with turbo charged chimichurri! Perfection!
 
A typical Sunday afternoon on Defensa - chorizo's anyone? San Telmo - Buenos Aires - Argentina
 
 
Self acknowledgment that I'm a 'World Cup tragic'
 
Even on the day that Montevideo beat the fun and mischief out of me I still had to make my way to the Estadio Centenario. It's where the the final of the very first football World Cup was played and the pilgrimage paid homage to the years of legendary World Cup football that has shaped many elements of my life (in odd ways of course).
 
Estadio Centenario - Montevideo - Uruguay
 
Estadio Centenario - Montevideo - Uruguay
 
 
Favourite photos
 
1. 'Gardelito', aka, Bernabe Ferreya - calle Defensa - San Telmo - Buenos Aires (Argentina)
 
 
I've got a black and white photo of this guy (actually the one at the top of this entry) framed and hanging on my wall at home. I walked down to see if this guy was still plying his trade on Sunday afternoons, of course he was. He's an institution and can be found on too many postcards to count. I'm not sure if he's impressed by the fact that I stole his image, he looks as though he could go all Mike Tyson mafiosa on me if he wanted to.
 
 
2. Mural - backstreets of La Boca - Buenos Aires - Argentina
 
 
 
I like the intensity of this mural. Part of the reason that I included the edge of the wall on the left hand side of the phoot was to create strong lines and angles which were meant to add to the character of what was painted. I did take another photo of the mural, as below, in order to capture it in its entirety but the photo doesn't have the same feel to me as the first.
 
 
 
3. Window frame - La Boca - Buenos Aires - (Argentina)
 
 
There are places where taking photos are just so easy, you point and shoot, everyone's a winner baby. La Boca is one of those places. This shot just has the character that typifies the colour, atmosphere and attitude of this barrio.
 
4. Rio de la Plata - Montevideo - (Uruguay)
 
 
 
There's nothing fancy or pretty about this end of town in Montevideo. They (the Montevideans)  kind of shun the river, turning their back on it in very much the same manner that the folk from Buenos Aires do. Still, I like this photo.
 
 
5. Obelisco - Avenida Presidente Roque Saenz Pena - Buenos Aires (Argentina)
 
 
 
This is just a typical BA shot to me. Can't beat a city that looks good in black and white now can you?

 
 
Coolest moments
 
1. La Bombonera - La Boca - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - For the simple passion and atmosphere of the game there wasn't anything else that could go past the experience.
 
2. Panamericano - San Nicolas - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - For the fact that I slipped past security with the skill and dexterity of a Romanian pickpocket.
 
3. Mercado del Puerto - Montevideo - (Uruguay) - It was the realisation that there was a small area of ground in this world that had invaded my dreams, taken out an element and created a reality that only ever existed in my imagination.
 
4. Calle Defensa on a Sunday - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - There's nothing better to do on a Sunday in BA than to cruise Defensa, check out the markets, check out the food, listen to the music and just get caught up in the sweet vibe of the barrio.
 
5. Reserva ecologica - Castanera Sur - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - With next to no pesos in my pocket and lamenting the fact that I wasn't on a flight to Puerto Iguazu that morning this reserve proved to be the perfect foil for that wave of loss that came with the realisation that I was getting jipped on seeing one of the natural wonders of the world for the second time in 18 months!!
 
Un-coolest moment
 
1. ATM fail - Ciudad Vieja - Montevideo - (Uruguay) - This was Montevideo getting me back for telling all and sundry that the Big M sucks balls! Well you know what, it does, and now even harder than it did previously! Fair enough, it was my ignorance or perhaps absent mindedness that led to the situation but that's simply because the Latin American process is different to that which I've experienced everywhere else in the world. The ATM's here keep your card in the machine after your money has already been dispensed, asking you 'whether you would like to undertake another transaction', in other places you receive your card first prior to the cash being dispensed. For some reason my mind interpreted this process as  - 'cash in my hand = transaction complete = you can walk way now'. Sure I could walk away, but I would also be leaving my card in the machine! Oh well, Montevideo!!! You've screwed me again!!!
 
Most Random but still cool moment
 
1. Running into Jorge - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - Running into people you know quite by chance in a completely foreign place is also known as complete randomness. Literally running into them however is complete randomness with a dose of bizarre. So the story goes like this. Coming back from my night out at La Bombonera my ride drops me off near the Ayres Portenos hostel on calle Chile. As I step off the bus I jink inside a man that's walking up the street and he quickly steps the other way and then just as quickly spins on his heel, 'Hey Henry' he calls out..................'Ahh what now!?' is the way my mind summed up the situation. I realised in just a second that it was Jorge, a guy that I got to know on my last stay in Buenos Aires whilst hanging out in Boedo. He was now living in San Telmo on calle Chile about a 40 second walk from the front door of where I was staying. Random and cool all at once.
 
Best comeback
1. There's nothing like a free meal, or is there? H. Elisher dining out with no $ to his name - San Telmo - Buenos Aires - (Argentina) - To say that I took advantage of Mike would be to do me an injustice. I will admit to playing up to the good nature of my room-mate and betting that he would take the bait. In all honesty if someone had told me the same story I would have done the same thing, so I guess in a way good 'ole Mike was paying it forward by taking me out for a cracking meal and somewhere down the track I might just be able to do the same, but please make my recipient Spanish, female, with long dark hair and....well you can guess the rest!
 
Travel breakdown
 
Total number of flights - 2
 
Total flying hours - 28hrs
 
Total time spent in airports - 'Not many, if any...' - All recognition and rights to that line go to Scribe, not may people can roll like him!
 
Total number of bus rides - 1
 
Total number of ferry rides - 2
 
Total distance travelled - 23906kms
 
Total bottles of Malbec that I downed - 22 (give or take)
 
 
...and there we have it, that's a wrap of the Argentina/Uruguay 'two-timer tour'. Now that was a hell of a lot of fun and totally unexpected. I thank Aerolineas Argentinas for adding on a new service from BA to Sydney and considering promotional offers as the way to increase patronage! Under $1000 return was just a ridiculous bargain, and like that offer was ever going to get past this Wile E Coyote!?
 
So where to now? Well I have plans of course! The idea of Cuba has been gently simmering for a while and is now coming to the boil, it's definitely the front runner, but there's a dark horse in Nicaragua and Costa Rica that's just hit the turn and full speed. So thanks for hanging out with me here and look for me somewhere far, far away in the near future, relatively speaking.
 
 












Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Montevideo - Puta madre

Montevideo (Uruguay)
23-24 August 2012

'Don't bother with churches, government buildings or city squares, if you want to get to know a culture then spend a night in its bars'. II have a feeling that Mr Hemingway might have been clued in to a thing or two, even if his words were infused by fifteen or so daiquiri's  from his old haunt of el Floridita, you've always got to follow the advice of the man! Along this same line of thought, I also believe that if you can tap into the food that makes a country unique or somehow find your way to those national culinary representatives, then it will be in that meal where you can get a sense of what makes a place and what it's about, for example, Brasil has their fejoida (a stew of black beans and salted pork, which is hearty and utilises cheap and easy to find ingredients), Argentina has its steak and Malbec (no gueses as to what their leading exports are), and Uruguay, well it has the chivito! That almighty, all hedonistic, all carnivore inspired sandwich that is meant to break the hearts and minds of even the most ardent of 'meativores', it is the iconic serve of the Uruguayans and a fabled treasure that I had attempted to hunt down on a previous turn through this hood but didn't quite meet the mark. Now it was time to go back!


Welcome to Uruguay - Chivitos on hand!

Like all good stories my visit to Montevideo on this occasion has a precedent which is none to ospectacular, indeed, this city and I have an inglorious history and my return was either going to allow Montevideo to do a little soul searching and make it up to me, or, it was going to spell out in no uncertain terms exactly what it thought of me after my premature exit a couple of years earlier.

Travelition! Ever heard of that? No neither had I until the Sydney Morning Herald invented a word for the rituals and superstitions that travelers adhere to when they leave the shores of terra australis. I have to say that I don't fall into the overly travelitious category. I mean my only real routine or ritual is that when I fly I wear a blazer because that's just the way I roll, but that's not a superstition. I do however like to follow my intuition and learn from prior experience, for example, my last escapade here, written up in this entry Montevideo - a city on standby, highlights the abysmal way in which the town treated me/us on the eve of its Columbus day festivities. Inuitively you would think that the black mark I'd mentally assigned Montevideo would have prevented me from taking the 3hr ferry ride from Buenos Aires to the Uruguayan capital, right? But alas, I'm stubborn, my search for the infamous chivito had not been satisfied, nor had my quest to make it to the Mercado del Puerto, a place that must be the beating heart of all things meat related in the universe! A place so meat centric that Anthony Bourdain was quoted as saying that '..this place made Argentina look like they're a bunch of vegetarians!'

 Heading out of Buenos Aires, on my way to Montevideo - Uruguay

Somewhere on the Rio de la Plata - Argentina/Uruguay

What else was I meant to do? The meat, it was just....waiting for me, I had to go and see, you know!? I mean, it was going to all be ok, wasn't it? The city couldn't kick me in the teeth again now, could it?

I left Buenos Aires on a gloriously sunbathed morning, the sun rising over the docks, paving the way for a smooth, crystal clear run over the Rio de la Plata, the glass like conditions  on that morning providing the perfect foil to any misgivings or apprehensions that I harboured for rolling the dice against my intuition.

I arrived in Montevideo 3hrs later, on an uncharacteristically warm Winters day, 24 degrees or so, the sun absolutely beaming down ...'Montevideo, you were already drawing me into your evil web of lies and deceit but I didn't know it, I didn't recognise the perverse trap that you had constructed for me, you evil, evil seductress'....Still, as I swiftly bypassed customs and exited the Buquebus terminal, walking out into the rarefied air of a Montevidean day I immediately saw the object of my desire, the Mercado del Puerto. Seriously, this place is a hedonistic concentrate of all things meat and wine related. It's as if all the greatest elements of Argentina have been reduced to just the one building and a food fair had been created for just one person, me!

 Buquebus delivery in Montevideo - Uruguay

It was difficult to break the preposterous lure that this place already had on me. I'd been seduced within seconds of arrival by the overwhelming smells of charred meat, the sizzle and spit of beefy muscle as it hits the grills, the relentless seas of all things meat driven, but then, I also needed to drop the bag that I'd lugged across from Buenos Aires at my digs for the afternoon in order to save myself from the unnecessary hassle of having it tag along for what inevitably will be quite a debaucherous afternoon. So I headed up to the hostel, did the quick sign in and then split down to Ciudad Vieja, the old quarter of Montevideo, in order to take a few shots and heighten that inevitable rush that I was going to experience when I returned to the Mercado.

 Montevideo - Uruguay

 Montevideo - Uruguay

 Ciuidad Vieja - Montevideo - Uruguay

  Ciuidad Vieja - Montevideo - Uruguay

Now I can't say that Montevideo is a pretty city, and even though it fronts the Rio de la Plata (the river of silver), its foreshore can at best be said to be 'lacking a little in character', and at worst can be said to be plain ugly. In all honesty it probably hovers in between those two extremes. The old part of town itself, away from the foreshore, is gritty, has character and a bit of an edge, but also felt strangely deserted on the day that I walked through the area. There were parts that were degraded, crumbling, worn and beaten, bringing to my mind images that I'd seen of Havana and reminded me none to subtly of a place that had suddenly jumped to number 1 with a bullet on the Helisher - next in line travel destination.

  Ciuidad Vieja - Montevideo - Uruguay

 Rio de la Plata - Montevideo - Uruguay

 Rio de la Plata - Montevideo - Uruguay

  Rio de la Plata - Montevideo - Uruguay

  Ciuidad Vieja - Montevideo - Uruguay

My time walking around Ciudad Vieja was only the prelude or starter to what would be the main course at the mercado, and when I did make it to the Mercado del Puerto, well, it was ALL ON  kiddies!! For any person that remembers what it was like to go to the Royal Easter show as a child and be enticed by ever single show bag at ever ystall, well, this meat fest was exactly the carnivore equivalent. I was on a meat high as soon as I entered the building and that was just from the enticing smells that surrounded me,even better were the complimentary drinks being handed out by the vendors, enticing you to take up residence at their particular parilla and asado. So after having walked around for a while and acquired a nice buzz from the kindly vendors and their complimentary alcoholic beverages, I sidled up to a  nondescript stall and commenced my afternoon stroll down the yellow brick road to Oz. The best meat, wine and cocktails all within arms length, what more needs to be said other than the fact that somewhere close to 4hrs slipped on by in what felt like an instant.


 Entrance to the Mercado del Puerto - Montevideo - Uruguay

 Meat fiesta time!!! Mercado del Puerto - Montevideo - Uruguay

 Bring it!!!! Mercado del Puerto -  Montevideo - Uruguay

 A Chivito - not the meat extravaganza that I had anticipated, Mercado del Puerto -  Montevideo - Uruguay


Somehow I managed to make my way back to the hostel for a late afternoon siesta. At that point in time I had every intention of heading out for the evening, that was at 5:30pm. The next thing I knew it was 8:00am the next morning - Montevideo you sly fox, you had trumped me and now you were going to bend me over for your own disturbing pleasure and self satisfaction.

24 August 2012

There are days when you somehow know that your subconscious has triggered the paranoia button and no matter how you try to dismiss what will become the inevitable, you know, you can just feel that the stylings of the day will not be controlled by you and that the full price to be paid is  exactly the full value of apprehension that you're currently trying to mentally negate. This was to be this day, my second day in Montevideo! I mean the bad ass nature of the town crept up on me, without haste, inching itself forward and then with a quick crack of its whip it bit into my flesh leaving a deep and bloodied cut on my back. As I wrote in several postcards to my friends back home, 'Montevideo sucks balls, in fact, if there was a city named 'Sucks Balls' it would not suck as much as you suck, why? Because you SUCK BALLS!'.

As innocuous a sign as you could receive, the world of Montevideo spoke to me  quite clearly that morning. I was having a little dulche de leche on some bread with a few cups of coffee when I decided to strike up a conversation with a fellow traveller. The guy introduced himself as Juan, he was from Buenos Aires, and in actual fact it just some happened that he would be travelling to Australia in the next few weeks, but that's neither here nor there when it comes to the telling of this story, it was just the run in to the 'hint' of a problem that I felt intuitively. In our conversation Juan asked me if I was going to be staying that night, I replied that I wasn't, that I was booked to leave back for BA that evening. He said to me that it was a shame as THIS night in Montevideo was their biggest party night of the year, it's called Noche de la nostalgia (Night of nostalgia), and EVERYONE gets out onto the streets for one mad Uruguayan fiesta....'Bro', he said, 'You just have to check it out'!

'Puta madre!!!!!!!'

Of course this was their biggest party night, last time I was here it was the eve of Columbus Day and now, on the eve of their biggest night of the year I was splitting back to BA. Juan and I chatted for a little while longer and then I headed out into the early morning for a litte post card reconnaissance, souvenir hunting and card writing.

...And then the rain! There it was again, and now the return of that that familiar sense of foreboding, that chill and sense of the inevitable, it was in the air. I negated a few drops of rain in search of a cheap paragua, acquired the 'best looking' post cards of Montevideo that I could find (which are pretty freakin' ordinary, let me just say), committed to memory that a correo (post office) was nearby and sat across the road from the Plaza Independencia to write my cards out.

 Plaza Independencia on a dark, rainy day, thank you Montevideo, thank you for sucking balls that much!!

I'm sure that it was in that exact place, the very spot that I had chosen where all the rotten, downtrodden spirits that haunt this capital, collectively assembled and decided unanimously for this day that they would punish me so hard that I would mentally banish myself from this city forever, and to be fair, even though Montevideo had offered me a great time the day before the cards home were literally carrying the message that this place sucked balls, so perhaps I brought this strike of vengeance on myself.

'Puta madre!!!!!!!'

...And so the city attack commenced

I started with my search for a post office. The building that I had mentally committed to memory was no longer where I imagined it to be so I headed down to Ciudad Vieja to locate the other one that I remembered, of course it was closed....of course it was. At this moment both the rain and wind picked up buffeting my crappy paragua from pillar to post, I mean the only thing the umbrella was really doing was keep the rain off my hair.

So I walked, and walked, all the way up the main drag of Avenida 18 de Julio, looking for a post office. I walked and I asked people, many, many people. In the centre of this city there was noone that could accurately point me out to a post office and more oddly, seemed to be telling me that they weren't open on Fridays? Of course they weren't, this was going to be the day when everything died in Montevideo. I must have walked around for 3hrs looking for a post office, with a decrepit umbrella, my stubbornness transitioning into fury, the rain ever persistent and annoying. I finally had the bright spark that a hotel may be of assistance, and they were, 'Sorry, the post offices aren't operational on Friday!' ....'puta de madre'...they did however offer to send the post cards for me, a small win for which I thanked them.

After a brief bout of souvenir shopping I walked back down to the old town, aiming up for another afternoon at the mercado. I headed into a Santander bank and tried to get out a few pesos from their ATM's, but nothing, they weren't accepting my cards...of course not!!...I left and headed for the HSBC that I'd located the previous day but remembered after a few blocks that I'd also left my souvenirs on top of one of the ATM's back at the Santander bank. Like a lunatic I ran back to the bank and thankfully found the bag located exactly where I left it. Whilst I was there I also managed to acquire some pesos out of the only machine that was accepting my card. I took out 500 Uruguayan pesos (equivalet to $24.50 AUD) and headed off - now remember that figure in your head.

Walking the 6-7 blocks to the mercado I entered one of the shops with the intention of getting my old man a 1930 World Cup replica shirt. I took out my wallet, was just about to pay with my credit card and then I saw it, my card was no longer in my wallet!!!! My monetary lifeline to all things travel related had done a Copperfiedl! Where the f**k was it!!!??? My brain did  a quick retrace and isolated the problem, I'd left it back at the Santandar bank!!!!

'PUTA MADRE!!!!!!!"

By this time I'd ditched that good for nothing paragua and raced the several blocks back to the bank  hoping against all hope that my card would by some odd miracle still be there. Of course it wasn't, 'ahhhh fire truck!!!!', I kicked and cursed the dumb arse machine and must have looked like a raving lunatic to the two individuals that caught me mid spaz attack. I knocked on the 'closed doors' of the bank, it was Uruguayan lunch hour now (12-2) and they were closed, OF COURSE they were!!!,  I asked one of the staff if anything had been handed in! It obviously hadn't, and they advised in turn that if my card had been sticking out then 'someone', more than likely 'anyone' would have racked it for their own personal use.

Now before you say 'how dumb are you to have left your card in an ATM!!!??' let me just give you the low down. At an ATM in Oz you put your card in, carry out the necessary transaction and your card is returned BEFORE you receive your cash! In fact you don't get your cash until you've taken your card  out of the machine and a warning sound is given by the machine after a certain amount of time, NOT SO IN SOUTH AMERICA!!! In South America the process is different, and if you're the slightest bit preoccupied or absent minded then you'll get caught out. The process here goes like this, enter card -  undertake transaction - receive money  - get asked if you want to undertake another transaction of which you must answer Yes/No - then receive your card. In my head and under AUSTRALIAN rules once I had the enormous amount of 500 pesos in my hand I had subconsciously thought that my card was already in my wallet and I walked, obviously without receiving my card!!!!!

'PUTA MADRE!!!!!!!"

Now came that strangely familiar task of having to calling home, having to organise a Western Union transfer, having to cancel my cards and having to survive on my $24.50 AUD until I could receive the funds. Aside from the sinking feeling I had from the card loss there was also the realisation that as today was Friday trying to receive a Western Union transfer in a Latin American country on Saturday was going to be a near impossible task. Still, I tried to put that thought aside and believed that Buenos Aires would at least treat me with kindness, as for Montevideo, well it had struck the final blow and I was ready to split now.

I checked out of the hostel and walked up Avenida 18 de Julio, some 3-4kms, with the aim of checking out the Estadio Centenario prior to jumping a bus for Colonia de Sacramento and then catching a ferry back to BA.


 The Estadio Centenario, home of the very first World Cup in 1930 - Montevideo - Uruguay

Estadio Centenario - Montevideo - Uruguay

Estadio Centenario - Montevideo - Uruguay

 Estadio Centenario - Montevideo - Uruguay

For those of you that don't know anything about football then let me tell you that Uruguay hosted the first world cup in 1930 and the final was played in the capital at the Centenario, so for me it was kind of a pilgrimage, and in my state the only thing that could uplift my beaten spirits. It was also the scene of my ONLY WIN for the day! I managed to get into the ground for free by finding an open gate and skillfully negated the 50 peso ($2.45 AUD) entrance fee!!! YEAH, TAKE THAT MONTEVIDEO!!!

An hour or so later I made my way to tres cruces bus station, headed up to Colonia and made the ferry connection to BA. I was thankful to be back but something had changed. It was cold and it was raining in BA and the 430 Uruguayan pesos that I converted back to Argentinian pesos gave me just on 100 Argentinian pesos, which was not a lot. I also had the nasty feeling that the 100 peson would need to get me all the way to Monday, and that in turn would mean that my dream of making it to Iguazu Falls would have died a painful death somewhere on the  Rio de Plata. It would also been the second occasion that my dreams of seeing the falls would be circumvented by some mischievous operation....

.......'puta madre'

 Back in Buenos Aires, cold, raining, just over100 pesos in my pocket - Welcome back Henry!