Like the Weather

From the start of my trip, I have had abnormally good weather - the warmth in Patagonia might have been a bit much for my own personal preferences, but it was also the nicest consistent weather most people had seen in years, so I have decided not to bitch and moan.

So of course it would come to pass that the day we decide to go and do something strictly outdoorsy, the weather doesn't cooperate. We were going to go to a beach today, either in town or take the bus to Punta del Este (it's the Hamptons to BA's New York), but instead it was humid, chilly, overcast, and windy as all get out. It was hardly a no good very bad day, but it was also not exactly beach bunny weather.

So, no beach. It did give me the chance to explore Montevideo more fully, which I am glad about. Yesterday it was too hot and humid to do more than a perfunctory look around in the afternoon, and in the evening, everything was closed (and it wasn't much cooler, let's be honest). It's a pretty charming little town, though fairly mellow. They are on an earlier schedule than Argentina - shops were closing at 5 or 6 instead of 8 or 9, and apparently they don't do dinner at 10pm, considering Brian and I were literally the only ones at the restaurant last night when we left at 10:30. There are also language differences - even though I don't speak Spanish, I could pick up that they call soda something different (refresca instead of gaseosa), and there were more words on menus and signs that even Brian didn't recognize - we suspect that it's the heavy Brazilian Portuguese influence that gives it a certain different flair.

Also, these people are OBSESSED with their mate. (Mate, pronounced mah-tay, is a tea that everyone here drinks. There are these traditional mate cups, that look almost like hollowed out coconut shells, and that gets filled to the brim with this strong, bitter tea leaves. Hot water from a thermos is added, and then it is drunk through a silver spoon-straw. Not kidding on that one.) Anyhow, in Argentina and Chile, sure, people drank mate. Here, there is basically NO ONE without a mate cup in one hand and a thermos tucked under their arm. This of course raises questions: Brian wonders if everyone has mild burns on their underarm from the thermos tuck; I wonder if the thermos is a traditional child-to-adult rite of passage gift; I also wonder if the pain of having to carry the cup, straw, tea and thermos is actually worth it - cant you put the tea in the thermos and drink from there, save a few steps? But regardless, it's how they roll over there.

I got to poke around more craft marts, and see a few more of the sights. Also, the wind was fierce enough to do some spectacular things to the water in (normally calm) river.


While I am pretty much feeling like the two and a half days here was enough, I am still glad we came - it was good to get out of BA for a couple of days, and the poached pear dessert alone was worth the trip.

diet coke: uruguay

Because I am not only fair and unbaised, but also deeply scientifically minded (...I think I can hear my dad's snort of derision from here), I wanted to do a real, valid, side-by-side comparison. As the comments previously mentioned, the real best of the best for diet coke is housed in the big fast food chains (McDonald's and Burger King) and at 7-11. These are places where the syrup-to-water ratio is favoriable and the best mix. I'm not saying I won't gladly go other places, but if I have one of these options before me and all other things are equal, that's where I would head.

So, to compare truly equally, my Uruguayan option was from the local McDonald's. See, apples to apples. Like to like. Awesome to pure evil, as it turns out.

It's no better from their fountain than from a Chilean 20-ouncer.

I had Brian, a die-hard Pepsi fan, try some, to see if my analysis was correct. Coke and Pepsi are much sweeter, in a different way, than diet, and this Coca Light was way way sweeter (in a sweetener way) than regular. I am assuming this is to accomodate the sweet tooth of the locals?

I don't know. Whatever it is, the medium of delivery was SO not the issue.

i'm ok, uruguay

I first clearly need to apologize for the title, but it was the first thing that came to mind this morning when it was painfully early (still dark!) and we were en route to the ferry stop.

We are now in Montevideo, Uruguay for a couple of days. Don't let the maps, guidebooks, or the fact that it is the capital and by far the biggest place in Uruguay - this place is tiny. I am personally falling victim to the heat, as today it was about 94 with 80% humidity, and now, at 10:37, I am literally dripping sweat as I type. Sexy! But it's a charming city, far more Latin American and European than BsAs. The Rio de la Plata here is also an unremarkable green, as opposed to Buenos Aires Brown, which is a step up.

Today we mostly just wandered about - the hardest thing was getting cash. Cambios are EVERYWHERE, but the only ATMs (I found 3 total) had a line of at least 20 people. But it was all made better by dinner - fantastic steak, great asparagus that had the added bonus of a parmesan sauce that went divine on the aforementioned steak, and a dessert that was out of this world - pears poached in tannat wine with cinnamon ice cream. A dinner like that does a lot to improve a mindset, despite the raging heat.

I think we are going to find a beach tomorrow. It's time to bust out the swimsuit. Plus, we were planning on tryng to go to a winery, but as a Calafornia girl, I can tell you that these places are really only barely equipped for visitors, so lying on the sand and people-watching it is.