A rise at 8:15 having had a shit night's sleep. My throat is aching like fuck. The first thing I do is take a couple of painkllers.
The kids are supposed to show up at 10. But it's only Alexei who knocks on my door.
"Where's Andrew?" I ask.
"He's still in bed. He was up until six watching videos."
"That's annoying."
"He says he'll be up by 12."
"He better be."
As breakfast isn't included and costs $9, we head off out into the street. To La Pasiva. Which was recommended by our driver as a good place for chivito, a type of Uruguayan sandwich.
We order coffee and cheese and ham sandwiches. The coffee is dead good. The sandwiches rather anaemic.
I noticed a man drinking beer close to the entrance. Now the waitress is walking over to his table with a shot glass and a bottle of Johnny Walker Red Label.
“He must be French, Lexie. Drinking spirits for breakfast.”
“Or English.”
There’s football on the TV. Obviously. It can’t possibly be live
as it’s too early in the morning. Do they just show these games on a
loop?
“Dad, would you like to own a slave?”
“No.”
“But they could do things for you for free.”
“But I’m not a twat. Would you like to own a slave, then?”
“No.”
“Why would I then?”
“Because you’re old. They still had slaves in your time. Didn’t they?”
“I’m not that fucking old.”
On our way back we take a look at smaller supermarket over the road. It seems cheaper than the other one. A litre of Gregsons "Special whisky" is just 7 euros. Despite the name, it’s made in Uruguay. I get some orange juice, too. Just to be healthy.
Andrew does, indeed, appear a little after noon. I've noticed that a Museum of Art History is just a black away. so there we go about 1 PM.
It's quite interesting, starting with pre-history, then going on through Egyptian, Mesopotamian, Persian, Greek and Roman. Though the European stuff from the Middle Ages onward is closed off.
As Alexei is getting hungry, we go to Brecha. The place that was full yesterday.
It's an odd place, being both a bakery and bar. The bread and pastries look really good. It has a pretty cool vibe, too. With lots of those young people. I used to be one of those, once.
They also have craft beer. While the kids get Corona, I order a Cabesas Double IPA. My first beer in a couple of days. In fact, I think only my fourth of the trip. It's pretty good.
“No comment about my drink today, Andrew?”
“You’ll be back on cocktails soon enough.”
The kids order toasties with a side of cheesy chips to share. I get stuck into the latter. They're pretty nice.
We then go back to my room to chill. First calling in the smaller supermarket for some provisions. Rum, crisps. That sort of stuff.
Alexei is keen on having some Uruguayan meat. Which is fine by me. After a search on the internet, he finds a place a little down the main drag. It's called El Gaucho, which sounds the part.
On the way there, I spot a bookshop. And quickly nip in to see if they have anything on Uruguayan beer. Which they do. So I buy it. Dolores will be so pleased.
El Gaucho is modern and bright inside. Long and thin, with an impressive cake display. It’s quite busy. But we find a table OK.
Alexei and I order a sharing platter of meat with chips. Andrew gets a toastie. We also share a bottle of Uruguayan merlot.
“What do you think of the wine, Lexie?”
“Good.”
He’s right. It is really rather good. Never had Uruguayan wine before.
“I wonder if Ton Overmars sells any Uruguayan wine?” I ask.
“Probably not.” Andrew replies.
Our platter has various types of roasted meat. Including black pudding. One of my favourites. It’s surprisingly similar to the English stuff.
There’s football on a TV. There’s always football on the TV here. Just like in Brazil. It’s obviously a lower division game, given the size of the stadium. Bizarrely, the home team is called Liverpool FC.
Alexei fancied trying the cake, But he’s too stuffed after all the meat. It really was filling.
Back in my room we chill to Youtube videos over a few drinks. After a while, I lie on my bed and doze. I felt terrible this morning. My cold has been coming and going in waves. I want a good night's kip.
I kick the kids out about 11.
"Don't stay up too late." I warn Andrew. I doubt he'll listen.
La Pasiva
18 de julio 1251 esquina,
11100 Montevideo,
Departamento de Montevideo.
Bar Brecha
Dr. Aquiles R. Lanza 1201,
11100 Montevideo,
Departamento de Montevideo.
Bar El Gaucho
18 de Julio y,
Dr Javier Barrios Amorín 1393,
11200 Montevideo,
Departamento de Montevideo.
http://www.elgaucho.com.uy/
Posts
6 comments:
I think I would have had to try one of those cans of porter surrounded by mass market lagers on the supermarket shelf there.
By heck you do like your unhealthy scran, just like me.
Chips with everything and a side order of lard is my motto.
The weather looks a little iffy over there. Do you by any chance take a brolly with you on your travels ? I always do although in five years since I've bought it I've never actually used it.
I find your blog very interesting.
Most of the top division Uruguayan teams are based in Montevideo and play in small stadiums. Years ago in the US, cable channel GOL TV featured wall to wall live soccer (football?) all weekend long, with Uruguay, Colombia, Brazil regularly featured, plus the odd game from other Latin American countries. They also aired four or five from Spain, a couple of German games, and some Italy. Fox Soccer Channel similarly had England (including Premier and FA Cup playoffs), Argentina, Italy and some international competitions. They once aired an Asian cup playoff between North Korea and Iran live from Tehran, a Concacaf playoff US vs. Cuba from Havana. As soccer has become more popular, most of the games have been hidden on more expensive streaming platforms.
If there is anything interesting in the book about Uruguayan beer, please share it. It's interesting to learn what countries outside of the usual bunch do.
A few places in London used to have Uruguayan tannat wine that was pretty good - it's possible Waitrose even stocked it at one point. A bottle or two of that and some Astor Piazzolla and I'm ready for a blue hotel.
Winter in the southern hemisphere
Post a Comment