Kenny Lucas
Sunday
I arrived! Oh man, that long on a plane overnight sucks. 9:45PM departure time, 7:30am arrival. I slept a little, but woke up every 1-2 hours pretty cranky. Then would fall asleep again. The flight went into Buenos Aires for a 2 hour layover. I walked up to the cafe stop to order a cafe (coffee). So I ask for a large, and what comes out is something of a double dixie cup. I was thinking, "What the heck?" Turns out there's no such thing as 7-11 grande here. It's all cappucino/expresso. That double dixie cup turned out to pack quite a wallop!
We took a taxi along the coast for several miles to the Radisson. Beautiful coastline, similar to the strand in LA. Sidewalk, lots of bikes, runners, cafes. The embassy is right off the beach. I'll be spending a little bit of time there, but mostly at the 3rd party site.
We got to the hotel, which is very nice. We immediately went down to the Mercado del Puerto. 10 block walk through old historic districts. Very interesting place. The mercado is an open air market. We had filets, wine, appetizers, beers, no dessert. It was a Morton's type meal for lunch ... total cost, $10/head. The currency exchange here is 25 pesos to 1 dollar. I could get used to living this large all the time.
We walked around a little after lunch, and now I'm back at the hotel. There's a very nice spa and gym on the 6th floor that I'm trying to build up courage to go visit. Problem is I'm pretty damn tired. But a good ride on the bike could do me some good.
Tomorrow is a holiday here. We're going to the embassy for some setup, which may take one hour. We'll have the rest of the day free. I'm hoping to swing back over to Buenos Aires for the day, but we'll see.
Stay tuned for the daily schpeel.
Monday
Today we went by the embassy for 3 hours to setup. Gorgeous place right on the sea. Setup was fine, no issues. We then set out for some Chivigo(sp?), some greasy sandwich that tastes really good.
A few hours strolling up and down julio 18 street for some souveniers and a look. A little rest, then off to an italian place to eat by the hotel at 7:00PM. However, Uruguayans don't eat dinner until 8PM at the earliest. We go turned away and found a pizza place. I had a 1997 Don Pascual Merlot (to myself) which was excellent for 230 pesos ~$8. The appetizer was an assortment of cheese, meat and olives. The pizza was excellent. $12/head in the end for a very good meal.
Tomorrow is the first day of testing. I'll be going over to Indumex, a 3rd party visa collection fee site. No one there will speak english, and I'll probably be there by myself most of the day. Hablo Englis?
Ciao
Tuesday
Today we set up shop in Indumex. It's what you might think of as a typical bank style place. We waited, and waited, and waited, and waited for some visa applicants to come by. 5 hours later, we had 8 applicants run through the biometric collection. Successful test, but we'd like to get a much larger sample pool.
Tonight we're off for some serious eats, once again. I skipped lunch, because I didn't think it would matter considering the amount of food I've stuffed in my pie hole the last 2 days.
After eats, it's back to the gym for some swimming and work out.
Tuesday Dinner
Buenos Noches,
Que Maravilla! De acuerdo, this dinner cost us $25/head. On the expensive side of Uruguayan cuisine. However, let me tell you about it.
Uruguay and Argentina are known for their beef and wines. I now understand why this is so, even after our meals earlier at Mercado del Puerto. We revisited the location, it's a collection of open air restaurants down by the water. You must cab it in the evening, due to the rough nature of the crowd you may encounter on the walk. It's about 10 blocks from the hotel. On the way back, you see a variety of people who you probably wouldn't ask for directions. But the eating establishment and hotel area are just fine.
Again, we opened up with a bottle of 2006 Don Pascual Tannat Reserve. Same Don Pascual I had last night, but a different selection, hence the Tannat. Excellent, smooth taste, and yes DK, I'll bring you home a bottle.
The appetizers were home-baked bread, that melt in your mouth. It's similar to an fire-oven baked bread from Bertucci's. There is a tomato/oregano something sauce to put on the bread which is excellent. We ordered some grilled provolone mixed with oregano and olive oil as on the side, named pelenque. It's a local specialty for artery clogging. Similar clogging ability as the chivitas we ate for lunch the other day.
The main course was bife ancho, en poco jugoso. Oh my, it was a specialty beef cut similar to a medium rare cut of rib eye in the States. However, don't confuse it with any piece of meat you've had in the States. It's a large size mouth melter that is simply incredible. There is a butcher shop near the Courthouse metro where I need to look for this cut. Three grilled vegetables were served with it, basically a squash, red pepper and a local vegetable like squash. Muy bien.
The dessert was a manolito. There was no "ito" about it. A mound of sweet chocolate, simliar in mousse texture. Graham cracker crust with a layer of carmel. A hard chocolate shell with a leaf of white chocolate as a topper. Holey geez, I'm not a dessert guy but this was better than anything the cheesecake factory has to offer.
I hope everyone is eating well back home.
Bon Appetite
I arrived! Oh man, that long on a plane overnight sucks. 9:45PM departure time, 7:30am arrival. I slept a little, but woke up every 1-2 hours pretty cranky. Then would fall asleep again. The flight went into Buenos Aires for a 2 hour layover. I walked up to the cafe stop to order a cafe (coffee). So I ask for a large, and what comes out is something of a double dixie cup. I was thinking, "What the heck?" Turns out there's no such thing as 7-11 grande here. It's all cappucino/expresso. That double dixie cup turned out to pack quite a wallop!
We took a taxi along the coast for several miles to the Radisson. Beautiful coastline, similar to the strand in LA. Sidewalk, lots of bikes, runners, cafes. The embassy is right off the beach. I'll be spending a little bit of time there, but mostly at the 3rd party site.
We got to the hotel, which is very nice. We immediately went down to the Mercado del Puerto. 10 block walk through old historic districts. Very interesting place. The mercado is an open air market. We had filets, wine, appetizers, beers, no dessert. It was a Morton's type meal for lunch ... total cost, $10/head. The currency exchange here is 25 pesos to 1 dollar. I could get used to living this large all the time.
We walked around a little after lunch, and now I'm back at the hotel. There's a very nice spa and gym on the 6th floor that I'm trying to build up courage to go visit. Problem is I'm pretty damn tired. But a good ride on the bike could do me some good.
Tomorrow is a holiday here. We're going to the embassy for some setup, which may take one hour. We'll have the rest of the day free. I'm hoping to swing back over to Buenos Aires for the day, but we'll see.
Stay tuned for the daily schpeel.
Monday
Today we went by the embassy for 3 hours to setup. Gorgeous place right on the sea. Setup was fine, no issues. We then set out for some Chivigo(sp?), some greasy sandwich that tastes really good.
A few hours strolling up and down julio 18 street for some souveniers and a look. A little rest, then off to an italian place to eat by the hotel at 7:00PM. However, Uruguayans don't eat dinner until 8PM at the earliest. We go turned away and found a pizza place. I had a 1997 Don Pascual Merlot (to myself) which was excellent for 230 pesos ~$8. The appetizer was an assortment of cheese, meat and olives. The pizza was excellent. $12/head in the end for a very good meal.
Tomorrow is the first day of testing. I'll be going over to Indumex, a 3rd party visa collection fee site. No one there will speak english, and I'll probably be there by myself most of the day. Hablo Englis?
Ciao
Tuesday
Today we set up shop in Indumex. It's what you might think of as a typical bank style place. We waited, and waited, and waited, and waited for some visa applicants to come by. 5 hours later, we had 8 applicants run through the biometric collection. Successful test, but we'd like to get a much larger sample pool.
Tonight we're off for some serious eats, once again. I skipped lunch, because I didn't think it would matter considering the amount of food I've stuffed in my pie hole the last 2 days.
After eats, it's back to the gym for some swimming and work out.
Tuesday Dinner
Buenos Noches,
Que Maravilla! De acuerdo, this dinner cost us $25/head. On the expensive side of Uruguayan cuisine. However, let me tell you about it.
Uruguay and Argentina are known for their beef and wines. I now understand why this is so, even after our meals earlier at Mercado del Puerto. We revisited the location, it's a collection of open air restaurants down by the water. You must cab it in the evening, due to the rough nature of the crowd you may encounter on the walk. It's about 10 blocks from the hotel. On the way back, you see a variety of people who you probably wouldn't ask for directions. But the eating establishment and hotel area are just fine.
Again, we opened up with a bottle of 2006 Don Pascual Tannat Reserve. Same Don Pascual I had last night, but a different selection, hence the Tannat. Excellent, smooth taste, and yes DK, I'll bring you home a bottle.
The appetizers were home-baked bread, that melt in your mouth. It's similar to an fire-oven baked bread from Bertucci's. There is a tomato/oregano something sauce to put on the bread which is excellent. We ordered some grilled provolone mixed with oregano and olive oil as on the side, named pelenque. It's a local specialty for artery clogging. Similar clogging ability as the chivitas we ate for lunch the other day.
The main course was bife ancho, en poco jugoso. Oh my, it was a specialty beef cut similar to a medium rare cut of rib eye in the States. However, don't confuse it with any piece of meat you've had in the States. It's a large size mouth melter that is simply incredible. There is a butcher shop near the Courthouse metro where I need to look for this cut. Three grilled vegetables were served with it, basically a squash, red pepper and a local vegetable like squash. Muy bien.
The dessert was a manolito. There was no "ito" about it. A mound of sweet chocolate, simliar in mousse texture. Graham cracker crust with a layer of carmel. A hard chocolate shell with a leaf of white chocolate as a topper. Holey geez, I'm not a dessert guy but this was better than anything the cheesecake factory has to offer.
I hope everyone is eating well back home.
Bon Appetite
