That’s a title I never thought I’d write. But I can’t do this anymore. Jenny and I have been keeping track of the horrors happening to the people in our beautiful city. The murder of Alex Pretti happened this morning. I can’t write about the nice origami museum. So I’m done for now. We will be back Tuesday. I love you all and I love Minneapolis
I will spare 100% of the details of my illness that kept Jen and me in Montevideo for a day past our schedule. I’ll just say that we sisters are very much hoping that Jen will not fall to its powers. We bought bleach. Enough said. So anyway, Jen did some phenomenal birding yesterday while I hung out at the hotel. And today, she ran errands while I hung out at the hotel. I may post some of her bird finds tomorrow, but for now, this is what you get. I am very impressed by the college dorm selection of foods Jen brought me today to aid in my recovery (I chose a few items that were very, very bland). She’s really the best sister ever, especially in Uruguay. Because of my new status as Typhoid Mary (despiste getting a typhoid vaccine scant weeks ago!) we’ve change our itinerary and will be skipping Buenos Aires. Instead, we will spend three nights (instead of two) in Colonia di Sacramento Uruguay. So, stay tuned for more adventures in Uruguay and NO adventures in Argentina.
Yes, we are a bit cranky today, but it’s for reasons that are valid for a traveling duo. More on that later. Let’s start with laundry! We did. Hotel laundry machine worked great. We spent our cycle time on the back deck watching birds (mostly Jen) and standing knee deep in the pool (all me). Feels good to get that checked first thing in the morning.
On the tourist list today was Montevideo’s main art museum: Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales. We’ve been Ubering into Montevideo because the traffic is awful, the drivers insane, and the parking absent. So Ubered we did to see the art. I’ve been to many many art museums in my travels, so I had an image in my brain about what my eyes would behold when we arrived. Didn’t see that, I’m here to say, and that is just fine. The museum is housed in a 2 story warehousy kind of building with an entrance that looked more like a door to an apartment complex than a museum. But behind the doors, the art itself did not disappoint. Most was from Uruguayan and South American artists, and content often focused on topics related to the same. Jen and I both enjoyed the splendor, and we saw every painting and sculpture in the building. We were, in fact, surprised by how quickly we finished and moved to the next item on the itinerary.
Out the door of the museum is a gorgeous park called Parque Rodo. After striking out finding a bathroom in the museum, we were hoping to grab food and a restroom before enjoying all the park had to offer, but alas, no food of substance and no bathrooms were found. Having to pee while wandering a new and unusual park is kind of a bummer, but we didn’t let that stop us from wowing at the trees and the birds, OMG the birds! Jen is the one with the ornithologist's brain so she may be disappointed when I don’t name the various species that we saw, but heck, she can write her own blog if she wants. I’ll just say that I’ve never seen the variety and the volume of birds in one place (that may change because we are going birding tomorrow with a guide). The park and its avian creatures get an A+. Having to pee does not.
And to fix that problem, a restaurant needed to be found. Good news is that we located several. Bad news is that they were all closed. This is not weird and we did expect that finding something open between the hours of three and seven would be a challenge. Most spots close for the afternoon before the typical late dinner which is the custom in Uruguay and many other countries that are not the United States. Hard knocks for the sisters and their bladders. Approaching 5PM, we came close to heading back to the hotel earlier than expected, but then Jen remembered that Rhonda the Missionary told us about this mall that used to be a prison and it was a short five minute drive away! Uber was summoned. That was a mistake. Our ride showed up with a dented car and a surly attitude. We’d barely closed the doors before he zoomed down the street, honking and swerving and scaring the crap out of us. I felt terrible for the folks driving cars around us because we were the asshole car tailgating and cutting people off without mercy. I waved at other motorists and mouthed sorry to them in a language they probably didn’t understand. It was brutal.
But, hooray! We arrived at the prison mall. The building looks sort of unique from the outside, but as soon as we entered, we were transported back to the United States. It was super disorienting after several days in such a different environment to walk in and see H&M, Swarovski Jewelry, and Cinnabon. I was going to take a picture for the blog but really, you’ve all seen malls. It looked like that. The first mall task was to find the bathroom, which you’d think would be easy, but no. Signs were confusing and patience was low. We were hangry after our long and fruitless search for food at the park. Wandering inside a mall is also a reason for grumpiness, at least for me. We finally did relieve ourselves (in the located bathroom, don’t worry) and then hunted for ice cream because, well, it’s ice cream. That task also took ages but our reward was the gelato store, where we failed to understand how to order and stood around looking like tourists. Turns out that in Uruguay, you don’t walk up to an ice cream shop, look at the flavors, point, get your cup, and pay. It’s the reverse. Find the register no where near the ice cream, pay, point, and receive. We are learning so much on this trip.
Time to head back to the hotel, and we call our last Uber. All seemed fine for the first few minutes of the ride. We were tired so the fact that our driver didn’t talk was just fine. But then, what he did do, and then proceeded to do for the full half hour ride was cough and clear phlegm from his sinuses. And what he didn’t do was cover his mouth. So if we are sick in a few days you know why. There were other annoyances in the day such as bringing the wrong charger for our phones and purchasing playing cards that were not really playing cards at all. These were actually interesting. Did you know that there are different types of decks depending on the country you’re in? It’s true. We are the proud owners of (very cool looking) Naipes cards (Spanish suited playing cards). No hearts, diamonds, or spades. Instead we’ve got bastos (clubs), oros (literally "golds", that is, golden coins), copas (cups) and espadas (swords). And there are only 48 cards. I think we can play most of the games we want to with a few adjustments, but dang! We didn’t really get much right today. And tomorrow, we are out the door at 6AM, which is Jenny’s least favorite six. Whew! Kinda glad this one is done.
In the few days we’ve been in Uruguay we’ve received lots of opinions about its major city Montevideo, from Rhonda the missionary who warned us that the city had seen better days, to our Uber driver Vanessa with a real take on what it’s like to live in the capital city. So today we decided to form our own opinions with a deep dive into the Old City neighborhood. We began the day at Museo de los Andes, a memorial museum dedicated to the Uruguayan rugby team whose plane crashed in the Andes mountains in 1972. Sixteen of the 45 passengers on the plane survived 72 days in the snow covered mountains, enduring frigid temperatures, starvation, avalanches, illness, and horrible injuries. During our visit we viewed artifacts from the plane, personal items from the crash victims, and fun interactive experiences. One option was a large freezing machine that was supposed to give participants an idea of how cold the conditions were on the mountain. Eight people at a time climbed into the human-sized freezer for one minute, staring at each other while fans blew frozen air onto us. Jen, because she is smart and has had enough of freezing weather, opted out. So I joined seven frozen friends for the fun. Wasn’t that cold. Shorts weather in Minnesota. Almost balmy for this Minnesotan. There was no photography allowed in the museum, but Jen and I did get to take a photo with its founder, Jörg P. A. Thomsen, who happened to be staffing the information desk. I had no idea who he was and when Jen and I were asking for an employee to take our picture, good ol’ Jörg asked if we wanted him in the photo. Why not, I thought? I also thought, why? Did he assume we needed his image for our scrapbook? It was only later in the day that Jen told me that he was famous for making the museum happen. Makes sense, Jörg. Got it.
Post museum, the sisters took a stroll through the Old City, falling into the literal tourist trap known as the Mercado de Puerto. We expected to see a bunch of stalls with wares such as produce and handmade goods. Instead, we were accosted by the bearers of laminated menus offered by very eager restaurant owners vying for our business. One gave us mini glasses of sparkling wine to entice us into eating at his plastic menu palace. Interspersed between restaurants, there were souvenir shops selling the items you’d expect. I do not need a key chain, mini license plate or shot glass, thank you very much. On our way out of the trap of tourists, Maria convinced us to stop and view her plastic menu. She was kind and we talked politics in the United States as well as her side job as a Spanish language teacher. Later over our non-laminated lunch choice, J and I discovered that we were both distracted by her eyes for the entire discussion. One eye was lazy, but that wasn’t what mesmerized us. She had golden eyes, Goldeneye! Seriously, they were brilliant gold with a dark brown rim. Stunning. If you’re gonna have a lazy eye, at least make them golden delicious.
Jen proclaimed that she would never eat at a restaurant that shoves plastic menus in her face, and lucky us, we discovered El Otro Es Mercat, a tapas bar that showcased its menu on a chalk board. And, they had a veggie quesadilla chock full of peppers, eggplant, and squash for me and a tortilla espanola for my sis. It was a family business and we talked with the owner's daughter who lives in Atlanta about the conditions in Minneapolis. She was visiting her father, helping to take care of her little three year old brother, who spent our lunch hour zooming around the place pretending to be Spiderman, complete with a Spidey shirt and mask. That kid had little Alex vibes that made me miss my boys.
Here’s a weird combination. Our next stop was Museo del Gaucho y La Moneda, which translates to the cowboy and money museum. Because those two things are a natural fit. It was quite the exhibition and didn’t fail to teach about both subjects. The museum is the ground floor of an actual, operating bank, and it has the look of an old timey financial institution, with teller windows and marble columns. We toured artwork and artifacts related to the gauchos of Uruguay and then saw examples of currency from Uruguay and beyond. Fascinating and fun.
And to wrap up our day in the big city, Jen and I took a walk on the Rambla, which is an extraordinary pedestrian path that follows the ocean for miles along the perimeter of the city. The picturesque views of the water mixed with the people watching of the Rambla made for a stroll to remember. At the end of our walk, we encountered some graffiti (there is a lot of graffiti in Montevideo and much of it is stunning, adding so much character to the city). The message said, “Fuera Yankis de América Latina. Venezuela no Está Sola!!”, which translates to Yankees out of Latin America. Venezuela is not alone!! Yep, agree, Uruguay, agree. The United States should not be messing with other countries. Fuera Yankis indeed.
The fanciest and most elegant part of our day happened when we returned to our hotel, bought Doritos and beer, and hung out in our room watching an excellent movie called Society of the Snow about the Andes plane crash. You can see our proud elevator selfie below.
