15 years & Sloth Water

September 2016 marks the fifteenth year Jordan & I have been in each other’s lives.  We made traveling a priority in our relationship and we are both so much richer for it.   So to celebrate this occasion, we ventured to a new continent together!  

As mentioned in the previous post, we traveled to Uruguay for eight days.  We both worked the majority of the trip, but we made sure to make time for eating, tasting new wines, and wandering around the city.  

If you have previously read this blog, you are already aware of our hatred of overnight flights.  Regardless of the seat, we cannot get psyched for these long flights.  The one going to Uruguay was the most memorable for me, as I got very sick on the plane.   As we got off the plane, I was determined to feel better.  We pushed through the day to sightsee, and in the evening we got to the hotel and agreed to just order room service.   The Hilton had a place to get snacks & drinks in the lobby, so I grabbed a one liter bottle of water.  As we are riding up the elevator, I begin to drink the water and I look down to see this creature on the label staring at me.   I quickly put it down and said out loud – Sloth Water!   And that started a mini obsession with the water bottles in Uruguay.  It’s actually just water in a normal bottle, but the bottle has various animals on the label that are native to South America since the company donates part of the proceeds to these endangered creatures.   None of which are actually sloths….but hey I drank a lot of that Sloth Water.

I also learned a lot about their eating and drink habits.  The favorite thing to give tourist is Dulce de Leche.  This is far sweeter than caramel and looks like it in substance.  They like it on pancakes (more crepe than pancake), cookies, strawberries, or anything really.   It’s so very sweet that even I can only handle bit sized bites, but I had a bit every day.  

They truly love their beef; this country has more cattle than people. I ate beef every day for a week for the first time in my life.  I even ate fried beef!  I will admit the quality was impressive.  I am very curious now to compare these steaks to Argentina or Brazil to see who has the best beef.

More recently, the Uruguayans are also trying to give Argentina a bit of a run for the best wine on the continent.  They have really amped up their wine production in the past few years.  They are best known for Tannat wine, which is a red wine.  And of course, they had their own beer brands.

I also loved drinking an authentic Caipirinha, even if they are technically a Brazilian drink.

And we had to eat at the American Hamburger place called Pizza & Love.

 Until next time Montevideo….no seriously, I will see you in October.  Bring on summer on the Rambla!

- Lauren

Hola from South America

Work has had me hopping on work trips the past few weeks and this week I was asked to help with recruiting for our new office in Uruguay.  If you are like most people we know, you are asking yourself where is Uruguay?  And what city would you fly into?  As good as I am with geography, I did not know these answer; beyond that I did what I do best, researched.

Here's a recap of what I learned over the past two months about Uruguay:  The country is named after the River Uruguay which means the 'river of birds.' They won the first soccer World Cup, the country has more cattle than people, it is the only South American country without a tropical area, it's a larger port than most American cities, it sits on the best beaches on the continent and it gets overshadowed by its neighbors Argentina to the south & Brazil to the north.  It's only a quick hour or so ferry from Buenos Aires, on a fancy boat.  Also, like Quebec in Canada, Montevideo, Uruguay is the most European city of this part of the world.   

We flew into the capital, Montevideo, on Saturday morning.   If you're curious, ask us about the flight later because it's one I will never forget.   We are staying downtown at the World Trade Center complex.  This is the largest and newest business area in the city.  

The entire city is angled to space each neighborhood along their Rambla (shoutout to Barcelona! See earlier 2016 posts).  It's an amazing beach front city with large promenades and nice boulevards in front of these sidewalks. It continues for over 20 mile exactly the same:

We have spent 2.5 days driving across almost every neighborhood in the city limits.  It is a nicer city than I would have expected in this part of the world.  It's has about one million people, but does not seem busier than the Triad or Triangle region of NC.  

We toured most of the Old City and its two main plazas.  The city gained independence in 1830 but through many government changes did not become a modern democracy until the 1980s.

The first ever public dance of the tango was performed in this theater.

The port area is large and stretches for miles. It has nice old market area within one of the colonial buildings that  locals seem to frequent.  Also, in WWII the German boat Graf Spee was scuttled in the port here.

The area where the World Trade Center buildings are is new and is very modern with amenities, restaurants, condos, etc. like any European or American city.

And lastly we ventured out to the new part of the city, mainly built by and for expats.  The neighborhood Carrasco is the only part of the proper city with houses.  The houses have been built over decades by various nationalities so they are very different (imagine a British bungalow next to a Spanish villa).

We are impressed with this city so far!.

- Lauren

Lauren tries to be a foodie...

As we all know, I am not a foodie (and clearly, Jordan might be the epitome of a non-foodie).   But while visiting Barcelona,  I made it a point to start trying new foods. After all, they invented tapas and food is basically what everyone thinks of right after SUN when you say Spain. Plus, the hotel in Switzerland was a disaster for food; so I had starved for a week.

I have tried:

-Potato cake with chorizo & Brie

-Spanish omelette

-Chicken Croquettes (fried meat)

-Catalan style bruschetta 

-eggs over fries with various toppings(they love this dish)

-fried Brie, other cheeses

-Spanish 'gelato'

-Spanish omelet (veggie)

-various pastries, some filled with a cream I cannot place

-every white wine a bar offered + cava

(Lots of Italian pizzas & pasta)

(Best waffle outside of Belgium)

(Even La Hacienda!)

I did not try the pimento peppers, olives or anchovies -I have limits.   But, since I have a hard time making menu choices, I love the tapas attitude!   Also, they have a market for every part of the world in our neighborhood.  Of course my favorite was the Russian.

Just a little more information about our trip, until next time.

See you again soon Spain!

Enjoying the last bit of Barcelona

Today we woke up rather late for our typical European trip and didn't even get out of the room until 11 local time; it was luxuriously fabulous. We have completed the full Barcelona itinerary and have a complete free day to burn. With it we headed to the beach and ate a leisurely lunch along the water before walking down the beach to see the sites, grab a beer or cava here and there, and at the moment ending up in an Irish pub (which we can never resist) near the Mediterranean. The rest of the day is likely to be similarly squandered but we will certainly make a new post if we find anything exciting. For now we are simply relaxing and enjoying the side of Barcelona that most Europeans see; the beach, while we rest up for our flight home tomorrow. Unlike our previous trips we have a lot more reason to come home and are very much looking forward to seeing D.






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Location:Plaça de la Barceloneta,Barcelona,Spain

Mountains & Beaches, Oh My!

On Thursday, we ventured out of the city to see a church built onto the cliffside.  It is said to be the source of the region (Catalan) pride's and has had a history going back to the 800s.

We had an interesting train ride with Brazilians & emigrated Cuban-Americans.  I was even serenaded in the train. We then had to take a steep ride up a cable car, which always makes me cringe. (Again, thanks Murren.)

Beside being built on the mountain, this church is famous for its Virgin Mary statue & it's choir.  Even after waiting almost an hour, the statue, church & choir were memorable and moving.  

Then we went hiking, after another train ride straight up the mountain.  The original monastery & church was built into the sheer cliff higher up.  You cannot beat the view.  Great job Monks!

After that, we decided to end our day with  a walk down a few of the city's beaches & enjoy this view.  I got to stick my feet in the (cold) Mediterranean Sea.  I promised myself I would come back to the Mediterranean when it was warm enough to swim.  

I found my shop (eyescream & friends) & had to get a plate.   We ended this hike at the goldfish statue where the 1992 Olympic village was built.

To end our day we made a few other  rounds in our neighborhood, in which we went to the fancier part which is upscale.  We had to end the night at Dow Jones for the wifi.

A Relaxed Wednesday in Barcelona

Wednesday we took off early again for an appointed 9:00 am entry to one of the more famous landmarks in Barcelona; the Sagrada Famila. This is a church that has been under construction for at least 100 years and isn't finished. It's another building largely designed by local architect Gaudi, and it's actually quite interesting. The exterior is extremely detailed with scenes from Christ's birth, life, and death; each one being represented on a different side of the building. The interior is also interesting as the traditional buttressed ceilings are absent and the architect was able to find a way to keep them much more open to allow light to stream in from above. All in all, an unusual and interesting place. After touring the church we had tickets to t our one of the towers which loom over the neighborhood. A short elevator ride up, some amazing views, and then a long winding walk down the towers followed.





























Next, a ten minute walk up hill on Avenue of Gaudi to see another of the famous architect's calibrations. This time a hospital (Sant Pau Recinte Modernista) which we did not enter. It was still very interesting and much prettier than some of his other works (see the ille de discord neighborhood from our earlier post).





From there we were largely done with the day so we tried some local tapas near our hotel in the Eixample neighborhood; literally an example neighborhood for how the rest should be built.








Finally we went to the hotel's rooftop pool for a little relaxing.

We ended the night out in another section of the neighborhood to do the nightly bar & food crawl. This time we started with a craft beer shop, headed to another Irish pub for drinks and snacks, and finally revisited the Italian restaurant we found to be so good on Sunday.









Thursday will be a journey up Montserrat which is a natural landmark that may be among the most unique, at least in Europe.

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Location:Barcelona, Spain