March 3, 2008 - Buenos Aires, Argentina
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I woke up around 7 PM. I skipped breakfast and headed to the front desk to checkout. The front desk manager (same person as Yesterday Morning) apologized for not picking up my clothes from the laundry. As it was past 8 AM, he sent his assistant to pick up the clothes from the laundry. The assistance comes back 5 minutes later - empty handed as the laundry does not open until 8:30 AM. Waiting until then would definitely mean that I would miss my 9 AM ferry to Montevideo (Uruguay).
I pay up for my 5-night stay and take a taxi to the port. I ask the taxi to pass by the laundry one last time in the hope that they may open early. No luck as the laundry is still closed. I may have to do some wash and wear during my 5-day stay in Uruguay!
The check-in to the Ferry is quite similar to an Airport Check-in. You have counters up front where your ID and tickets are checked and moving baggage belts to cart away the checked bags to the ferry's hold. The Security check did not even require me to empty my pockets of coins. The exit (Argentina) and entry (Uruguay) Immigration formalities are both done here. The two people sit right next to each other! I obtained yet another stamp on my passport. US Citizens do not require any Visas for visiting Uruguay. This would be the 5th (and last country) I would visit during this trip.
The ferry had two levels of seating. I found a window seat at the upper level of the ferry. I had a 3-seater to myself. I was travelling in Economy class. The Ferry also had a first class section where you have uniformed folks serving you. Of course, the first class has less number of seats and is therefore quite roomy. The ferry was reasonably packed. Many of the folks were doing a 1-day excursions to Uruguay offered by BUQUEBUS (the company owing and operating this ferry). I had some croissants and juice for breakfast. I went through the motions of visiting the duty free shop on board the ferry! The walk through the duty free shop reminded me that I need to get socks in Uruguay (as I did not have more than a spare pair on me at this point). The pair of socks could be my souvenir from Uruguay!
I planned a list of things to see and do while in Montevideo and Colonia del Sacramento (Uruguay) as well as the subsequent stops of Salta and Mendoza (both in Argentina). The weather was dull and grey. I did not even bother looking at the Buenos Aires Skyline from the boat. It rained heavily for a bit after we had departed Buenos Aires. Dark Clouds appeared to follow us during the 3-hour ride to Montevideo. Oh well, I cannot get too stressed about these things!
March 3, 2008 - Montevideo, Uruguay
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We reached the Montevideo around Noon. The customs folks here wanted to inspect my larger duffel bag. I took a taxi shortly thereafter to my hotel. On my way in, I called Shahrukh's hotel (in Montevideo) and it appeared that they had checked out. I reached Hotel Palacio by 12:50 PM. I paid the taxi AR$14 rather than UR$83 (1 Argentine Peso = 6 Uruguayan pesos approx.) as I did not have any Uruguayan pesos. This is what one loves about South American and even European Countries. They will accept the adjacent countries' if one does not have any local currency. I doubt if I can use Mexican pesos or Canadian Dollars in the US - anywhere.
I headed up the Hotel reception and found a message from Shahrukh waiting for me. He was planning to swing by my hotel and pick me up around 1:15 PM before heading to the Bodegas. As I had 20-minutes before his arrival, I rested in my room for a bit. The Hotel is located in an 80-year old building. It has quite charming rooms. I was paying US$20 per night for a decent sized single room with an attached bath and fan. While waiting for Shahrukh, I sent a message to my friends and family announcing my arrival in Montevideo. I also obtained a city map from the reception. I was advised by the hotel reception desk not to venture into Ciudad Vieja (Old City) after dark. Fair Warning - I will heed to it.
Shahrukh and his girlfriend Romi showed up at 1:15 Sharp. We called a taxi and headed out. He had arranged 3 tastings for this afternoon at 2, 3 and 4 PM (in 3 different wineries, of course). The driver of the taxi took a bit longer route than necessary (he claimed it was "faster") before dropping us off at the first winery (Castel Pujol) for our 2 PM tasting.
This was a very old winery (dating back to 1752) although the current ownership has been in place since the 1970s. We were shown around the winery by a member of the family. We saw the grape sorting, de-stemming and crushing machines before heading into the cellars to observe the wines stored in casks and bottles. Just as MALBEC represents Argentina, TANNAT represents Uruguay. We tasted a Pinot Noir, a Tannat and a Sauvignon Blanc. I liked the Pinot Noir best even though it was light bodied (and my preference is for full bodied wines). We also realized they they were charging us US$7 per person for the tour and tasting. I told Shahrukh to keep a tab on all expenses so I could pay my share later (I have not had the time to change US$ to Uruguayan pesos). Shahrukh was paying for everything at this point. The Winery also has Vineyards on the Uruguayan Border with Brasil. Shahrukh purchased 3 bottles of wine. I thought they were reasonably priced. I wished they waived the tour and tasting fees every time folks made a purchase.
Our next stop (Santa Rosa Winery) was a 10-minute walk away. It appeared run down and a bit less professional than Castel Pujol. Although we were scheduled to be here at 3 PM, we arrived here at 3:30 PM. Romi had a gut feel that this was not a great place. While we were debating on whether to walk out of here or not, a well dressed gentleman greeted us and escorted us on a tour of the winery. The initial part of the tour appeared to reinforce Romi's gut feel about the winery. After the Initial part of the tour, we descended to the cellars. The gentleman escorting us on the tour was the Owner. The Winery had been started by his grandmother. Santa Rosa does not make table wine. They produce only fine wines and sparkling wines. They do produce wines from TANNOT but they do not produce any wines from PINOT NOIR - as they consider it to be a temperamental grape.
Our tastings were to be done in the cellar. We were to taste Sparkling wines, Chardonnay, Tannat and a blend. The tasting was to be done by the 3 of us along with the owner. Although the majority of the conversation was in Spanish, he thoroughly enjoyed talking wine with us and spending time with us during the tasting process. Neither Shahrukh nor I had ever had such a tasting experience as this. There was no clock watching, no bean counting (where they try and judge whether we are going to buy their wines or not), nothing. The owner had even gone to the extent of purchasing 2 boxes of crackers for us - that we used during the tasting process to cleanse our palates! We polished off an entire bottle of bubbly during our "tasting". He re-corked the Tannat (that was 3/4 full) and gave it to Shahrukh and Romi. Shahrukh expressed interest in buying some wines right away. He could not do so as it was past 5 PM, and no one (the owner's father alone excepted) could buy wines after 4 PM! He gave us a unlabelled bottle of wine from the cellar as a gift as well! Now you know why an experience like this is unlikely to happen again!
We thanked him profusely and got into the taxi (he had called for us) and headed back to Montevideo. I thanked Shahrukh for inviting me along. Romi thought I was "Divino" (Divine) as well as easy going and agreeable. I will NOT disagree with that Characterization!
We had the taxi drop us off near the old market area and we scoured places for dinner. As we had all skipped lunch, it made sense to have an early dinner. We settled on an Italian place that would not charge us any Corkage fee (we were planning to open one of the bottles given to us at Santa Rosa!). We had a good dinner, conversation and the wine was decent. Towards the end of the meal we were presented with a tab of UR$1300 (US$65). While I was willing to pay it off, Shahrukh thought that the bill was a bit steep considering what we had eaten. We found out that we had been charged a "Corkage" fee of UR$300 (US$ 15). Shahrukh and Romi had a long and extended argument with the restaurant folks about what we were told (no corkage fee) while we were being wooed to take a seat in the restaurant. The arguments were in Vain as the Waiter who had wooed us and served us had disappeared! We paid up the bill - ZERO tip of course and departed. Shahrukh and I exchanged some Dollars for Uruguayan pesos and we promised to keep in touch.
Shahrukh and Romi had booked tickets at Teatro Solis for a performance that evening. As they were heading back to Buenos Aires on a late night ferry, they told me to pick up the tickets in case I was interested. They told me that it was a Jazz performance by an American. I headed to the hotel to leave my Camera equipment behind before heading to Teatro Solis. I told an English speaking Usher about the tickets being under my friend's name (Merchant) and he went off to look for it. 5 minutes later I was given a single ticket and ushered in. There was no charge for this performance. I was seated in a box of 6 seats. As there was no one else, I had the entire box to myself. The box was at the rear-centre of the theatre and offered a good view of the proceedings. The program booklet stated that it was music and dances from Beethoven, Dvorak etc. This turned out to be fantastic news as I prefer Classical music to jazz.
Solis is a gorgeous little theatre and provided for a far more intimate setting that bigger halls like Avery Fisher hall (Lincoln Centre) or Carnegie Hall. The music portion was excellent. Some of the program pieces were accompanied by dancers. The entire program lasted a little over an hour. All in all it was a wonderful evening. I need to thank Shahrukh for this.
I walked back to my hotel (5 minutes away), wrote my diary and went to bed.
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