Uruguay part 1

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We arrived in Montevideo pretty exhausted and Dario thought we had got off the plane in the wrong country, apparently the airport had changed a bit (later we were told that it was all brand new, and the old airport was next door). We went through customs etc very fast, bought some whisky for Tato at duty free and were greeted by Tato, basically family of Dario but not by blood... family friend. It was 5am so we were very grateful he came to pick us up. We drove back to his place, met the 2 guard dogs (so friendly thought) Nelson and Patiño and crashed out in the room they had made up for us in the back granny flat. We got up at 12 and ate lunch with Tato and Quela his wife and chatted about everything). I had a horrible toothache for about a week and it got worse after the plane trip so Quela pulled in a favour with her dentist (it was a monday public holiday) and she drove me to the dentist, she couldnt find anything wrong with me, so gave me a referral for an xray and asked that i come back. She was so good and nice (she ended up not charging us for this visit!). We found out that their youngest daughter, Jimena was due to give birth really soon so all was a bit exciting, Jimena´s older son, Emilio who is 2 and his nanny Flor were also there, her husband was fixing stuff up on their farm before joining them in the city. So the house was packed, hence we were in the back room.
Everyone in Uruguay seems to have unlimited internet access through the phone line, so we tapped into that and sent emails home that we had arrived safe and sound. Then we walked to Montevideo Shopping, a large complex about 10-15mins walk away. Dario remembered how to get there. It had also changed a lot apparently, but since it was my first time it was great! He couldnt believe how modern it all was... and how expensive evrything was. We went to Tienda Inglesa, kind of like woolworths mixed with kmart or big w, and bought about $50 worth of stuff... Alfajores which you MUST try if you ever go to argentina or uruguay, they are soft biscuit/cakey slices, with dulce de leche in between and then all coated in chocolate or other things. So yummy! we bought amazing cheeses, chorizos, ice creams and pastry things that Dario insisted on buying for brekky the next day.
That night we had traditional uruguayan food with the family, the back flat where our room was, also serves as a garage and as a kitchen for cooking asado... basically a special type of barbecue for meat, cooked over hot embers of wood which is burnt at one end, then the embers scraped across to be under the rack with the meat.... tastes so good! And we crashed out again. Sleeping until midday the next day. We got up and ate those pastries for breakfast along with toast with dulce de leche... while talking to Dario´s parents on skype. Patricia said we needed to go shopping with Jimena to Zara, a nice place like myer thats in Montevideo Shopping, I mentioned that to Jimena and that afternoon off we went. A very pregnant Jimena, Dario and I. We went and found the shops ´Tits´ but its not what you think... its got very nice dresses and shoes at the more expenisve end of the spectrum. Jimena got one of the girls to go and find all the dresses in the colours i liked and I tried on a few but (depressingly) i have obviously put on a few kilos this trip and a few of them wouldnt do up! But eventually we found the perfect blue dress, in my favourite blue! and once Visa card swipe later we went to look for Dario who had gone walkabout after getting bored.
We checked out other shops including Zara which has some lovely stuff but didnt buy anything else. We found out that day that there was a Peñarol match on against LDU Quito a team from Ecuador in the Copa de Libertadores, a big footbal competition in south america where the local teams from lots of countries play each other for a prestigious cup! The game was on the 9th (the next night) in the stadium which happened to be within walking distance! So we went to Abitab and bought tickets in the Peñarol stand.
Next day, the 9th March, we slept late once more, the time difference between cuba and uruguay is only 3 hours but it meant we were never tired until about 1 in the morning. We got up etc and Dario wanted to see his grandmother who is living in a retirement home nearby. We called a taxi and off we went. we had the address from Dario´s mother, the taxi dropped us at the closest corner... but he had got it all wrong and after 40 mins of walking around in the heat of the day and asking loads of people, we arrived at the very nice complex where she lives. The building is only a year old, all the facilities are brand new and the staff are all young and very friendly! The reception lady called upstairs to see if she was around and we went up, she was waiting for us at the door, very excited to see Dario as she hadnt realised we were in the country yet. We chatted for over an hour before we left, but not before organising to meet her the next day (Dario´s birthday) and to go out to lunch etc together for his bday. We went then to 18 de Julio, the main street in Montevideo as that is where the dental xray clinic was. It was very efficient, quick and cheap!! Once that was over with we went to look for Peñarol football shirts as we hadnt found any in Montevideo Shopping the day before. We walked down the street for ages and finally found a place selling them, it was packed with people. We bought our shirts and got out. We had lunch at La Pasiva, a very popular and famous place within the country for its Panchos (hotdogs basically) and beer. Then walked to Plaza Independencia and then to Oro Del Rhin (gold of the rhine) an originally german owned and run place that makes AMAZING pastries and lots of sweet goodies. It was started in the 1920´s and we went to the original one in the middle of town. Then we decided to go home again.
We got back and got organised for the match which staretd at 8.30. We waited at the house for Nicholas and his mate, (Nic is the son of Tato and Quela) to go to the game together! It was packed in our side of the stadium and at one end which apparently is the hardcore peñarol section and we were in the mediumcore peñarol section where there is less violence but equal amount of passion (and the tickets are a bit more expensive), but we found decent seats all together very luckily. We ate churros but they were cold, and enjoyed the game in our new shirts. We won!!! so it was a great bday pressy for Dario the next morning.
After the game we walked home again and found out when we arrived that Jimena´s contractions had started and she was upstairs lying down with Arturo (her husband). Tato being Tato told me not to worry, it wasnt contagious and I should go say hi 😊

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