Parque Prado

Parque Prado, Montevideo, Uruguay

Prado is a barrio (district) in Montevideo, which is home to a very large parque (park).  The district juxtaposes extreme wealth and poverty.  Note:  The USA's wealth distribution gap is the 39th worst in the world, while Uruguay is just a bit worse coming in at 33 (CIA Data).  As for the USA, thanks trickle-down (i mean up) economics!  In a previous post I wrote of a trip over to Prado for the Gaucho/livestock festival.  Included in that post are a few pictures of the giant, lavish, extravagant homes.  Prado is near the edge of the city as is thus in American terms more of a suburban terrain.  (but not like short pump)  On the trip to Bouza Bodega (previous post) we went past the city limits and saw how the poor here really live.  Shanty towns/homes were everywhere as you left the city. dirt floors, makeshift construction, garbage covering the landscape.  Parque Prado is host not only to large open spaces for lounging but also botanical gardens, japanese gardens, a large and lazy stream (pretty sure its man made), and beautiful and exotic fauna and flora.  I will try in later posts to get pictures of the birds we saw at the park, bright, almost neon, green parrots! 

Entrance to the Botanical Garden

A dead Eucalyptus tree with many interesting carvings

One of many statues.  All of the parks that I have been to in both Uruguay and Argentina contain many extravagant statues.

I thought this was a really cool evergreen (both above and below)

Spring is finally here!

A kiosko.  looks rather roman/greek to me

Despite being discouaged by my better half about taking pictures of young children due to the creepy stalker factor I went ahead.  Just wanted to show how big futbol (soccer) is here.  Everywhere I go I see kids kicking the ball around.

Photo shoot!

Another local montevidean toddler kicking the ball around. perhaps the next Diego Forlan

HUGE eucalyptus tree!

Even the dogs are getting into relaxation mode as spring arrives

Neat old car/truck thing

A pretty husky! but not as cool or pretty as KOYA! Oh how I miss my pal Koya!

huge turtle chilling in the stream that runs through the park. minding his/her own business until some high school aged girls came upon him and thought it would be "funny" to throw large rocks and bricks near him, atually hitting him once!  We scolded them but they attempted to ignore us.  I wasn't allowed to go through with my idea, but after they said "we aren't throwing is at him, just near him" I asked my lady if it'd be okay to just sit behind the  girls and throw rocks near them, not at them, just near them. telling them "oh i'm not throwing the rocks to hit you, just around you to see what happens."

Really odd statue, couldn't resist

peering into the Japanese garden, which was closed when we got there

A very odd looking tree

Bouza Bodega, An Uruguayan Winery

Bouza Bodega (Winery), Montevideo, Uruguay

Due to time we were not able to take the tour so below is a link to the winery's website which is very well designed and serves as a quality supplement for the pictures that I have posted below

If you use google chrome for your browser you can have it translate the page into english.  I'm guessing Firefox does this as well. Internet Explorer is so terrible I strongly doubt it does that.

http://www.bodegabouza.com/

The winery was born as a family business, driven by love for the field.  It grew hand in hand with a fundamental premise: small-scale work always provides better results.  To achieve this, we take special care through the entire process, from the vineyard to the glass.  We believe this is the way for our wines to reflect the personality that identifies us.  The varieties we produce are Albarino and Chardonnay white wines, and Merlot, Tannat, and Tempranillo red wines.  Our Tannat wines have given us great satisfaction in recent times with international awards.

We are located near the Melilla stream near Montevideo, Uruguay's capital city.  We are part of an environment where harmony reigns.  We are surrounded by vineyards and indigenous forests.  The diversity of flora and fauna are combined with the proximity to the Santa Lucia River which flows into the Rio de la Plata, which is known to be the widest river in the world.  

Our priviledge is even greater because our vineyards are located within the 30 and 40 south latitude parallels, which is the famous wine-growing zone in the southern hemisphere

This winery was built in 1942 in the likeness of a French chateaux by visionary Numa Pesquera.  This family created the concept of "fine wine", a cutting edge idea for wines in Uruguay at the time.  The property was renovated in 2002 keeping the original concepts in tact.  Here lives the essence of the old combined with the technology needed for excellent modern wine-making.  We understand that high technology is not sufficient if not accompanied by a delicate treatment of the fruit and the existence of conditions conducive to minimal intervention in any of the processes.  With these premises, next to maintaining the highest standard of hygiene, we reach our ultimate goal: the ultimate expression of the fruit in the wine and the proper concentration that will allow a long life.

First they started us off with a very elegant (expensive) meal.  The lady eagerly awaits! as do I.

The grill chef hard at work

And we are off! With our meal I tried the Tempranillo/Tannat blend, while the lady went for the Merlot/Tannat.  Tannat is the most common grape of Uruguay.

Oh snap! who is that guy?! Yeah so I shaved my beard off so she would know what my face actually looks like before we get married.  Just for this one time though.  While she really likes it, I freaked out and thus have had trouble looking at my hairless face.  The beard is growing back as I write this.

My meal consisted of grilled salmon over perfectly cooked white asparagus, accompanied by a salad of fresh greens, balsamic vinaigrette and topped with flower petals.

The misses went with rack of lamb (by the way she said my rack of lamb that I make from time to time was way better! Aaron-1 v. Bouza Bodega-0!)  It was topped with a tannat reduction sauce and fresh arugula.  

The desert (or postres) was a chocolate cake filled with a delicious cream filling topped with almonds, accompanied by chocolate shavings and strawberry slices. Yummy!

Behind her is the bodega were the wine is made

taking a look around the property

random train-car on the property.. picture time!

The winery hosts a great collection of classic cars but we could not go inside the show room because we didn't pay for the tour. check out the website for better pictures.

The winery also had a lot of animals.. sheep.. baaaaah

The main house, where we ate our lunch. also home to the wine shop.  it was hard but for $ reasons we refrained from purchasing any bottles on this trip

One of the many vineyards on the property.  This one grows the most common grape, the tannat.  Spring feels like its just about here so soon these vines will be growing and lush with grapes.  we will have to come back in the summer and check it out.

more fields... and there's me looking awkward without the facial hair.

I think the wine has made me sleepy

This rooster was harrasing, i think sexually, the hen.  Caught on tape!

 random but spectacular! a peacock! one of her favorite animals exciting stuff!

 looks like the peacock is about to give that hen the business

 near the front of the main house is a window built into the floor giving visitors a peak at the wine cellar below.. those are my feet.

And now for the actual wine tasting, finally!  We eagerly await the server

 alright start your engines.  4 "classic" selections.  We also tried the 4 "top shelf" varieties.  all were delicious and would be great refreshments anytime of the day, week, month, or year.