Faculty

South American travelogue, winter 2008

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  • Week 8 (March 15-21): Brazilian wine country, Uruguay, back to Buenos Aires
    March 22, 2008 -
    Saturday, March 15

    Enjoyed morning view in clean air after rain over colorful city from our 14th-floor balcony, including down into house back yard right across street that shows nothing to the pedestrian behind its walls but has lovely lawn, garden, and pool all fringed with palms. On the road south to Vale dos Vinhedos (Valley of Vineyards) in Rio Grande do Sul province, Brazil’s southernmost. Under 400 miles, but a long drive because of curving roads in beautiful hilly, prosperous farm country with trucks and often no passing lanes. The federal highway police in Paraná state, the first on today’s trip, have at their slow-down posts big collections of terribly wrecked cars to try to remind fearless Brazilians to be careful on the road. Stop for roadside picnic in our car at site with lovely view over farm and forest valley (no picnic tables to be found most of trip). After dark, much trouble getting through Caxias do Sul city where we had to leave main road to head a short distance west to Vale dos Vinhedos; signage problems again. Signs are small, unlit, inconsistent--they start you in a certain direction and then tell you nothing when you come to next choice. Finally reached Bento Gonçalves, major town near Vale; asked directions at gas station to nearby wine-area pousada (inn), Casa Valduga, where we had reservations. Directions unbelievably complex. Friendly Brazilian who spoke good English showed up, and we put him on the phone to Casa Valduga. He was willing to take directions in Portuguese and lead us there, but he and Casa receptionist decided that getting to pousada only three miles away was so complicated that they should send staffers to town to come lead us there. Good thing; we, and friendly Brazilian (who was able to go home once staff was coming for us), would have had terrible time without people who already knew where they were going over twisting, spottily marked cobblestone streets. Finally arrived about 10 p.m.; fortunately, restaurant was still open and gave us fine Italian dinner with many pastas, chicken, pork, etc., on much of which we had to pass because offerings were so plentiful. Italians were the main settlers here and developed the wine industry, starting in late 19th century; their influence still shows greatly in food and some of the wine varieties grown.

    Sunday, March 16

    Superb view over vineyards and across valley from our balcony in morning light. Peacocks patrolling grounds outside window at breakfast; elegant place with continuing addition of new buildings. After breakfast and some computer time, tasting of good Casa Valduga wines and then on to a few other places in compact, picturesque valley with heavy vine planting and many wineries. They’re getting more into tourism here: several wineries have impressive facilities with walk-in tasting for no or modest charge (but you should buy at end), different from most wineries in Argentina and Chile that try to insist on tours and require appointments for tasting. Valley has big, new hotel, and Casa Valduga is adding helipad to its already large, modern facilities. Pretty, prosperous hilltop town, Monte Belo do Sul, at western end of valley. Tasting at two very good wineries recommended by Casa Valduga staff, Cave de Pedra with kitschy but fun gray castle buildings and Dom Cândido right next door to Casa Valduga on way back. Young Spanish-speaking Brazilian in charge of tasting at Dom Cândido brought home to us the great difference between our understanding of spoken Spanish and Portuguese. Interesting, good wines of some European grapes we’d never heard of, such as Marselan from near Marseilles and Egiodola, a Bordeaux hybrid. Old Dom Cândido (Valduga) himself, brother of late principal of Casa Valduga, showed up and after fun conversation took top off one of their sparkling whites with skillful sliding blow up neck of bottle with base of wine glass. No breakage other than what was intended--top of glass neck with cork still held in. Susan used the movie function on her camera and posted the performance on YouTube. We poured some of the champagne for ourselves and others including Dom Cândido, paid for the bottle, and took it back next door to Casa Valduga for salami-and-cheese lunch outdoors on veranda. In late afternoon, with our sliding balcony door open, a bat attached itself to the outside of the curtain facing the balcony and held on tight when we whacked the inside of the curtain to try to drive it away. We managed to slide the door shut with the curtain pinched so that the bat was outside and eventually went away. Dinner thankfully less lavish than last night’s Italian extravaganza.

    Monday, March 17

    In what seems like a reflection of the quality of the best Brazilian wines coming from the Vale dos Vinhedos and the potential of the Brazilian market, Chandon has recently established a winery here in addition to its foreign installations in Napa, the Yarra Valley near Melbourne in Australia, and Mendoza. Unfortunately it wasn’t open yet as we were leaving. On four-lane road heading south into major city of Porto Alegre, stiffest speed enforcement we’ve seen yet: In addition to radar checkpoints with specific warnings, speed cameras unmarked except for general warnings. But you can see them on their poles as you approach; people drive like crazy in between and slow down for the poles. In level country south of Porto Alegre, much rice cultivation. Some other observations from driving around: Although many gas stations take credit cards, noplace yet has pay-at-the-pump or self-service as in US. Odd national difference in windshield washing in Brazil: unlike squeegee use with windshield ending up dry as in US, Argentina, and Chile, here they use wet brush to apply soapy water and then splash rinse water on your windshield. Also in Brazil, no provision for roadside picnicking; they seem to expect people to go into roadside restaurants, which are plentiful and with sale of alcohol strictly forbidden. So for our last couple of picnics, we’ve just found nice places off the road to eat in our car.

    We reached Pelotas in late afternoon and with only a couple of stops to ask for directions found our way to the charming Charqueada Santa Rita, a small pousada where we’re the only guests. “Charque” is dried or jerked beef, a major industry here before refrigeration, with slaves slaughtering cattle in brutal conditions at creekside, the eventual product used in considerable part to feed slaves doing other work. Some owners of the beef operations built fine homes; just a couple of these charqueadas survive, including ours from the 1820s. Somewhat run down but very pleasant and picturesque. Out for dinner at big, colorful Churrascaria Lobâo with roar of stadium crowd at soccer game nearby in background. Traditional Brazilian style with waiters bringing skewers of freshly cooked meats to your table for slicing off if you want to try the many offerings. Friendly, fun, and very good.

    Tuesday, March 18

    Quick look around Pelotas before heading on south: Pretty, historic central square with several attractive old buildings in good condition. Considerable use of cobblestone streets in some places in southern Brazil, including here and in Vale dos Vinhedos. Some other observations on driving, road conditions, etc.: In Brazil, stop signs often function as yield advisories, and you risk being hit from behind if you actually stop without cross traffic coming; they post stop signs where we’d use yield signs, such as at roundabout entrances. Brazilian cities often use Spanish-style traffic lights, with all lights at the entrance to the intersection so that if you get right up front (which you may have to do to read small-print street signs) you can’t see the lights and have to wait to be honked at from behind to know when the light changes. On to road to Uruguayan border a couple of hundred kilometers south, with increasingly sparse traffic and mostly easy, fast driving. Border town, Chui (Brazilian)/Chuy (Uruguayan) functions as a single city with crossing controls a few kilometers away on each side and free movement within city, with its main street right along the border. At Uruguayan customs we asked about getting our passports stamped, and they waved us on ahead. Fortunately, about 20 kilometers on we stopped at another customs post and learned that we should have gone in and routed someone out from behind the immigration window. They must have thought that with Argentine plates on our rented car and us asking our questions in Spanish, we were Argentines and in no need of passport control. Back to the original post, then on into Uruguay.

    Much use of fertile-looking land as pasture but very little cultivation, including none of the rice that had been growing everywhere just across the border in Brazil. Excellent two-lane road most of the couple hundred kilometers to Punta del Este, with immaculately mowed and weed-whacked grass on the shoulders--they look like a golf fairway. This part of Uruguay looks very tidy. Punta del Este is full of high-rise luxury apartment buildings and some grand houses along the coast. Addresses here are often in terms not of street numbers but of paradas (stops) along the coast road, including when the place is back from the road. So you get to your parada number and, if what you’re looking for is not on the road, you hunt around inland. We found our hotel, the very nice L’Auberge, easily and have a quite small but pleasant room at the top of a thin tower with excellent views toward the coast and inland; Susan likens the inland view to Beverly Hills only not quite so hilly. Interesting to observe how people in tourism industry in the Spanish-speaking countries we’ve visited are so much more proficient in English than most of those in comparable positions in Brazil.

    Wednesday, March 19

    More looking around Punta del Este area, which is very affluent and extensive, before short drive to Montevideo, about an hour west. It’s an older city, not as prosperous as Santiago but tidy as Uruguay seems to be generally and with some interesting buildings. After a couple of hours and a pleasant lunch in a shady square, on the road to the small city of Colonia del Sacramento a couple more hours west. Some cultivation, but again more use of land for pasturage. We’re in a new Sheraton a ways around Colonia’s bay from the town itself, with a nice view across golf holes to the River Plate. The river is very wide and muddy as can be; some of the rivers that feed into it from the interior carry so much mud that it turns a vast expanse of water an unattractive brown. Into the town in late afternoon to see the old city, a picturesque and colorful place somewhat reminiscent of Valparaiso only less chaotic and without the steep hills. Stopped for drinks and ended up staying for dinner at picturesque place on harbor with good view of marina and across the bay. Fierce storm after we got back to the hotel; apparently Uruguay is subject to occasional abrupt weather changes being flat and without natural protection.

    Thursday, March 20

    Quick look back through Colonia’s old city, then on to Buquebus car ferry to Buenos Aires. Very comfortable, even in tourist class, and fast ferry across wide muddy expanse of River Plate. Dozens of Easter-weekend holidaying Argentines’ cars drove off; only two cars including ours got on. After some previous experiences crossing into and out of Argentina, we were startled on arriving to discover that we could just drive away; they’d stamped us into Argentina back during the boarding process at Colonia. It’s like the way Vancouver airport is set up so you can clear into the United States on departure and arrive as if on a domestic flight. Most helpful customs agent telling us we could go ahead called Alojargentina agent on her cell phone as ours had gone temporarily dead; met agent Veronica at small but pleasant apartment in Barrio Norte east of downtown and eight-ten blocks south of our previous Recoleta apartment. This one has Subte (subway) station right on our corner, and good shops nearby. Compact balcony overlooking attractive interior gardens of neighboring buildings. Out to late dinner at unpretentious but very good corner restaurant; as usual here, bounteous servings gave us lunch for next day as well as dinner. First day of fall here.

    Friday, March 21

    Very quiet on Good Friday with many stores and offices closed. Tried to fill tank on way to return Hertz rental car; corner Petrobras station completely out. We’d encountered shortages before in Argentina (never Chile, Brazil, or Uruguay), but they usually had at least one variety for sale. A Reuters story from nine days ago on the Web connects the shortages to efforts by the government to keep a lid on gasoline (here called nafta) prices; the government has also been fining Petrobras stations for the shortages. No-hitch return of car, which had proven entirely reliable and which we drove about 12,300 kilometers (about 7,650 miles), happening to stay within our 13,000-km. prepaid amount. Easy Subte ride back to apartment; work, laundry, and reading in afternoon. Easy Subte ride back to apartment; work, laundry, and reading in afternoon.

    If in Rio you have to go to the top of Sugar Loaf, in Buenos Aires you have to see a tango show, which we hadn’t done our first week here in late January. So we went to one of the leading ones, El Querandí, which gives you dinner with wine and the show for a single pretty reasonable package price of about $80 US per person. (For more they’ll pick you up and take you home, and give you their deluxe dinner.) A very smoothly run operation, with menus in five languages and a good range of choices, housed in a packed hall that occupies both wings on a street corner with the stage at the crook so that everyone in the perpendicular wings can see. Lively, enjoyable show with four-piece musical combo, several expert dancers, and some very good singers.