I’m both tired and rested and I have many a grand tale to tell.
I spent a Gratitude Monday ((19 Jan.)on a ranch in Uruguay. Wine, beer, and barbecue. Uruguay has a strong French influence and it shows in the wine. I had a Tannat that was magnificent.
I followed with the Cabernet Sauvignon which was fine. If I’d had it before the Tannat I’m sure I would have raved about it, but the Tannat is that good. So good that the white I had after the Cabernet was vile.
The beer I had to start with was really good, too.
We rode in a hay wagon in the blistering heat. We could milk a cow and go for horseback ride and we watched a gaucho show and ate and ate and ate.
Any other time the fact that I ate sweetbreads as an appetizer and liked it would have been the high water mark of the day. Barbecued pancreas is tasty.
It was a wonderful day spent in fine company, but by far the most memorable event of the day was cow surfing.
Okay, I have no idea what it’s really called. Guests sat down on a dried cowhide and grabbed on to a long line of leather attached to the gaucho’s saddle. We hooked our feet in said strap and hung on for dear life as we were hauled around the pasture.
Rule No. 1: Keep your mouth closed.
Canadian readers will recognize the eerie similarity to riding a banana skin behind a ski-doo.
It was an absolute blast.
I would love to do it again although I don’t recall ever seeing anything like it here.
I’m still recovering from the cruise and the long trip home so this will be a short post.
It’s good to be home.
