When does blueberry picking start this year?

For the last 3 years my family and I have enjoyed heading out to Pilar's chacra to pick her delicious blueberries.  I am pleased to let you all know that for the month of November, there will be blueberry picking and organic produce available for purhasing at Pilar's chacra every Saturday morning, 9am-noon. The blueberries are $150pesos per kilo.

Please note that there will be no afternoon berry picking opportunities as there have been in previous years.  The staff who handle both produce purchases and blueberry purchases will only be working in the mornings. 

For blueberry picking, please bring your own containers. For produce, you will also need your own bags or baskets.

For those who have never been to Pilar´s chacra, take Ruta 11 north from the overpass in Atlántida for 6.5 km. You will see a metal windmill to your left. Take the next road to the right. The entrance to the chacra is the second driveway on the left, through the big open gates.

Mark it on your calendars. November 5th, 12th, 19th, and 26th.

See you there!

Did you know about the food festival on this weekend?

Did you miss out on the great food festival today?  not to worry because this time around it is running for two days!  So check it out tomorrow...

Looking for some delicious Swiss food in Uruguay?

I visited the restaurant at the Granja Hotel Suizo in Nueva Helvecia and was very impressed.  The grounds of the hotel are expansive and excellent for children to run around and enjoy.  The restaurant has great thematic decor and the menu is quite wide.  We enjoyed eating cheese fondue, pate, Swiss sausage, smoked pork chop, rosti and apple strudel.  We stayed and relaxed at the restaurant for a long time and thoroughly enjoyed our visit.  I would recommend a visit to this restaurant.  As an added note we took a look at one of the hotel rooms and were very unimpressed, the hotel rooms are very old and need a major upgrade.  So although I would drive out to Nueva Helvecia to visit the Granja Hotel Suizo restaurant, I would not stay at the hotel.

Granja Hotel Suizo
website
Federico Fischer 355, Colonia Suiza, Nueva Helvecia, Department of Colonia
4554 4002

Are you looking for an awesome serviced apartment in Carrasco?

I took a tour through the new Arkadia apartment building in Carrasco Norte and I have to say that it is excellent!  Arkadia has 18 serviced apartments (2 or 3 bedrooms) available to rent short term/long term and furnished/unfurnished.  Arkadia also has an indoor heated pool, a gym, a movie room, common areas, a cafeteria, 24 hour security, a concierge service, wheelchair access and more.   In particular the concierge service is an excellent part of this apartment complex, the service includes anything from paying your bills, restaurant bookings/recommendations, obtaining tickets for events, connecting with tradespeople and more. Long-term rental starts at USD$1900+gastos per month.  I have more details about prices if you want to contact me or you can contact Magda (in English, Spanish or Portuguese) to get more details.

Arkadia Living
Website
Facebook
092 910868
mdeposadas@arkadialiving.com

Looking for a fabulous restaurant in Rosario?

While staying at the Mon Petit Hotel the other weekend we ventured into Rosario for dinner.  We tried a new restaurant called Restaurante El Mati and were hugely impressed.  The menu was quite different to other places we have been to in Uruguay and the food was delicious!  The food was so flavoursome, cooked to perfection and it was so lovely to eat food that didn't include Uruguayan staples like milanesa/pasta/pizza/BBQ...

The service was excellent, the setting was nice and we had a great time.  I can't wait to go back to this restaurant - even if it is out of Montevideo.  Restaurante El Mati has made it into the Ask Annette top 5 restaurants in Uruguay!  You must try it...

Restaurante El Mati

Baltazar Brum 441,  Rosario 70200, Colonia

4552 4107
Facebook

Hours: Wed-Fri, 6pm-late

           Sat-Sun, 12-late

Pork bondiola

Pork and vegetables with passionfruit sauce

Mains

Entrees

Are you looking for a great hotel?

I had the privilege of staying at Mon Petit Hotel de Campo and thoroughly enjoyed my stay.  Mon Petit is a 17 room hotel on the main highway about 40km out of Colonia del Sacramento.   It has just undergone a massive renovation and they have done a fabulous job.  With very modern decor and lovely gardens to roam around in, this hotel is a lovely spot.  Our children enjoyed playing in the expansive gardens and the playground and we all enjoyed the comfort of the modern room and the great service.  The staff were very friendly and helped us with all our questions and requests.  Breakfast was nice in a quiet setting with nice decor.  The hotel is still undergoing more renovations and adding of other services such as fishing in the area, horse-riding, a heated swimming pool and more.  While staying at Mon Petit we found fabulous restaurants nearby in Rosario (Restaurante El Mati) and Colonia Suiza (Hotel Suizo) as well as spending a day in Colonia del Sacramento (our all time favourite place to visit in Uruguay).  Over the past 4 years we have been in Uruguay the prices for accommodation in Colonia del Sacramento have increased substantially so staying out of town is a great option.  Not to mention that finding rooms for a family of four can be hard in Uruguay.  Mon Petit offers double, triple and quadruple rooms, including breakfast.  It is worth checking out this lovely hotel:

Mon Petit Hotel de Campo

website
Facebook

Ruta 1 KM 127.500, Rosario, Colonia, 70200
4552 3016

monpetithotel2014@gmail.com

Quadruple room

Playground

Swimming pool

Sunny balcony attached to our room

Lovely spacious gardens

One of the common areas

What is the next show by The Montevideo Players Society?

When is the next big 2nd-hand fair happening?

What is the supermarket etiquette in Uruguay?

1.  Can't find a carpark at the supermarket?...don't worry just take two - everyone else does!

2. Shop in the early morning and then there are less people in the store.  If you go after business hours or on a weekend then it will seem like every man and his dog is stocking up for the end of the world.  Please note that shopping early in the morning will still not mean that your checkout will be quick as there is likely to be only two checkouts open anyway! 

3. If you have less than 15 items use the new shelf-checkouts (yes you heard me, 'NEW', self-checkouts have finally made it to Uruguay!).  You can save time because not only is shelf-check out quicker because you can work at lightening speed compared with the checkout workers, but also because Uruguayans haven't worked out how to use self-checkouts yet so they are normally empty :)

4. Don't start to load your grocery items onto the conveyor belt until the person in front of you has fully paid and left the line.  I kid you not!  The old 'next customer' sign seems to have been missed out from 'Supermarket Setup 101' in Uruguay.  If you do start to load your items on while the previous customer still has some items on the conveyor belt you will get a look of disgust followed by a look on confusion as to how the checkout worker will ever be able to tell the difference between one shop and the next :) 

5. Pack your own bags, you will thank me later.  Checkout workers in Uruguay have no idea how to pack bags - you will end up with all your heavy items in one bag and all your light items in another. 

6. Bring recyclable supermarket bags, not only will you help save the environment because checkout workers in Uruguay seem to be in a competition to see who can use the most plastic bags per customer, but also the look on their faces when they see your reusable bags is hilarious - especially when they then ask "you want everything in these bags?" ha ha.

7.  Can't be bothered putting your trolley in the trolley bay after your shopping? don't worry because no else uses trolley bays.  I am pretty sure no one in Uruguay even knows what a trolley bay is!  Not to mention that it is awesome when you go to pull into a carpark only to realize someone has left their trolley in it so you have to back out and find another space!

Enjoy your supermarket shopping experience!

Why do expats move?

I am often asked about why my family and I move a lot.   Unlike some expats who have no choice about when and where they move to (because the companies that employ them make that call) my family and I make the decision ourselves.  So why have we moved from New Zealand to England to Brazil to Vietnam to Uruguay in the past eight years?...and why are we now planning a move to Rwanda?...

Better travel opportunities - we love to travel so living in a small country with limited travel options and high prices is definitely a reason to move on. Also, living on different continents and in different cultures makes for some amazing travel adventures.
Better lifestyle for us and our children - for example; moving from a country where we had to live in an apartment to where we could live in a bigger house with a yard, moving from a polluted country to a country with cleaner air...
Cheaper cost of living - living in an expensive country can make life very hard if ones income does not match the level of expenditure required in the country.
Better schooling options for our children - our children's education is important to us so making sure that are children are able to attend a great International School or even a great local school is key.
Better climate - we are not opposed to a white winter or a super hot summer but living in a country that is not well prepared and equipped for its own climate makes life unpleasant.
Job promotion - staying in a job when there is no possibility for career advancement is not high on our list.
Job satisfaction - even if one is in their desired employment role this does not mean that one is happy and satisfied in that job.   
Food, food, food - who doesn't love great food?...we love a variety of cuisines so living in a country with limited options in food variety is a big negative in our book.

Good luck with your move and if you have any questions about any of the countries I have lived in then please Ask Annette :)