LAS CANADAS: THURSDAY, OCTOBER 18
If South America's meat packing has a Royal family, Brian and his wife, Carmen, are it. Carmen's great-grandfather founded Fray Bentos. Brian's grandfather shipped the first frozen beef out of Argentina in the 1880s.
Carmen's sister, Cecilia, inherited the family homestead here in Uruguay near Paso de los Toros. Cecilia has preserved the house as a chunk of Uruguay's history and runs it as a tourist operation. Family portraits number a President and Uruguay's great poet laureate, Juan Zorrilla de San Martin. Furniture is polished wood, comfortable leather chairs and sofas, proper old-fashioned bathtubs. I even discovered a model A Ford in an outhouse.
Cecilia provides sufficient horses to mount a cavalry regiment, swimming in a crystal clear pond, traditional country meals cooked in a wood oven and on a wood stove or outdoors on the parilla. Be a gaucho for a week, learn to spin the estancia's wool, whitewash a wall or paint a few pictures. 70 Euros per diem is cheap for the privilege of sharing in Uruguay's history.
Go elsewhere should you desire air conditioning, TV and fast food.
Carmen's sister, Cecilia, inherited the family homestead here in Uruguay near Paso de los Toros. Cecilia has preserved the house as a chunk of Uruguay's history and runs it as a tourist operation. Family portraits number a President and Uruguay's great poet laureate, Juan Zorrilla de San Martin. Furniture is polished wood, comfortable leather chairs and sofas, proper old-fashioned bathtubs. I even discovered a model A Ford in an outhouse.
Cecilia provides sufficient horses to mount a cavalry regiment, swimming in a crystal clear pond, traditional country meals cooked in a wood oven and on a wood stove or outdoors on the parilla. Be a gaucho for a week, learn to spin the estancia's wool, whitewash a wall or paint a few pictures. 70 Euros per diem is cheap for the privilege of sharing in Uruguay's history.
Go elsewhere should you desire air conditioning, TV and fast food.
