Riding into Montevideo early this afternoon, I was reminded about the complexities of riding in a city. Navigation, traffic, pedestrians and noise. When was the last time I was in a city? Santiago. That seems so long ago.

After getting checked into my hotel and parking my bike, I spent several hours walking around the city. I have to say that I wasn't particularly blown away by anything. There were some interesting buildings here and there but mostly the style of the city is relatively austere. Other than the ubiquitous presence of Starbucks, Burger King and McDonalds, it seemed to me that the city stopped developing some time ago.

I didn't come to Uruguay to look at architecture. I was interested in visiting this South American country in particular because it is leading the world in sustainable energy and living below the necessary carbon footprint that is required to limit climate change. Uruguay generates 98% of its electricity from renewable sources (predominately wind) and has started to export carbon neutral certified beef by reducing methane emissions. I became interested in this little country when I heard a podcast produced by the New York Times Magazine entitled, What Does Sustainable Living Look Like? Maybe Like Uruguay. I suggest you listen to it by following the link. Even if you disagree with the author I think you will find that it offers some interesting insights into Uruguay. It also made me think about how far the Unites States is from meeting these sustainability goals and I wanted to see what this standard of living looked like in Uruguay. To me, it doesn't look that different. People drive smaller cars and live in smaller houses but other than that, they look like they are living just fine.

Uruguay is world famous for its asados (grilled meats) so I decided I had better try some. I found a nice restaurant near my hotel and had a skewer of chicken, pork, beef, lamb and blood sausage. What a meat bomb! It was delicious but now I need to take a nap.