Today I took another group tour to several beach towns about two hours south of Montevideo. There were about 15 people on the tour (stayed below the 50+ Coronavirus limit!) and it was in a nice air conditioned bus. The day started cloudy and cool with the temp about 70 (which was a welcome from the 85+ temps lately) but the sun came out later and warmed up to the high 70’s.
First stop was the town of Piriapolis. It was founded in 1890 by Francisco Piria, a Uruguayan businessman of Italian descent. While it’s a beach front town, it is somewhat mountainous. Most of Uruguay is flat but Piriapolis has a Rio de Janeiro feel to it where it goes from the beach to the mountains. We stopped at Saint Anthony mountain to be able to see the city from above.
Next stop was to Casa Pueblo, which is a building constructed by a Uruguayan artist named Carlos Paez Vilaro. It took over 40 years to build and is currently a hotel, museum, and personal residence. Some people say it reminds them of buildings in Santorini, Greece; others say it has an Antoni Gaudi feel from Barcelona. It pays tribute to his son Carlos Miguel who was one of the 17 Uruguayan survivors that crashed into the Andes Mountains in 1972 as depicted in the movie “Alive”. They say this spot has the best sunsets in Uruguay.
Last stop was to the beach town of Punta Del Este. This is the “high end” resort town of Uruguay. They call it the Monaco of the South. We drove thru a neighborhood they refer to as “Beverly Hills” where each home had its own city block. They pointed out the most expensive house in the area at $15 million. Other than all the fancy homes and high end skyscraper condo buildings lining the beach, the big tourist draw and Instagram picture spot is a place on the beach called “La Mano” (The Hand). It depicts five human fingers partially emerging from the sand.
Before heading back, we stopped for a late lunch/early dinner as a group and they recommended a local fish called Brotola. I tried it and it was delicious. It’s a thick white fish that was grilled perfectly and served with baked sweet potatoes and salad. So yummy!
All in all it was a great day! But now I have some sad news. This Wandering Italian loves to travel and is now getting my world rocked by this Coronavirus. As much as I hate to do it, I’m planning to fly home two days early and come back late Monday 3/16, early 3/17. There’s been some reporting that said American Airlines was planning to cut 75% of their international flights. I couldn’t find out if that specifically affected flights from Uruguay, but as much as I loved Montevideo, I don’t want to get stuck here. So this will be my last entry for this trip. It was an amazing journey, so once these crazy virus fears lift, put Argentina and Uruguay on your travel bucket lists! Keep on traveling!
The Wandering Italian 