| Wednesday, 20-Dec-2006 12:00 |
|
Trip to Uruguay - Punta del Este
|
|
Punta del Este is the part of Uruguay that is the most to the east, hence its name. It is a touristic resort full of hotels, rental apartments and houses. Of course, there are beaches: on one side Playa Mansa and on the other side, Playa Brava. One is on the side of the Rio de la Plata, so it's calmer and not as windy (manso/a means calm, tranquil in Spanish). That explains why the marina is on that side. The other side faces the Atlantic ocean and is therefore windier. it's the side where the big waves are when it's windy, which explains why it's called brava (stormy, full of waves). That's where an artist built a sculpture which represents a hand buried in the sand showing only the fingertips. Unfortunately, the day we went there, there was graffiti on the fingers. Of course there is also a main street called Avenida Gorlero, which we cruised up and down a couple of times on a windy day. It's full of shops of all kinds and "locutorios" which are the local cybercafes that offer computer and internet access and also provide phone booths to place calls to foreign countries at reasonable rates. There is also an area similar to what we call street fair in the U.S. where merchants set up booths to sell their arts and crafts. There one can find souvenirs of all kinds and local rocks such as amethysts as well as "mates and bombillas." Uruguayans , as well as Argentinians and Brazilians from the south of Brazil drink "mate" which is basically "yerba", a loose herb served in a kind of cured gourd over which they pour hot water from a thermos to sip the tea-like drink with a "bombilla", which is basically a re-usable metallic straw designed to filter the leaves out as one drinks. Most people drink mate at home, and you can't find it in cafes, for instance, but Uruguayans are known for carrying their mate and thermos everywhere they go, so it's not uncommon to see people walking down the street with a mate in one hand and a thermos under one arm.
Punta del Este also has a lighthouse at the very end of the "point." There are also individual houses in little streets in that area. The rest of Punta del Este includes tall apartment buildings. It is a very modern-looking city. On the Playa Mansa side, there is also a big, beautiful blue building, the Hotel Conrad. We did not even try to find out how much it would cost to spend one night there! We also found one central shopping center conveniently named "Punta Shopping." In that shopping center we found a Tienda Inglesa supermarket that provided full-size and half-size shopping carts. My guess is that the tourists who are staying in hotels (like us) only buy a few basic things; therefore there is no point (no pun intended) in bothering them with a big shopping cart!!! There was also a restaurant called La Pasiva, which is part of a chain. Jorge likes it a lot. It basically serves Uruguayan hot dogs including some with something very similar to a "merguez" called "húngara," as well as Uruguayan pizza, pasta, and a bunch of other things. You can even drink wine with your food, and they have a good selection. The one in Punta del Este has murals painted by Carlos Paez Vilaró, the Uruguayan painter/cineast/architect who created Casa Pueblo.
We stayed at the Hotel Bravamar, which was absolutely great. We got the best, friendliest service and very reasonable rates. In Uruguay, hotel bathrooms are equipped with a bidet that springs water in the nicest way. Make sure you sit on it before turning on the little fountain, otherwise the spray will reach your face! Quite a discovery, I have to admit.
|
