When I think about what day it is I have to double check the calendar, especially now that we’re into November. It’s spring time here in Uruguay, the weather has been mild and the daylight hours about 4 hours more than in Victoria right now. Montevideo, the capital and largest city in Uruguay is situated on the country’s south eastern coast on the edge of the Rio de la Plata. When standing on the shore and looking out it feels as if the expanse of water is the ocean as you can’t see any land beyond. It’s a prosperous city with an abundance of cars (mostly quite new) that we’ve never heard of, or seen before - lots of Chinese EVs. We took a ‘hop on, hop off’ type bus excursion today which took quite an extensive route giving us an overview of the most populated areas of the city. Yesterday was a national holiday - All Souls’ Day - a day of remembrance for deceased loved ones. The city was very quiet, almost felt deserted. The hustle, bustle and loud city din that we experienced today was non existent, it was such a contrast to today when things seemed to be at full speed! It always amazes me how the feel of a place is affected by so many different factors - weather (clear skies or cloudy), people out and about (or not), our own energy level and patience! The city is full of eclectic architecture - a real mix of old, once elegant, competing with the new (and not nearly as interesting)…We made a full day of exploring and decided tomorrow we’ll take a day tour out of the city, south east to Punta del Este. 



Montevideo, Uruguay, on the Rio de la Plata…

These past couple of days have been travel days. We left Tupiza very early catching the first minibus that was available and headed for the border of Bolivia and Argentina, backtracking the way we had come. We were very lucky to connect with the various modes of travel (minibus, uber, gigantic long cushy bus, airplane and lastly a ferry) without any delays, just rather exhausting making sure we’d coordinated them all properly! Yesterday evening we arrived in Colonia, Uruguay where we spent the night, then most of today. It’s a small city with lots of character known for its cobblestone streets and historic buildings many from the time of its Portuguese rule. We noticed a distinct difference in the level of prosperity in Uruguay from that of Bolivia and even Argentina. The lifestyle here is more affluent, the cost of living higher and      the general atmosphere feels more like a European country than the other two. We have travelled south by bus and now arrived in the capital city of Uruguay - Montevideo. We’ve rented a small apartment for a few days with no specific plans other than explore the city and slow the pace down a bit! 



Heading to Uruguay…

Yesterday we took a one day bus tour to Punta del Este, a resort town east of Montevideo situated where the Rio de la Plata enters the Atlantic Ocean. Jim had been there about 20 years ago but hadn’t imagined it would have changed so much. The shoreline was  lined with high rise apartments, obviously it has become a very popular tourist destination. The biggest attraction, other than a ‘rambla’ that stretches for kilometres, is the sculpture ‘Man Emerging Into Life’. It’s an impressive piece sculpted by a Chilean artist in 1982 - his entry to a contest (which he won!).
Yesterday was blustery and cloudy, the usual activity we expect at the beach wasn’t happening, regardless we enjoyed just walking on the yellow sandy beach. 
One of the stops we made before arriving at Punta del Este was at a museum - ‘Casapueblo’. It is a masterful work of architecture built by artist Carlos Páez Valór, originally to be just his workshop, but later becoming his residence as well. It was years in the making, with patios, stairs, balconies, and narrow walkways joining many small and large rooms. We found it fascinating to imagine what it would be like living in such a space!
We were lucky all day to escape the rain until returning back to Montevideo it pelted down! 
This morning we woke to blue skies. We caught a ferry and made the trip back across the Rio de la Plata to Buenos Aires. We will be here a few days until we leave for Victoria. 




Where the path takes us!

Excursion to Punta del Este

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Montevideo, Uruguay, on the Rio de la Plata…

Heading to Uruguay…