After living in Uruguay for 11 weeks we finally got on a bus
for the two and a half hour bus ride east to Punta del Este. It was February and still in the middle of
the high season in Uruguay which meant that there were very few hotel rooms
available and those that were available were very expensive.
After a bit of a hunt, we finally managed to
find a nice, reasonably priced room at the Hotel Milano a couple of streets from the beach.
Punta del Este is located on a small peninsula that happens
to separate the River Plata from the Atlantic Ocean. The town is large enough to be an alternative
to the big city life of Montevideo for Uruguayans and expats alike.
From Punta del Este one can travel north and
east up the Atlantic coast and visit a number of scenic, small beach villages
some only accessible by four wheel drive vehicles with large, fat tires. It is in some of these little villages where
the most bohemian lifestyle in Uruguay and quite possibly in South American can
be found for those so inclined. We did
not have time to explore these areas around Rocha and further north on this
trip.
It rained during our entire bus ride to Punta del Este and
when we arrived it was just starting to clear.
Once again the bus system in Uruguay was inexpensive (about $10),
comfortable and on time. We checked into
our hotel and set off to explore this beautiful beach town. After walking for about an hour we realized
we were hungry and began looking for a restaurant for lunch. There were many options to choose from
including coffee bars, fast food restaurants, sandwhich and pizza shops and, of
course, several traditional Uruguayan parillas and chivito establishments.
The sun came out while we were enjoying our lunch so we
decided to continue wandering the town.
Unfortunately, the ever changing Uruguayan weather didn’t cooperate as a
storm front moved past the town bringing 70 mph winds with it. We felt as though we were being sandblasted
as we attempted to take photos of Punta del Este’s famous sculpture La Mano set in the sands of the town’s beautiful Brava Beach.
Driven by the wind back to our hotel we settled in for a
couple of drinks on the protected verandah and waited for the storm to pass us
by. Later we joined two friends for
dinner at the lovely Virazon Restaurant located on the river walk that runs
past the yacht club where we enjoyed terrific fish dishes and fresh
salads. Dinner for four with a decent
bottle of wine cost about $130 which is very reasonable in Uruguay.
We only had two days in Punta del Este which for us, was
probably enough. Although the town
reminded us of some of the towns along the Costa Blanca north of Alicante in
Spain with twenty story apartment buildings standing along the beachfront next
to entire neighborhoods of private homes the prices are significantly higher.
A Menu del Dia for one person normally runs
$25 or more compared to the 8 to 10 euro range in Spain. Restaurants, coffee bars and shops are
abundant and we saw quite a number of North Americans and Europeans crowding
the streets along with the always friendly and helpful locals. Punta del Este is a beautiful place to visit
but no place to live frugally.
No comments:
Post a Comment