The rest of Uruguay

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That night, we had organised to meet with Victoria (Dario´s 2nd cousin) to go out on the town. We picked her up in a cab from her place and she took us to a great place, packed with people for a great pizza and beer dinner, was delicious. We chatted and then decided to go to Fun Fun, a bar up the road that is kind of an institution there. They were charging a cover so we decided to go elsewhere and went to a cute little bar and got some drinks, 1 capirinha for me, yummy and strong lemony drink, and a grappamiel (kind of a honey liquor)for Dario. After our drinks we took a cab to a place nearby after the bus didnt turn up. It was basicallya heineken bar, they didnt sell any other type of beer! was full of many people, some not so conventional which made it awesome and interesting to people watch. At about 2.30am Dario and I crashed a bit, so we decided it was time to go home.
Next morning we got up late and just did things around the house until about 3 when we had organised to meet Adriana and Claudio to go shopping. We headed off to Montevideo shopping and Adriana and I had a great time shoe shopping and the boys went and played pool and ate pizza. We met up after 6.30pm and grabbed some dinner, a bit of pizza, before taking them to go bowling! It was a lot of fun! and Adriana had never been bowling before. After bowling we wandered around until taking a taxi back to their bus stop and we said our goodbyes and then walked home. We got back to the house and Nicholas was starting up the fire with his mates to cook asado, there was so much food on the table, chips, cheese, chorizo and lots of beer in the fridge. We joined in and ate and chatted till the wee hours of the morning.
Next morning we had organised to meet up with Victoria at her place for brunch. We chatted for ages with her mum and dad and her before having to leave as we were late in seeing another cousin, Fernando. We waited at the wrong bus stop for 25 mins before calling him and finding out which bus stop was the right one, and there was a bus straight away. When we arrived, Fernando picked us up in the car and we bought some icecream and headed to their house for lunch. They made us fresh pasta. Valeria and Rodrigo were there, Fernando´s wife and 1 year old son... the cutest baby ever! Halfway through eating, Mabel, Hugo, Carolina and her twin 4 year olds, Phillipe y Julieta arrived, bringing a lot of fun and noise with them (Hugo and Mabel are the parents of Fernando and Carolina, therefore the grandparents of Rodrigo, Phillipe and Julieta). We ate some icecream and pastries, played with all the toys, saw a few tantrums and then everyone had to leave to go home, including us. We had organised with Marta, another cousin to go out to dinner with her at around 8.30. She came and picked us up from the house and took us to a really nice restaurant for dinner, wine and dessert! It was very very very nice! We took a taxi home and fell fast asleep... was a very busy weekend.
Monday morning we slept in and had the house to ourselves. We didnt do much except buy tickets for the Peñarol match the following thursday and buy some lunch from up the road. Tato was the only one home for dinner, he cooked us really nice ribs and rice. Then we all retired for the evening.
Tuesday we went to the bus station and took a bus to Punta del Diablo, on the coast. Basically a lovely little seaside fishing town, full of hippy tourists in the summer, but it was low season, and not a weekend, so it was almost a ghost town! We eventually found a hostel El Indio, (there are lots of signs everywhere for everything, but none of them inform you very well where they are situated). It was a good hostel, new, with a view over the beach and the water, we had a dorm room to ourselves since it was so quiet, included wifi and breakfast. We walked around the town that afternoon, bought our onward bus ticket for the next afternoon and had pizza and beer for lunch at a little cafe type place (one of the few places open at the time). Then Dario managed to find an ice cream place that was open and we had that. We had a bit of a climb over all the rocks on the point to go and see a memorial statue that was on there. We walked back along the beach. There are cute little fishing boats pulled up on the beach all the way along . That night we went back into town for dinner in a little restaurant that had a tv, playing one of the copa libertador matches (football) so we ate and watched the game. Then went out for more icecream.
Next morning we ate and went for a walk back along the beach and through the town. Then ate a huge chivito (steak sandwich with the lot basically) for lunch and went shopping in the local tiny artesan market. We had to catch a bus at 5pm so made sure we were at the spot with plenty of time since it was the only bus for the day going to Punta Del Este (except the one that had left at 5am). The bus trip was about 2.5 hours and we arrived after dark. We walked about 20 mins to find the hostel we wanted to go to. The only affordable beds they had were in a dorm, but that was fine, the people in the dorm were really nice, but it was a bit stuffy in there, even with the aircon running. We slept pretty well and next morning ate our complimentary breakfast, checked out and put all our gear in the storage there so we could wander about town for a few hours.
We walked to a lookout which marks the point where the river meets the ocean. It was very hot! And Dario found the hotel and eatery where he and his teammates had been in 2005 playing football... so we took pics 😊 The town was deserted, it was offseason, so no summer tourists. We ate a graet pizza, (which you can order by the metre... we only needed a quarter of a metre between us) and then went to the fingers... a monument to the people who have drowned at the beach. I find it a bit creepy, 5 giant fingers, I guess the last things you´ll see of someone going under... after that we grabbed our bags and bought a bus ticket back to montevideo. We arrived in the early arvo and took a cab home. It was thursday so we got everything together and got changed to got changed for the peñarol match. Then Maria Paz came and picked us up. She took us to meet up with Matias and his girlfriend. We walked to a few sites close to their house including El Prado. It is like a mini easter showground, been there for over 100 years. There was a horse auction going on, all Criollos, a beautiful breed from this area, so gentle natured, strong and have a lot of stamina for lots of hard work, but they´re smaller than the average horse you find working in Australia. We had a look at the horses, said hi to more of their friends and family before driving back to their house. We had afternoon tea with them and Jean, Matias and Maria Paz´s grandmother (Dario´s great aunt) before it hit 8.30 when we had to leave to make the game at 9.15. They very kindly gave us a gift of 2 pairs of Bombachas, cowboy pants basically... so comfy! We said goodbye and Matias drove us to the stadium.
The game was nailbiting! Peñarol vs. Godoy Cruz from Argentina, Peñarol won 2-1!! yay!! and the crowd was twice the size of the last match we went to! There was so much singing and chanting. On the other side there was a tiny patch of Godoy Cruz fans, being protected by police. We wandered back to the house and went to bed after skyping Jose and Patricia (Jose had messaged us about the win!).
Next morning was our last in Montevideo. We had decided that it was much cheaper to take the boat to buenos aires from Colonia and take a bus to Colonia. That morning we went shopping for all the things we need to take back to australia from uruguay. Then went to visit Abuela Susana for the last time this trip. It was brief as she was late for a lunch with a friend. Tato then very kindly picked us up and took us to lunch at La Pasiva. We went back to the house and chatted for a while before deciding it was time to pack everything up. We packed everything, throwing out a few things too. Then Tato drove us to the bus station. Adriana had wanted to give me something before we left, so we waited for her to arrive, she arrived at 4.55pm and our bus left at 5pm so we saw each other for 5 mins, but she gave me the most beautiful earrings that match my dress for Tamara´s wedding and the shoes we bought together too. We said goodbye and hopped on our bus with all our gear (A weird experience after 3 weeks of laziness) and watched some videos on the laptop to take up the 2.5hours to Colonia. We arrived and walked to a friend of Jose´s house. She went to school with him in Colonia, and is also a doctor. She and her husband (who is argentinian) lived in Tierro del Fuego in Argentina for many years and have retired in Colonia in her parents house. Irene and Tito have 2 dogs, both of which were originally their daughters dogs, but since she went travelling they both got adopted into their household. The house is beautiful, with a large yard, a pool and a vegie garden, fruit trees and a large lattice that provides shade over a table that has grape vines growing on it.
The grapes are delicious and we ate a lot of them. They cooked us pizzas on the special bbq´s they have here, cooking only with hot coals. Then watched a movie on their giant pull down projector screen home theatre! Was awesome!
Next morning we ate a delicious brekky then went to the port to buy tickets to buenos aires. We bought SeaCat tickets as they were cheaper and for 5.30pm that afternoon. That day we chilled out planning parts of argentina, then ate homemade ravioli for lunch. They took us to a beautiful, deserted beach about 20 mins drive away with both dogs. The dogs loved the beach and went nuts chasing rocks... they have an obsession with rocks 😊 One is a mix of jack russell and something slightly larger, and the other is a cocker spaniel. We walked on the beach and then returned to the house in time for a shower, a coffee and for them to drive us to the port for checkin. We said thanks and goodbye and went through immigration... out of uruguay and into argentina at the same desk 😊

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Photos

Dario at Fernando´s place
apparently his parents first house was almost identicle and there is a pic on identicle stairs when he is about 2 years old asleep like this... hence the remake

Comments

[fernando]

el tiempo no pasa...
jaja... pude ver la foto original, cuando Darío era bebé. Te faltó el chupete... que lástima!! Saludos y que estén pasando muy bien!!