Uruguayan Beaches and Art

Piriopolis Beach.

 John at Casapueblo...

Carlos Peaz Vilaro...

 and his art.

 The 'Mano' hand statue created by Chilean artist Mario Irarrazabal.

Frick and Frack.

The beach of Punta Del Este. 

Tuesday, October 22^nd.

After a couple of cloudy cool days, today was sunny and warm again. We rebooked another bus tour that we had cancelled yesterday.

The bus picked us up at 9:00 and we set off on a coach heading east along the coast. Our first stop was at a scenic view point on top of a hill overlooking the beach of Piriapolis. A man named Piri first purchased a large tract of land here after the city of Montevideo grew too large and grew east overtaking the resort beaches of the well to do. He divided the land and sold it to developers and rich people, hence the town is named after him. Now the well healed from Montevideo come here to while away the summer months.

Not far from here we visited Casapueblo, the incredible house and museum of Uruguayan painter Carlos Paez Vilaro. The building itself is a work of art and contains a spa and a hotel as well. It is beautiful and all white with very few straight lines anywhere. Carlos is the most famous painter of Uruguay. He travelled extensively in the 50’s and 60’s and assimilated various styles into his own. He was a good friend of Picasso and other international artists.

Then we continued on to Punta Del Este. This is a resort city for the rich and famous of South America and the world. There is a large beautiful beach here and there are dozens of highrise hotel and apartment blocks along it. There is also a well appointed and attractive small city. We stopped at a restaurant called Napoleon’s for lunch. We had a bottle of red cabernet sauvignon and I had the special fish meal and John had a steak. Both were excellent. We followed it up with a caramel and chocolate dessert.

After that we had a couple of hours of free time. Although the weather was too cool to swim,  it was a great day to just walk the beach. We walked for about a kilometre past the famous hand statue. We enjoyed the trip and the excellent guide.

Back at the hotel we met with the GAdventure people and were told what we needed to know for the beginning of our real adventure! Luggage down at 9, bus at 1:30 and board at 2. Can’t wait! While John did a bit of work I walked back along the shore to the Montevideo sign to see it lit up as it was when I arrived from the airport the other night.