Uruguay — Eco Akamai

Hello Uruguay! Happy to be here after our Health Travel Insurance challenge. Travel truly teaches you patience! Customs was a breeze and they even stamped our passports! Betty with Kensington Tours met us at the airport and entertained us with her awesome stories while en route to the Hyatt Centric, a beautiful estuary front hotel smack dab in front of the Montevideo city sign. Palm trees surrounded us and it was heavenly. After getting the files to our rooms, Lola and I ventured down to the bar for some local red and raised a glass to the day. Now I need to practice how to say Momte-ve-DAY-o

We are staying in the Pocitos neighborhood, which means small hole. It is a beautiful beach neighborhood La called Ramblas which is surrounded by one side of water. There are many native trees and we adore the Floss Silk trees, known by locals as the drunken stick tree, and art deco buildings. Very progressive the division of church and state in 1916, with divorce and women’s right to vote following quickly. We went to the government building which has beautiful and unique stonework.

Then it was off to Colonia. We passed tons of horses feeding on the grasses on the side of the highway and then many eucalyptus trees. The entrance was lined with a thousand of palm trees from the Canary Islands. We passed by St. Benedict Church and the bull ring. We explored the cobblestone streets and searched for green feathers. Then it was lunch at Bohemia Bistro. Gazpacho soup starter for me with bites of Annies mushrooms and Lori’s artichoke and the the catch of the day washed down with some cold white wine and water.

Upon returning to Montevideo, we drove through the old city’s narrow streets to constitution square. And to Independence square past the remaining part of the old city wall. Statue of Jose, All of the beachfront condos are only 13 floors tall so they won’t cast a shadow on the beach. At the Marina, we ate at Italiano, a drear recommendation from our driver Alejandro.

It is our final full day of our awesome South America adventure! Today, we are off to La Baguala to ride horses. When leaving the hotel, we either saw the entourage of Camilo, the artist with a long mustache or a diplomat from India. We spotted a Sable tree, the national tree of Uruguay. Baguala means a female wild tough horse …. that’s us! We spotted some green parakeets and parrots as we entered the property. We had a bit of a bump with our start time, but we smiled and Alejandro helped us get our timing all squared up. We toured the beautiful Paloma, Languieta, Clarita, and Lori on the horse with no name. Delicious lunch of 4 unique appetizers and 4 entrees.

And we loved our dinner at El Milogon, a Tango, Milonga & folklore show!

It is time to head home. After much coffee, I took a walk on the beach and found some more feathers. Then it was off to the airport to say goodbye. I’m excited to come back to explore the more of the 12 miles of waterfront. Chou Chou! 10 flights, 7 hotels, and we are home on Day #17.