A Long Weekend in Uruguay (March 13 - June 19, 2020)

Location:  Kodiak, AK

We are in Kodiak, Alaska doing boat projects and getting ready for the summer season.  We are running late this year because of COVID-19 related travel delays.  We're catching up on our blog posts from last fall and this will be the final one in this series, our long weekend in Uruguay.

B and Dave drinking a cold beer, Cerveceria Barbot, Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay

The map of our travels in Uruguay.  
If you zoom in on Montevideo, I have marked our apartment plus some of our routine/favorite shopping destinations
 in the Ciudad Viaja neighborhood including grocery stores, fruit stands, liquor stores, bakeries, etc.

Friday, March 13, 2020, Buenos Aires, Argentina to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay:  We had a nice buffet breakfast at our hotel this morning then checked out and walked to the ferry terminal near Puerto Madero.  We were booked on the 12:00 Buquebus (ferry) to Colonia.  We cleared customs and immigration then hung out in the waiting area and did some people watching.

Dave studying his phone in the Buenos Aires ferry terminal.

The basin in Buenos Aires where the ferry docks

We boarded the ferry, found seats and got some lunch from the cafeteria.  The ferry ride to Colonia was about 1.5 hours.  Once we arrived, we found our way to our hotel, Posada del Angel, and checked in.  From there we walked downtown and then to the historic district and the museums.  We bought a multi-access museum ticket which gave us access to four museums - Museo Municipal, Casa Nacarello, the Archives and the Indigenous Museum.  We toured the museums then climbed to the top of the lighthouse to take in the view.

The Colonia yacht club

Colonia del Sacramento Lighthouse, built in 1852

The view of Plaza Mayor from the mid-deck of the lighthouse

View of the Rio Plata (Silver River) from the mid-deck of the lighthouse.

An old map of Colonia del Sacramento in one of the museums.

It was hot outside, so we stopped at a sidewalk cafe for a cold drink then headed back to our hotel for a rest.  For supper we walked up to the nearby brew pub, Cerveceria Barbot.  We sat outside, had a few beers, had supper and listened to the band play, a very enjoyable evening.

Saturday, March 14, 2020, Colonia to Montevideo:  We had breakfast at the hotel, then checked out, walked to the bus station and bought a ticket to Montevideo.  It was a 3-hour trip with several stops along the way.  We got off the bus at the Tres Cruces station in Montevideo and got an Uber to our AirBnB apartment in the Ciudad Vieja (Old City).  Aida greeted us and showed us around, we left our bags and went to lunch at the restaurant next door, La Petite Cuisine.  We went back to the apartment to unlax then ventured out to a local grocery store.  Aida and Sergio, our hosts, had left us a bottle of Uruguayan Tannat wine so we bought some meat and cheese and had charcuterie and wine for supper.

Uruguayan Tannat provided by Sergio and Aida.

Sunday, March 15, 2020, Montevideo:  Breakfast in our apartment then we went walking and explored the neighborhood.  We checked out the nearby parks and squares and walked the rambla along the waterfront.  We went to the port and checked out the ferry landing where we would board the Buquebus (ferry) back to Buenos Aires tomorrow.  For lunch, we ate at a parrilla in Mercado del Puerto.

Plaza Matriz, Ciudad Vieja, Montevideo

Teatro Solis, Ciudad Vieja, Montevideo

The Rambla Francia along the south shore of the Ciudad Vieja peninsula, Montevideo

A chimney or ventilation column (?) from an old factory, Rambla Francia, Ciudad Vieja, Montevideo

Statue in Plaza Zabala, Ciudad Vieja, Montevideo

The Puerta de la Ciudadela (Gateway of the Citadel), Ciudad Vieja, Montevideo.
This is a historical remnant of the old city wall.

Plaza Independencia, Ciudad Vieja, Montevideo with the Palacio Salvo in the background

Dave and B eating steaks at a parrilla in Mercado del Puerto, Ciudad Vieja, Montevideo

The meat on the parrilla,  Mercado del Puerto

View of the street, Sarandi, in front of our apartment (on the right)

Looking up at our apartment and the roof deck from the ice cream shop across the street

After lunch, we went to our apartment to unlax and rest.  I went up to the roof deck to read for an hour.  It was very peaceful up there with a great view of the Rambla, the river and the neighborhood.

The roof deck at our apartment

For supper we went to a nearby sidewalk cafe, Alvarez.

Dave sitting outside Alvarez cafe.

B with a gin and tonic, Alvarez cafe

About halfway through supper, B got a WhatsApp message from Teresa, the host of the AirBnB in Buenos Aires where we were moving to tomorrow.  She told us that Argentina was closing their border because of Coronavirus and no foreigners would be allowed to enter the country.  We weren't sure if what she was saying was true, so we agreed that we would go down to the Buquebus terminal in the morning to see if they would allow us to board.  We went back to the apartment and let Sergio and Aida know that we might not be able to leave in the morning as planned.  Our apartment was available so we all agreed to see what happened in the morning.

Monday, March 16, 2020, Montevideo:  This morning we walked down to the Buquebus ferry terminal to see if we would be allowed to travel to Buenos Aires.  We were told that the border was closed and that we would not be able to travel.  It was chaos in the terminal and nobody really knew what was going on.  From there we caught an Uber to the Copa Airlines office to see if we could change our plane ticket to fly from Montevideo to Orlando in lieu of flying from Buenos Aires to Orlando.  The agent there was very helpful and changed our tickets; we decided to spend the week exploring Montevideo and we kept our original departure date, March 23 (Plan D - see the previous blog for Plans A, B and C).

Dave in line at the Copa Airlines office in Montevideo.  They were only taking one customer at a time inside.

We had lunch at a small restaurant near the Copa office, then went back to our apartment and extended our stay for a week.  We did some afternoon reading up on the roof deck, then had supper at a nearby restaurant, Sin Pretensiones.

View of our street, Sarandi, looking right from our apartment balcony.

View of our street, Sarandi, looking left from our apartment balcony.

View of the river from the roof top garden.

Tuesday - Friday, March 17 - 20, 2020, Montevideo:  We spent the week enjoying the Ciudad Vieja neighborhood - walking, discovering new restaurants, finding a good bakery, etc.  The city was beginning to shut down because of the coronavirus and most of the museums and theaters were closed as were a lot of restaurants.

A box of sweet treats from one of our favorite neighborhood bakeries, Confiteria 25 de Mayo

Friday morning, we received an e-mail from Copa Airlines saying that our flight on Monday, March 23, from Montevideo to Orlando (via Panama City) was cancelled.  We went down to the Copa Airlines office and rebooked our flight to depart that evening (Plan E).

B at the Copa Airlines office in Montevideo. 
The office was closed so we talked to the agent on the cell phone and
she handed us our revised tickets through the crack in the door.

We went back to the apartment and Sergio booked us an Uber to the airport for later that evening.  It was a beautiful, sunny day so we went for a walk along the Rambla.  Just after lunch, we received an e-mail from Copa saying that our flight from Panama City to Orlando was cancelled.  We talked to Sergio and Aida and they helped us to search for flights out via Brazil and on other airlines.  We weren't able to book anything online and couldn't get responses on the phone.  We discussed our options and decided we would stay in Uruguay for another month.  Our apartment was available and Copa was supposed to start operating again on April 23rd.  Sergio cancelled our Uber and we settled in to stay (Plan F).

There is a fruit and vegetable market every Tuesday and Friday near the apartment so we went shopping for fresh stuff and then went to the grocery store to stock up on food and to the liquor store to stock up on beer and wine.

The fruit and vegetable market near the apartment.

The fruit and vegetable market near the apartment.

March 21 - June 19, 2020, Montevideo:  We settled into a routine.  After breakfast, we walked every morning, along the Rambla, along the harbor, through the neighborhoods and to historic sites.  Lunch at the apartment and we watched NY Governor Andrew Cuomo's daily update on the coronavirus.  In the afternoons, if the weather was nice, we read up on the roof deck, then went for a short afternoon walk.  A Spanish lesson, happy hour, supper and the evening news shows, then a Netflix or Amazon Prime show.  Mid-April, Copa announced that they would not restart operations again until mid-May, May turned into June which turned into July (Plans G, H, I and J).  There were no commercial flights out of the country and very few humanitarian flights.  Our apartment was available and we extended our lease.  We swapped our US phone SIM cards out for local SIM cards and practiced our Spanish.  Below are some of the highlights of our stay.

Saturday, March 21:  Sergio and Aida hosted an asado (BBQ) for us up on the roof deck.  It was delicious and it was fun getting to know them better and sharing stories.

Meat and cheese on the grill.

Sergio cooking while Dave watches.

Sergio cooking

Dave enjoying a glass of wine

B and Aida visiting up on the roof deck.

We did a lot of walking, averaging 2.9 miles (4.7 km) per day in March, 3.6 miles (5.8 km) per day in April, 4.6 miles (7.4 km) per day in May and 3.7 miles (6 km) per day in June.  The two videos here show some of the interesting sites from our walks.

A slide show of the waterfront, historic buildings and statues in Montevideo that we discovered on our daily walks.

A slide show of our favorite graffiti that we discovered on our daily walks.

On some evenings, people would go out on their balconies and applaud the health and essential workers responding to the COVID crises.  Some evenings they followed up the clapping by banging on their pots and pans to protest.   They call this "Cacerolazo".  A new Uruguayan President was inaugurated and took office on March 1 and the new government was proposing increases on utility fees which nobody wanted.

A video of our neighbor banging on his pot.  

Friday, March 27:  Today we walked down to the yacht club to check out the boats.

Playa de los Pocitos (the beach west of the yacht club)

The docks at the yacht club.

The yacht clubhouse.

Earlier in the week, Scott and Stephanie from Seattle had moved into the apartment across from ours.  They were on their way to Spain to walk the Camino del Santiago for the summer and also got stranded in Montevideo.  We met them up on the roof deck for a glass of wine and some appetizers.

Stephanie, Scott and Dave enjoying wine and appetizers on the roof deck.

Here are some pictures of our apartment.

Our bedroom

Our living room.

Our kitchen and balcony.

The shared common area. 
Our apartment is on the right, Sergio and Aida's is in the center and Scott and Stephanie's is on the left.

April 7, 2020:  The April 7th super moon, the biggest full moon of 2020.

The super moon from our apartment balcony.

Saturday, April 11, 2020:  Sergio and Aida hosted an asado (BBQ) for us and Stephanie and Scott.  Sergio cooked cheese, sausage, sweetbreads and asado grilled meat.  Stephanie made cole slaw and rice and beans and we brought beer and wine.  We spent the afternoon enjoying the company, having a nice meal and telling stories.  This was the unofficial start of regular gatherings with our Covid-19 bubble group.

Sunday, April 12, 2020:  Today was Easter Sunday and Sergio brought us a giant hollow chocolate Easter egg filled with candy.

Tom, Sergio and Aida's dog. 
We were there for so long he quit barking at us when we got back to the apartment.

Friday, April 17, 2020:  Tonight we met with Sergio, Aida, Scott and Stephanie for wine tasting.  Each couple brought two bottles of Uruguayan wine that cost 500 Pesos or less (~$10 USD).  We wrapped them in foil so that the labels were obscured and then tasted each of the six - five tannats and one cabernet.  We each made notes, ranked the wines from most favorite to least favorite, then revealed each of the wines and compared our comments and rankings.  After we ate pizza from a nearby pizzeria and enjoyed the wine.

The winner of our wine tasting event, Pisano Tannat, cost 305 pesos ($7 USD)

Thursday, April 30, 2020:  Tonight we had a beer tasting event with Sergio, Aida, Scott and Stephanie.  We didn't do a blind tasting, but tried six different beers, all from Uruguay.  After the tasting we had empanadas for supper along with a green salad and dessert.  

The beers we tasted - an oatmeal stout, an IPA, a sauve IPA, an APA (American Pale Ale), an amber and a weisse.

Supper after the beer tasting - Dave, Sergio with Tom, Aida, Scott and Stephanie.

Dessert - YUM!

Saturday, May 9, 2020:  Sergio and Aida made paella with chicken, squid, shrimp and mussels for supper.  Stephanie made a Spanish tortilla and we brought the dessert.

Sergio and the paella

The Spanish tortilla

Saturday, May 16, 2020:  Stephanie cooked a Lebanese chicken and cous-cous dish along with veggies and hummus and scones with lemon curd for dessert.  After supper, we played Cards Against Humanity which was fun with the different personalities - Aida won.

Stephanie and Scott with the supper they cooked - fresh bread from the Camino Verde, chicken and cous-cous, olives, veggies and hummus.

Stephanie and Aida looking very serious while we play Cards Against Humanity.

Saturday, May 23, 2020:  Our Saturday evening get together.  Dave and I made a chicken and broccoli quiche with a pear, walnut salad and warm bread.  Sergio and Aida made fresh crepes for dessert and Scott and Stephanie provided the wine.

Parrots coming home to roost, Plaza Zabala near our apartment

Sunday, May 24, 2020:  Uruguay has done well controlling the spread of the coronavirus.  The borders with Argentina and Brazil have been closed since mid-March, there haven't been any commercial flights and people have been wearing masks since early April.  Stores have been limiting the number of customers that can be inside at one time and restaurants have reconfigured their seating to ensure they meet the social distancing requirements.  Community police do routine inspections at businesses and restaurants to ensure compliance..  Because the number of cases has remained low,  businesses and restaurants are starting to re-open.  Jorge and AnaGlory, a couple that Sergio and Aida know, re-opened their tea house in Canelones, Petit Gourmet by AnaGlory, so we went out there to spend the afternoon.  

Touring the farm at Petit Gourmet, Canelones, Uruguay

One of the tea cups at Petit Gourment.  We each had a different pattern.

Our tea party at Petit Gourmet - Aida, Sergio, Dave, B, Stephanie and Scott.

Sunset at Petit Gourmet.

Saturday, May 30, 2020:  Our Saturday evening group supper.  Stephanie and Scott cooked a roast chicken with potatoes and vegetables and lentil soup as a starter.  For dessert, Aida made Brigadeiros, a Brazilian sweet made with condensed milk.

Aida's brigadeiros (chocolate).  The white ones (non-chocolate) are called branquinhos.

Saturday - Sunday, June 6 - 7, 2020:  We rented a car for the weekend so we could do some touring.  On Saturday, we went to Pizzorno Winery in Canelones, north of Montevideo.  On the way, we stopped at Fortaleza del Cerro (Cerro), north of the harbor to explore the grounds around the fort and for the view.  From there we went to the winery for lunch and a tour. 

The annoucement from Pizzorno saying they would be re-opening for lunch and tours.

B and Dave at the Montevideo sign at the Cerro.  The harbor is in the background.

A cannon at the Cerro.  The Montevideo harbor is in the background.

Lunch at Pizzorno Winery - B, Sergio, Aida, Scott and Stephanie.

Touring the vineyards at Pizzorno.

B and Dave touring the wine cellars, Pizzorno.

Wine barrels and sparkling wine bottles in the cellar at Pizzorno.

Sunday we drove to Punta del Este, a beach resort town about 140 km east of Montevideo.  We stopped at Piriapolis and drove up to the top of Cerro San Antonio for a view of the harbor but it was too foggy to see anything.

Our view from Cerro San Antonia in Piriapolis.

In Punta del Este, we stopped for lunch at a Basque restaurant then took a walk along the Rambla to the harbor.

Lunch at a Basque restaurant, Punta del Este.

The Punta del Este harbor.

Southern sea lion in the Punta del Este harbor.

Sea lion singing for his supper, Punta del Este harbor.

From the harbor, we drove to the ocean side of the peninsula to look at the surfers and the sculpture of The Hand (Los Dedos de Punta del Este), then across the "roller coaster" bridge (Puente de la Barra Leonel Viera), then through some of the upscale neighborhoods of Punta del Este.  We went back into downtown for ice cream then headed back to Montevideo.

The Hand sculpture, Punta del Este.  Because of COVID-19, they had barriers around it, blocking people from congregating.

Monday, June 8, 2020:  Sometime in mid-May we bought a jigsaw puzzle of the Roman Coliseum and set it up on the round table in the common area.  Today we finished the puzzle.

Our finished jigsaw puzzle.

Friday, June 12, 2020:  Today we went out to the Montevideo Botanical Gardens.  The museum was closed but the gardens were open.

Gingko Biloba tree at the Botanical Gardens

Chestnut tree at the Botanical Gardens.

Cypress knees at the Botanical Gardens.

Saturday, June 13, 2020:  For our Saturday group supper, Sergio and Aida made cheese fondue wtih bread, chicken, potatoes, carrots, apples and pears for dipping.  While we were eating, the drumming group that performs during carnival came through the neighborhood practicing their drumming and marching.  They marched right underneath our balcony and we stepped outside to watch and take pictures.

The carnival drum group practicing and marching under our balcony.

Wednesday, June 17, 2020:  Tonight we checked the Copa website and found out that they had delayed the restart of their operations until August.  Earlier in the month, when we thought they were going to restart operations in late June, we re-booked our plane tickets to the U.S. for July 6th.  We had been checking the Montevideo U. S. Embassy site for information on flights out on a regular basis but we were hoping to get out on Copa, so we knew there was a Latam flight scheduled to leave on Friday.

Thursday, June 18, 2020:  We spent the morning and early afternoon talking with the U. S. Embassy travel agent about booking tickets on the Latam flight from Montevideo to Santiago, Chile with a connection from Santiago to Miami.  She confirmed that two seats were available and we booked our tickets (Plan K).  We booked a hotel in Miami and booked our flights from Miami to Austin, TX.

Our second puzzle, the Pyramids of Egypt.
Sergio and Stephanie finished the pyramids after we left.  Last we knew, the sky was still unfinished...

Friday, June 19, 2020:  Our flight wasn't scheduled to leave until 19:00 tonight so we took our usual morning walk.  We had lunch at the apartment then packed our bags and got ready to leave.  Sergio had booked an Uber for us to the airport.  We arrived at the airport plenty early and spent the time people watching.  We checked in, cleared customs and immigration and went up to the gate.  The flight was full.  We left about an hour later then scheduled and flew over the Andes to Santiago, Chile.  In Santiago, we caught a connection to Miami.  Most of the passengers from the Montevideo flight were on the connecting flight.  Our plane parked at the gate next to the outgoing flight so it was an easy connection.

Waiting in line to check in for our flight, Montevideo Airport

Saturday, June 20, 2020:  Our flight landed in Miami at 7:30 this morning.  We cleared customs and immigration and caught an Uber to a nearby hotel.  We stayed the night and flew to Austin on Sunday.

In total, our long weekend in Uruguay was 99 days.  We enjoyed it.

Until next time...