Accelerating the ageing process in Uruguay

Uruguay sounded like it was going to be an amazing place to spend a week or so on the beach, we'd spoken to a number of people who'd told us about Punta del Este and Jose Ignacio and we were really looking forward to it especially as Sarah, a friend of Abby's, was coming out to meet us.

The reality though was a little different, it was incredibly expensive with the price of our accommodation more than doubling and the quality of the accommodation being less good than we have become used to (a bed in a dorm being the same price as private room in other countries). To be honest I think it was just bad timing, we arrived in peak season and during carnival and so sadly no sooner had we arrived than we were planning our exit.

We started our short Uruguayan adventure in Colonia which is where the ferry from Buenos Aires arrives and after dumping our bags at our hostel we were able to satisfy ourselves that the guide books are correct, it is possible to get to know Colonia thoroughly in less than three hours. It was a cute place with a lighthouse, I think that may well be all I remember of this short stop over.

Me, pre sunburn in Colonia

The following day we took a bus to Punta del Este (PdE) renowned for being one of South Americas most glamorous resorts and as you can guess one of the most expensive. As we drove along the coastal road toward PdE all we could see in addition to the actual sea was a sea of white high rise hotels, we had been able to find a really good and not phenomenally expensive hostel in a part of the town where there were only low rise buildings, which was perfect for us and was only a short walk from the beach. This was our first beach stop since Colombia which seems like such a long time ago and so knowing that we were going to be here for the next few days we found a spot that we liked and each day carried our beach chairs and brolly to the same spot and fried ourselves; I quite literally did fry myself.

Having become accustomed to the heat over the past few months it just didn't register that my tummy and my eyelids had not been exposed to such direct sunlight and that the 15spf suntan lotion just wasn't going to cut it and it didn't. I currently have the eyelids of a 150 year old tortoise and a tummy that I hope will look very young following it's non chemical peel - very foolish (it won't be repeated as Sarah arrived on Sunday with fresh supplies of SPF30 Clarins and Piz Buin, oh and Marmite - I love Sarah).

Sunset Punta del Este

On Sunday morning Abs and I took the bus to Montevideo airport to meet Sarah who I have to say looked pretty amazing after 25 hours of travelling. 

Something quite magical happens in arrival halls of airports, I could see a million awe inspiring sights but none would fill me with the overwhelming mix of emotions that I feel when I watch people waiting for loved ones to arrive or when I see the look of expectation on the faces of people as they walk in to arrivals, it is brilliantly expressed in the opening credits of the film Love Actually (which if you haven't seen you must google Love Actually Opening scene and watch it on youtube immediately, infact if you have seen it you should also google it, I promise you that whatever frame of mind you are in it will make you feel happy on the inside - which is good because it may well make you cry on the outside). 

Any way, sorry I have digressed.... We were spending the night at The London Palace hotel in Montevideo (yep) and as Abs said in her very best 'cockerney'/Dick Van Dyke accent "it's just like a real palace in London (guv'nor)".

The hotel was in a great location just a few blocks from the old town and so after we'd checked in we walked one block to a small plaza and just as soon as we sat down the heavens opened, Sarah appeared to have brought the great British weather with her. We huddled under the umbrella and caught up over a few drinks before heading back to 'the palace' for a siesta. 

Abs and I were keen to treat Sarah to a great first night meal and so once we were all dressed we started walking towards the old town where we knew there were some good restaurants. The streets were incredibly quiet it was like a ghost town, the alarm bells started to ring when we walked past a McDonalds that was closed.... it turns out that it was a national holiday, something that the Uruguayans clearly take more seriously than we do at home. We did manage to find somewhere for food but as I'm sure you can imagine a restaurant called Don Peperone was never going to provide the fine dining experience that we'd hoped to welcome Sarah with. Instead we made do with toasted sandwiches and a tuna nicoise salad!

Then, before we knew it it was Monday morning and time for us to go our separate ways; at 11am Abby and Sarah took a taxi to the airport to fly to Foz Iguazu and at 11:30 I took a taxi to the port to take a boat back to BA - I told you that I liked it......

See you there.

Raine x