Around the World in 180 Days: 10 Days in Uruguay

There was a crying baby on the bus to Concordia and we made lots of stops on the way but we weren't on the bus for a good-night's sleep. The book talked about how there were some bus companies and some trips that didn't stop at the station but just left travellers on the side of the road. On our way down to Iguazu we had stopped in Concordia's bus station and we saw no reason why a bus from the same company wouldn't stop there on the way up but no, 7.30 finds us under an overpass on the side of the highway. According to the bus driver there's a taxi stand just up the hill so we climb it and find... more road and a gas station. We might have ended up hitching a ride if not for the police checkpoint under the overpass from where we called a cab to take us to a money change to get some Uruguayan pesos and to the ferry terminal where we went through customs.
So far we've skipped the medium-sized towns like Concordia and though we didn't stay it was nice to drive through. The customs here was a small building with two rooms, joined in the front by a porch, in a park right by the Rio Uruguay. After getting our passports stamped to exit Argentina we waited for maybe a half an hour for the ferry to arrive to take us across. Getting to the ferry involved dragging our bags through an expanse of mud (at least, it did for those of use who were to tired and grumpy to walk around it: me) and we (I) got thoroughly mud-covered.
The ferry was pretty small and very nice. The floor was carpeted and there was a bench along each wall, with windows above them. It took us about 20 minutes to get across and we passed many fishing lures and fishermen.
Landing onces once more muddy and we walked a ways on a narrow path above the dock. The customs there was the nicest yet. It was the most informal, just two big rooms with a desk and chatty official in the first and a desk and motorcycle helmets in the second. It was only us and 4 other people on the ferry and, since they weren't delayed because of luggage, there was no line at all. The official called a taxi for us to take us to the bus station.
We debated staying in Salto for a night before heading to Montevideo but upon finding that the bus left at 6.30 the next morning we decided to leave the same day, in a few hours. There was a pleasant out-of-the-way cafe that we sat in for a while while we waited for our bus, and I finally was able to eat something.
The trip to Montevideo was 6 hours but because I slept through 4 of them it was fairly painless. We stayed in a nice hostel in Pocitos a few blocks from the beach. The people there recommended a taco place a couple of blocks away, and though it looked more like a stand than a restaurant the food was good and it was nice to eat outside. On our way back we stopped at a pharmacy and finally were able to get iron supplements.
In the morning we walked back to the beach and walked along it for maybe an hour before catching a taxi to go back to the bus station. Some of the buses in Uruguay have wifi on them, at least the COT company and maybe some others, and my parents researched places to stay later on our way to Piriápolis.
It was only a little after noon when we arrived at Pare 6, which turned out to be another side-of-the-road stop. This side of the road was across the street from the Devoto grocery store and on the main road of the city, along a boardwalk by the ocean. At least, I think it was the biggest road. I didn't do much exploring and it was certainly bigger than the network of dirt roads.
We rented a house from two people called Erica and Gregoire, and they came to meet us and show us the way. My dad joked that it might come with a dog, but it turns out that there was a stray who lived there named Pepino (cucumber)! He was only a few months old, so alternately slept and chewed on things, but he was really sweet when he wasn't chewing on me.
Of course we went to the beach right away. When we arrived it was completely empty but people began to arrive around the same time we did. It turned out that there had been a really big thunderstorm.
The beach was seaweedy and unpleasantly rocky so we emailed Erica and Gregoire about finding a spot on the beach that was more pleasant to swim in. Naturally, we found the next day that there was only one place on the entire beach that was rocky and seaweedy...
We had a week at the beach with my birthday as an excuse, but even if that weren't the case I would have worked on my parents for a week without having to pack up, get on a bus, and sleep in a new bed for the first time (does anyone except me fall out of a bed the first time they sleep in it?).
I didn't have to blog for this week and, with the help of my grandmother, didn't have to practice violin for 3 days. I could do a minute-by-minute recap but most of it was decadent, alternatingly eating really good food now that we finally had a kitchen, swimming at the beach, sitting on the beach (the house came with beach chairs and bikes as well as the dog), reading in the hammocks, and hiding all the watches so we didn't know what time it was.
I will mention the dessert, though; brownies made by a new recipe that we plan on hanging onto were the first and we made brownie sundaes with some vanilla ice cream and melted dulce de leche (I am going to miss this stuff when we leave!) were the first and that held us the fiirst half of the week. Then, on my birthday, I got a surprise lemon trifle. I loved having lemonade but didn't know that it was just a cover-up for all the lemons going into the cake. Because my mom stresses about cake and the oven was obstinate, I also got a chocolate cake that said from a store. After some persuading we took the remainder with us back to Montevideo and have yet to finish it.
Despite the use of tons and tons of sunscreen and wrapping up in towels when at the beach and even using an umbrella at times (precautions I was not happy with) we got really sunburnt. Luckily no sun poisoning, though.
It was sad leaving Piriápolis on Wednesday. From 11.30-12.30 we sat outside the Devoto in the shade, across from the beach, because the house was being cleaned, and then we walked back, said goodbye to the dog (not as sad as it could have been after he grabbed my shoe and ran and hid in the bushes and came back to bite me) and took a taxi to the bus station.
Montevideo is the first city where they have glass between the driver and the passengers so it was crammed in the backseat, but it wasn't to long of a ride before we reached our apartment. I am very happy that, if enough effort is put into searching, hotel-priced apartments can be found, but I'll have to say goodbye to that in barely a week. We're also renting this from Erica and Gregoire, and though the air-conditioning doesn't work and the days are hot and humid unlike anywhere we've been except Salta (where we had ac) and Buenos Aires (were we wished for it).
We're in the old part of the city and on a peatonal street and love the location. Last night we went for a walk to the Independencia square with a mausoleum in the center, to a grocery store, and down tot he waterfront before circling back. A kitchen again, so we could have quinoa-lentil salad, and the evening's entertainment was a documentary we found called The Imposter.
This morning we went on a long walk around the city. It's not very big considering that it holds half the population of Uruguay in it, but pretty and probably my favorite city yet. We went to the Carnival musem and are really excited to go to the world's longest Carnival tomorrow night. Though we'll only see 1 or 2 nights and probably won't be able to stay awake through more than 3/4 of them the carnival lasts for 40 days.
During the heat of the day we came back to our apartment and plan on walking back to the taco place this evening. In Piriápolis we relearned hot to play hearts so maybe we'll play again tonight, and then by June we'll be able to give my grandparents a run for their money.
I really should have a lead-in for this, but there's a really interesting article in the New York Times about the really interesting president José Mujica, a former guerilla fighter who lives off a dirst road out of the city.