Category archives for Uruguay
Posted by Candombes (Uruguayan drummers) filled the streets pounding tribal rhythms on their drums and colorful singers and feather topped dancers followed. It was Carnival time!
On our way to Carmelo we found a cute little wine and cheese shop with a fun patio and garden. The owners let us tour their cheese storage. Incredible smells of blues, brie and their most famous parmesan filled the room. We sampled an enormous fruit and cheese platter. It was amazing and yummy.
From riding horses like the wind to riding water slides as fast as can be… Our next stop was Salto, the land of thermals in Northern Uruguay. Thermals are pockets of hot water that bubble out of the earth because of uneven heating under the earth’s crust. We spent hours each day relaxing and playing in the water. Since we were in the land of the thermals there were lots of hot springs and water parks.
On Valentine’s Day mom and dad surprised us with tickets to the biggest water park ever. There was a lazy river, pirate ships, rafts, a flying fox and awesome water slides. My favorite was the one that took us slowly at first and then dropped us strait down from 0 to 100.
It was insanely fun.
Read the whole post »
We are now in gaucho country, where instead of surf boards all of the Uruguayans have saddles. Our first Estancia or ranch, Pinos, was named because the owner had planted 450,000 beautiful pine trees on the property. We were so happy and excited to ride horses and see all of the animals.
Our first day there we held baby goats that were only two days old; they were soft and super adorable. Their mom refused to feed one of the babies so the owners had to feed her warm goat’s milk from a bottle.
The next 2 weeks we spent on the beach, one of my most favorite places on earth. Our first stop was La Pedrera, a hippie village on the sea. While we were there we went to a ceramics school and made tons of beautiful things.
Long beach walks every day were both beautiful and relaxing. I love the sand between my toes and the sound of the waves. Sure I miss home, but when we have stops like this I am so grateful we are on this trip. After three fabulous days in town we left for a beach house two steps from the waves. It was a fantastic place to relax and take it all in. I spent hours sitting in a hammock enjoying the surrounding beauty. One of the nights at the house I made my parents a three course meal with vegetable soup, sautéed shrimp and spinach pasta, and durazno y naranja helado (peach and orange ice cream).
We are back on the road again in South America. Our first stop is Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay. The town was full of excitement and so were we. Our first night we went to soccer game or, as they call it, futbol. It was a rivalry game so it was extra crazy. There were people in the stadium lighting off fireworks and chanting anthems. The crowd was filled with black and yellow bumble bee jerseys and red, white and blue jerseys. They were the most energetic fans I had ever seen.
