Uruguay: Dec 24th- 28th

After the really comfy bus ride from Porto Alegre to Montevideo we were received at the bus station by one very generous, warm, full of life person: Carmen’s mom.

Home & Family
On our way home we stopped at the Panaderia(A traditional bakery) to pick up the source of our recent addiction, baked goods, for breakfast.

We reached home and loaded up on a sumptuous breakfast. Carmen graciously opened out her whole apartment for us to use. Her apartment which is part of their family home can fill a book with all the lovely things and stories about it. It was so lovely, organic, full of greenery, ancient with amazing imprints and one of the most beautiful homes I have been in. You could see the love for details that Carmen's father had, as an architect himself and aunty's love for the plants. Pictures of Carmen's Home

After just beginning to soak in the warmth of their home we headed out to a nearby fair otherwise called Feria del Libro el Gravado (fair for books and engravings). Did some window shopping, some shopping and were amazed by how creative and refreshing the displays were. We met with out friend Marcello, a fellow Uruguayan and a Professor of Mathematics in Texas A&M. We went to a nearby cafe for Pizza and Faina(yummy garbanzo super thin patties).

Christmas Eve
We headed home, took a nap and headed to the grocery story for Christmas eve dinner supplies. Stocked up on veggies, wine, champagne, grappa (an authentic Uruguayan liqueur), panetoine (delectable fruit cake/bread). We scurried home, cooked up some dal, potato salad and tomato mozzarella salad. While tava cooked a stuffed organic chicken we ladies headed to the beach to be baptized the Carmen’s family way (a ritual every new year): So we had a glass of champagne watching the sunset and then took a dip in the seas. Later that night some of Carmen's family members came and we had a really lovely party in the garden. After a huge meal and some fun Latin American music we called it a night. Being Christmas there were fireworks and celebration all night long on the streets which translated to very little sleep till 8:00 next morning. Pictures from Christmas eve

Christmas was a day of rest and laundry, followed by candombe (Afro-Uruguayan rhythm) in the evening: Many drummers assemble onto the streets of Montevideo. This contagious rhythm takes along everything in it’s path- neighborhood people follow the drummers dancing to the rhythm of their candombe. Later in the evening we self-invited ourselves to Edwardo and Carolina’s place. They were such a wonderful couple who loved architecture and music. We talked about music and Carolina’s travels to India before heading for a 5 course impromptu dinner.

Costa Azul
On the 26th we headed out to meet Marcello at his beach house in a town called Costa Azul (the blue coast). But before we headed to the bus stop we walked a little around Montevideo downtown and shopped at another really beautiful craft place called Mercado de Los Artisanos where they take creativity to another level of expression: pretty amazing. With a quick nap on the bus to the beach house, we arrived refreshed enough to head straight to the lovely beach for a walk, swim and soak up the evening sunset. We headed back home and cooked tandoori chicken and baked some veggies in the big grill at Marcello’s house. We then followed it by a lovely walk along the beach at night, gazing at the stars, stopped briefly for coffee and desert at a café and headed back to the house to wrap up for the night. The night sky in the southern hemisphere is breath-taking as you can see the milky way stretched across distinctly.
Pictures from Montevideo City center and Pictures from Cost Azul

Colonia
Next morning we took our bus back to the city and rested. While Tava was checking his mail etc Carmen and Archana headed to the college that Carmen teaches at and then joined Tava on a walk along the beach and headed home to join aunty for a sumptuous meal that she made especially for us. Called in for the night and got up next morning for a walk in the beach and packing up to head out to Colonia (port of exit to Argentina) on our way to Argentina.

A visit to the historic center of Colonia del Sacramento is like a walk back in time. Founded in 1680 by the Portuguese, this old colonial town is renowned for its cobbled, windy streets and colorful houses reminiscent of old Lisbon. So we walked in the tree-lined Boulevards around this quaint town until it was time to board our ferry from Colonia and headed to Buenos Aires. Pictures from Colonia