Sunset at the Casapueblo

The sun dropping into the Rio de la Plata at Punta Ballena

The Club Hotel Casapueblo is reknowned throughout the Uruguayan world as a great place to watch the sunset.  So I did.

The sun having dropped into the Rio de la Plata at Punta Ballena

Weirdly enough, there was a huge crowd at the museum balcony level (Floor -2) (Keep in mind you enter the place at the top, at Floor 0, and the floors go down to the seaside level, -9.  I was staying on floor -6.)  Soon the sun was gone.  Dipped below the horizon line.  OK.  What's next?

Tour the museum and outlet shop for the art of the designer of Casapueblo, Carlos Páez Vilaró.  I don't know the names of the pieces I saw, so I'll just show the pictures of some of more interesting pieces without comment:

I kinda like this seahorsey.

The sun had set and the whites of Casapueblo were fading. 

After the sun has set

I wander the grounds a little after the sun has set, trying to see the stars of the southern hemisphere.  Unfortunately, even though the sky is clear and I'm not near any big cities, no puedo ver las estrellas muy bien.

Wish I knew what kind of tree that is.  I see them all over Uruguay and I think they look cool.  Like a cellphone tower disguised as a tree rather than actually being a real tree.

So it's time for bed.  But one last comment about the technology at Casapueblo.  I already mentioned that there were no key cards.  And the wireless internet didn't work all that well within my concrete bunker of a room (although it worked OK out on the balcony -- which got kind of cold after the sun went down -- bieng on the water and all).  A lot of the technology seems 1970s/1980s era.  Except the elevators.  They're like someting out of the Petticoat Junction hotel.

And there's Uncle Joe / He's a-moving kinda slow / At the junction

The elevators are tiny.  Barely enough for two people.  You have to manually close the metal door and then also close the interior cage door.  And you only know the elevator arrived at your floor, ready for you to enter, because you see the lights on through the window in the main metal door.  Dark means no elevator there.

Anyway, I spent just the one night at Casapueblo.  And that was about right.  It was very expensive (almost $200 U.S. and it would've been $250 U.S. if I had stayed Wednesday night).  It's isolated. The restaurant and the amenities don't warrant staying so far away from everywhere for more than the one night.  But it was a GREAT place to spend one night.  So, two last pictures posted out of chronological sequence because I lost my place.  First, the Casapueblo at dusk, just as the white gleam is dirtying up.

Casapueblo at dusk

 And, as an ending note, a selfie:

One of the beautiful people who stayed at Casapueblo.  At dusk.