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.

My Night at the Casapueblo

Casapueblo in Punta Balleta

I scheduled to stay one night at the Casapueblo, a hotel in Punta Balleta, just to the west of Punta Del Este, along the Rio De La Plata.

The Casapueblo isn't so much a hotel as it is a giant scuplture within which you can rent a room.  It's more art installation than hotel.  While it most definitely appears to be somewhat Gaudi inspired, in my amateur opinion, it is the work of Uruguayan artist Carlos Páez Vilaró.  The architecture is supposed to resemble the mud nests of the local "hornero" bird.

The view from the water's edge

It is built over and into the rock cliffs of Punta Ballena.  In fact, on the lower levels, the rock from the cliffs are the walls.


Perched on the cliffs

In keeping with the artsy-quirkiness, the rooms don't have numbers.  They have names.  I am staying in the "Anzuelos" room, designated by the picture tiles above the door:

Mi cuarto es los "Anzuelos"

I thought from the picture that "Anzuelos" was a type of fish.  Nope.  The name is from the top half of that picture.  I am staying in the "Fish Hooks" room.

I like "Anzuelos" better.

In keeping with the theme, the room is gleaming white:

Inside the "Anzuelos" room

Although it's pricey, it's somewhat outdated.  For example, to get into the room, I use a "key."  An actual metal key.  I don't know how long it's been since I stayed in a hotel and my key was something other than a card.

My terrace

 It does have a balcony/terrace/veranda thing, which is something that will never be outdated.

My view from my balcony in mi "Anzuelos" cuarto

And from the balcony:  I see the sea!

The place is amazing.  And it's also somewhat of a maze.  The corridors are not straight, logically arranged.  Each floor isn't even all on one floor.

Hallway

Maybe I'm not completely on vacation here (and I did have a dream about work last night), but I cannot help but think, looking at all these stairs, that this place is not ADA compliant.

Steps down to the pool

 But the grounds are nice:

The view of the top level pool

 All gleaming white:

Near the restaurant area

 I even saw some hang-gliders over the hotel:

Hang glider over the Casapueblo

Hang gliders (plural) over the Casapueblo

Road Trip Uruguay!

Downtown.  Somewhere in Uruguay

The Montevideo portion of this vacation has ended.  We're now in the second half of this trip.  I will now take to the open road.

From the roof of the My Suites, looking south to the Rio de la Plata

The sun came out for realsies this morning in Montevideo. It's a shame I'm not going to see the city in the sunshine. Montevideo is a nice little city. It's quiet. The people are shy. They listen to a lot of American soft rock from the 80s, apparently, if what I heard in cabs and coffee shops is any indication. Thirty places went into the cookie jar. One by one, 29 got eliminated. I have zero regrets that Montevideo was the survivor. And I have lots and lots of regrets in life. This ain't one.

From the other side of the roof.  Which means this is looking north.  To no place in particular.

PS: It's actually the second time I put multiple places in a cookie jar and picked out one at a time until there was one. That was to pick a fun place to go for my 45th birthday back in 2005.  I put in 10 destinations in the USA, places like Colorado Springs (the first eliminated), New Madrid, Missouri (to see the earthquake museum, which I eventually did in 2006 -- you should go), and South Padre Island, Texas.  I put in 10 international destinations, such as Vatican City and Belem, Brazil.  I ended up not going to the one that the left in the jar.  Money was a little tight in 2005 and the international trip that I selected wasn't going to happen for the 45th.  The trip to that place had to wait.  Until November 2013.  Yes, I seriously picked Montevideo that time, too.  Only since I didn't tell anyone I wasn't "committed" to it.  Seriously, what were the odds?  600 to 1, actually.  About the same as the sports books would offer for the Miami Marlins to win the World Series.

So now I've been to Montevideo and I'm happy that I did.  But now was the time to put Montevideo in the rear view mirror of a rental car and drive.  To the open road!

The open road!  Uruguay style!

And what is my steed of choice for the open road, Uruguay style? A Chevrolet ... ummm ... got to check the rental car key ring.

OK. I checked. It's a Chevrolet Corsa. Stylin'!


Mi Chevrolet ... ummm ... something or other

Time to hit the road.  The only problem, of course, was that I took a wrong turn out of the airport, or I missed the turn I intended to take, and I found myself a little north on "Ruta 8" instead of the 1B, the expressway to Punta Del Este.

Sin problemas!  Thank Dios I bought an Uruguay roadmap on Amazon before I left.  Turns out, Ruta 8 is not a bad route to take.  It's just inland, but heading in the right direction.  I would need to exit onto Ruta 9 to pick up the 1B right before Punta Ballena, my stop for the right.

I did see a nice looking old church on Ruta 9 so I stopped for some pictures.  It smelled of florals and grilled meat.  I love Uruguay!  At least, I love the aromas of Uruguay.  Turns out, there was a parrilla just up from this church.

Stepped into a church / I passed along the way

Actually I didn't "step into it".  I was only Uruguay dreamin'

So it was a pleasant drive through the hinterlands.  Soon enough, I was merging onto the 1B Expressway and, only a short way down the road, I caught this view of the Rio De La Plata:

View of the Rio De La Plata, upscale side, off the 1B

Upscale!  Side note for my fellow geography nerds:  it's still the Rio De La Plata estuary officially until Punta Del Este.  And the scenic viewpoint was being guarded by this gentleman:

Statute of someone Uruguayano

 I should've made note of who he was, out of courtesy, but I rudely drove on.

But not too far!  Soon I was at my destination, my abode for the night.  The Casapueblo in Punta Ballena.

Entance into the Casapueblo

 But before we make the turn into the Casapueblo, here's the rock formation that puts the "punta" into "Punta Ballena":

The tip of Punta Ballena