Piriápolis

Uruguay is probably one of the randomest places I've ever been. (Well, maybe second place after Slovakia.) Not random because of any particular characteristic of the place itself, but more because it's one of those places no one I know has ever gone, and before getting here I had no idea what to expect. ( Of course Uruguay, like Slovakia, is extremely popular with tourists from bordering countries, but Canadian tourists are fewer and farther between.)

But I sort of like going to places where I have no expectations. Like, you go to Paris or London or New York, and you have a bit of an idea what the place looks like, and the kind of things you can end up seeing. And if it's not the way you imagined it, then you may be disappointed. But who's going to say to themself, "Wow, Strsbké Pleso is NOTHING like it is in the movies, what a disappointment!"

Anyway, so here I am in Piriápolis, Uruguay, which is about 100km from Montevideo, the capital. It's on the Atlantic coast of Uruguay, aka the Gold Coast, which is lined with beaches for about 400km from Montevideo to the Brazilian border. The beaches aren't anything like tropical Caribbean beaches, or even like those found in Brazil, but they've got white sand and warmer water than the beaches in Argentina, Chile or Northern Nova Scotia.

At the last minute my German friend Martina decided to play hooky from the hospital where she's studying medecine in Buenos Aires and come with me. It's over 30C and like 110% humidity in Bs As so it wasn't too hard to convince her she needed to get out of the big city and get some ocean air.

After a heartattack-inducing close call getting on to the ferry, we made the 3 hour trip across the Río de la Plata from Buenos Aires to Colonia, Uruguay, and then took a bus to Montevideo and another bus to Piriápolis. It's a beach town, no doubt about it. Tons of hotels, touristy stores, and cheezy restaurants. But the high season doesn't start until January, so right now it's blissfully empty and quiet, and the prices are lower. We managed to just show up and find ourselves a very cheap and nice hotel, which I think would be impossible during the high season.

Today we spent the day on the beach. Really, just swimming, laying around, reading trashy magazines and eating snacks. One day and my only day, because as usual, despite the artistic and masterful job I did coating myself with sunscreen I managed to get burnt to a crisp. No really, all I need is a dog was trying to pull my pants off and I'd be the Waterbabies sunscreen girl. Damn you Scottish heritage! But tomorrow we're going to hike up Uruguay's 3rd tallest hills and eat some seafood emapanadas, so all is well.