MoonlitThe vineyards of Bodega Garzón extend into the distance illuminated by the moon.

Entrance to Bodega Garzón The New York Times placed the vineyard Bodega Garzón on the 22nd position of a list of 52 places to visit in 2016. It's an incredible place indeed. Luxurious, beautifully designed and with beautiful views that extend kilometers into the distance, overlooking the vines. One can only guess at the amount of effort and funds that have been poured into this place, but it must have be mind-blowing.

Kitchen of Bodega Garzón The kitchen is being supervised by the Argentinian chef Francis Mallmann, and our experience there was as fantastic as his name promised it would be. The kitchen is beautifully designed with a big fireplace to roast meat on, and can be seen through the glass walls that separate it from the restaurant. We enjoyed what was labeled as a "Sunset Wine Dinner" there, with excellent courses accompanied by the different wines the vineyard has to offer.

Bodega Garzón at night Although at the time of this writing the vineyard has not been officially opened to the public all year round, the restaurant can be visited already. I would suggest making a reservation first; it's a bit too far away to risk ending up before closed doors. You can contact Bodega Garzón via their website.

More photos can be found here: http://uruguay-foto.com/bodega-garzon

Docked 1A white-throated hummingbird (Leucochloris albicollis) drinking while hovering.

SplendourA white-throated hummingbird (Leucochloris albicollis) showing off its pretty wings.

Hummingbirds belong to the family trochilidae, which only exist natively in the Americas. Being amongst the smalles of birds, they are capable of hovering with incredible precision in front of the flowers from which they suck their nectar, their wings beating around 70-200 times per second. To sustain the incredible amount of energy needed to be able to do this, their metabolism is fast. Very fast. In fact, they have the highest metabolism of any homeothermic animal. Their metabolism is in fact so fast, that they would die from starvation if they would sleep like other animals do. To conserve energy, hummingbirds go into a special state called torpor when they sleep. This is a state similar to hibernation, where their metabolic rate drops to around 1/15th of their normal rate. Although I couldn't find metabolic information specific to the white-throated hummingbird, measurements in other species have measured heart rates of up to about 1.250 beats per minute (!) with breathing rates of about 250 per minute, even in rest! So even when in torpor, they have a heart rate higher than a human being in rest. They still lose about 10% of weight per night! These birds don't have any risk of becoming obese.

Wings The wings of the white-throated hummingbird, and in fact all hummingbirds birds, are true pieces of art. Small, light and strong. A hummingbird's wings are unlike any other wings found in birds. Hummingbirds can do things no other bird can do. Apart from the hovering, they can fly forwards, backwards, sidewards en even upside down for a short while! They are true acrobats. The reason a hummingbird is capable of these remarkable feats is in their special anatomy. Unlike other birds where the shoulder is a normal joint, the shoulder of a hummingbird is a ball and socket joint that allows them to rotate their wings. They don't "flap" their wings as other birds do: they rotate them. When flying, their wings move in an oval pattern, and when when hovering they move in an "8" pattern, or "∞" if you will.

White-throated hummingbirdA white-throated hummingbird (Leucochloris albicollis) taking it easy in an Aloe Vera. These little birds can be seen everywhere in Uruguay. It defends its territory quite aggressively and can often be seen chasing hummingbirds of the same or other species.

On Friday January 16th, the finals of the Copa Corona 2015 were held at Montoya Beach in La Barra, Uruguay. La Barra is a quaint little village near Punta del Este. Although the waves were not the best, it was still a nice spectacle. The beach was packed with people enjoying the sun, water and of course, the action that was played out in front of their eyes. 

I saw the following finals:

• Copa Corona 2015 Sub 16
• Copa Corona 2015 Sub 19
• Copa Corona 2015 Longboard
• Copa Corona 2015 Women
• Copa Corona 2015 Open

Copa Corona 2015 Sub 16

Copa Corona 2015 Sub 16 Finals 25

The first final I saw was the sub 16 final. Winner here was Tomas Migues, who showed some impressive moves. Interestingly, there was a girl in this final as well: Delfina Morosini. Only 14 years old, she is being hailed as Uruguay's best female surfer. She landed the 3rd position in this group. In the photo above, Tomás is riding the wave while Delfina is watching him from her surf board. The number 2 position went to Agustín Seanotta. See here for more photos.

Copa Corona 2015 Sub 19 Finals

Copa Corona 2015 Sub 19 Finals 21

The winner of the group with surfers of 19 years or younger was won by Santiago Medeiro, in the photo above. Second place went to Francisco Morosini, the brother of Delfina Morosini. Surfing runs in the family, it seems! Third place went to Nahuel Cardona. See here for more photos.

Copa Corona 2015 Longboard Finals

Copa Corona 2015 Longboard Finals 14

The longboard finals were won by Juan Malek, who can be seen in the photo above. Second and third place went to Ignacio Pignataro and Julian Schwiezer, respectively. See here for more photos. 

Copa Corona 2015 Women Finals

Copa Corona 2015 Women Finals 6

The finals for women was won by - not surprisingly - Delfina Morosini, who is shown in the white lycra she wore in this round in the photo above. The second place went to Maite de Alava and the third place to Camila Meana. See here for more photos.

Copa Corona 2015 Open Finals

Copa Corona 2015 Open Finals 97

The final of the finals was the "open" round. Here the best surfers or Uruguay competed. Uruguayan champion Sebastián Olarte (see photo above) won the first price, followed by Lucas Madrid in his black lycra. The third place went to Julién Pérez in his yellow lycra. Francisco Morosini, whom we already saw in 2nd place in the sub 19 class, won the 4th price. See here for more photos.

Side

Hotel Carrasco is a historical building on the rambla (coastal road) of Montevideo, Uruguay. The name Carrasco refers to the neighbourhood it is built in. The building is from the beginning of the 20th century, and has recently been restored. The photos in this article are from April 2013, after the restoration was completed.

Hallway (1)

It was built by Alfredo Arocena, who was the main owner of the land in this area since 1907. In 1912 he created the Sociedad Anónima Balneario Carrasco, a company dedicated to convert the zone of Carrasco into a beach resort. One of the first activities of that company was the start of the construction of the original building, which also started in 1912. The hotel was designed by the French architects Jacques Dunant and Gastón Louis Mallet. After 9 years, and being interrupted by the World War I from 1914 until 1918, the building was inaugurated in 1921.

Lounge (1)

Over time, the hotel started to lose popularity. The facilities couldn't live up to the expectations of more modern times, and the building started to deteriorate. Eventually it was left abandoned. In 1975, the building became a national monument.

In 2009, Carrasco Nobile S.A. won the bid to carry out renovations on the hotel. In March 2013, the building that was declared a national monument in 1975, opened its doors to the public again. It now has a casino, which I haven't visited myself. I'm personally not too fond of the modern additions in front of the hotel (the glass entrance and the modern staircase), but the majority of the building and the inside of the hotel is absolutely stunning.

Find Wally

Click here for more photos.

Lakes and mountains

Torres del Paine is a national park encompassing mountains, glaciers, lakes, and rivers in southern Chilean Patagonia. It was declared National Park in 1959, and UNESCO declared it Biosphere Reservation in 1978. It has a total surface of 242.242 hectares. The park is most famous for the mountain peaks it is named for, the Torres del Paine ("Towers of Paine"). The Torres del Paine are the three lighter grey peaks to the right of the centre of this photo. The Cuernos del Paine ("Horns of Paine") is the light grey mountain on the fold, with the black mountain tops. The mountain at the right is Cerro Paine Grande, and it is the highest mountain here. Its height is said to extend 3.050 metres above sea level, although apparently that is disputed; some observations apparently lead to measurements of 2.750 metres.

Laguna Amarga 8

The park offers various beautiful spots. One of those spots is Laguna Amarga ("Bitter Lake"). This lake has a special colour, due to the stromatolites living in the lake. In the photo above you can see the lake, with the Torres del Paine in the background (they are the grey peaks to the right of the snowy mountain on the left).

Guanaco 7

Within the park (and around it), you see lots of Guanacos (Lama guanicoe). It is a camelid native to the arid, mountainous regions of South America. It stands between 1 and 1,2 metres and weighs about 90 kilograms.

Cascada Paine 9

The Cascada del Río Paine (cascades of the river Paine) are beautiful cascades in the River Paine. The colour of the water is caused by glacier flour, which are silt-sized particles of rock. Because the material is very small, it becomes suspended in river water making the water appear cloudy, which is sometimes known as glacial milk.

Salto Grande 3

Salto Grande is a waterfall on the Paine River, after Lago Nordenskjöld. It exhibits tremendous power as it drains the Lago Nordenskjöld and feeds Lago Pehoé.

Valley

Spending only one day within the park left us wanting for more. There are so many beautiful spots, like the Río Serrano, which meanders through the countryside as can be seen in the photo above. We had to leave out quite a few interesting spots, such as the Grey Glacier. I hope to return here some day to explore the rest of the park.

More photos from Torres del Paine here.

Chilean Flamingo (3)

Uruguay is home to Phoenicopterus chilensis, or as it is called in English, the Chilean Flamingo. I had seen flamingos before, but normally only in the Laguna de José Ignacio. A while ago, I spotted this solitary flamingo while kayaking in Arroyo Maldonado, near La Barra. I was intrigued, and at first I thought it probably had lost track of its flock.

A few days later I decided to explore the Arroyo Maldonado a bit more deeply than I had done before. A few kilometers in, I found a colony of flamingos. I was quite surprised, because I live less than 5 kilometers from this spot, as the crow flies. Who would have known...

Conversing Flamingos

There are six species of flamingo in the world, of which 4 live in the America's. The plumage of the Chilean Flamingo is pinker than the slightly larger Greater Flamingo, but less so than Caribbean Flamingo. It can be differentiated from these species by its greyish legs with pink "knees", and also by the larger amount of black on the bill (more than half).

Flamingo

The reason why flamingos stand on one leg is apparently not fully understood. There are several theories, ranging from exotics ones as the supposed ability of flamingos to let half their body sleep to more down-to-earth ones where it would conserve body heat, but none has been proven.

Flamingo in flight

The color of flamingos is greatly influenced by the food intake. The pink color is obtained from carotenoid pigments. However, a Chilean Flamingo is pale pink and will never be as brightly colored as the much more spectacularly colored American Flamingo.

See here for more photos of flamingos.

Peace and quiet

Laguna del Diario is a small lake in Punta del Este. It's about 4 hectare (about 10 acres). It's located at the entrance of Punta del Este (actually officially Maldonado still), and about 50 meters from the Rio de la Plata, only separated by from that by the beach and the highway. The lake is accessible for water sporters such as kayak and wind surf. As is the case for all fresh water lakes in Uruguay, the use of motorized vehicles is prohibited.

Great Egret

Especially outside the holiday season, this place is a wonderful quiet place to enjoy nature. The lake is host to a big variety in birds. Great Egrets, such as seen above, make their nests at the shores of the lake. You can see lots of Snail Kites (see below), and while you're on the water alone they hunt right alongside you. 

Catch

Along the borders of the lake, there are almost swamp-like conditions. Very little depth, and lots of birds foraging for food, such as this Snowy Egret.

Snowy Egret (1) The lake is has a dense population of water plants, and when kayaking through the lake in this time of year, you often find yourself surrounded by vast expanses of water flowers.

Flowers (1) If you want to visit Laguna del Diario yourself, you can find it here:

Interior of El Ateneo

In the year 2000, work started on transforming the old theater into a bookstore. Bookshelves outline the walls of the galleries and the main arena. The former stage has been transformed into a bar, where one can eat and drink something while reading a book from the bookstore. Nowadays, El Ateneo Gran Splendid is the flagship bookstore of the El Ateneo and Yenny bookstore chain, receiving over a million visitors every year.

Interior of El Ateneo (2)

The ceiling in itself is a work of art. The dome measures 20 x 19 meters, and was painted in 1919 by Nazareno Orlandi. The painting is an allegorical representation of peace, and was painted to commemorate the end of the First World War. Peace is represented by a feminine figure, surrounded by representatives of the world.

Ceiling of El Ateneo (2)

The front side of the theatre, which was formerly the lobby, is also used as part of the bookstore.

Interior of El Ateneo (7)

For more photos, see this gallery. The bookstore can be found at Avenida Santa Fé 1860, in the Recoleta neighborhood. 

Puro Verso bookstore in Montevideo

Puro Verso is located in an old building in Art Deco style. Although not as spectacular as El Ateneo in Buenos Aires (a topic for another blog post), it's still an impressive place. Originally, this building wasn't a bookstore. It was built in 1917 by an architect called Leopoldo Tosi for an optician called Pablo Ferrando, which closed its doors in 1999. It was subsequently bought up by a Spanish investment group called Estudio De León-Berro-Alvarez. The building is considered national heritage.

View from upper floor

The great thing about this concept is that it's a combination of a bookstore, music store and a restaurant. As you can see below, the restaurant is located at the upper floor (you can see the lamps hanging from the ceiling). The restaurant is called "Más Puro Verso" ("More Pure Poetry"). 

Bookstore Combined with the classical music they play, the books that you can just read at your leisure in the restaurant and the nice view from the restaurant at the "Ciudad Vieja" (Old City) below, this is one of those "Zen" places where you can escape the noise of the city. A bubble of culture and peace.

A bar in a bookstore

More photos here. You can visit Puro Verso at Peatonal Sarandí 675, from Monday to Saturday from 9 AM to 8 PM.

Tail

Whales in Punta del Este, September 2012

The southern right whale is a migratory species, exclusively distributed in the Southern Hemisphere. During summer, they can be found at feeding areas in high latitudes. In early winter, the whales migrate to Peninsula Valdes in Argentina where reproduction and birth take place. On their way to the South, they pass by Punta del Este and often take a break here. Although advised against, some people also try go get real close and personal with the animals. Although I've never heard of agressive behavior, one can only imagine what happens if 15 tonnes decide to play with you or just doesn't notice you when rolling over...

Spray

In 1789, a whaling factory was established in Punta del Este by the Real Compañía Marítima. Whales were caught in Maldonado Bay, the same place were these photos were taken. Whaling was done extensively (not only by Uruguay by the way) causing the population of southern right whales to drop to the point of extinction. In fact, it was considered commercially extinct in 1840. Luckily, due to increased awareness and protection of the species, number have been growing significantly since the 1960's. Around 2005, the total population was estimated at 10.000, but apparently population growth is fluctuating.

Whale tail tale

Bonus fun fact: the testicles of right whales are likely to be the largest of any animal, each weighing around 500 kg (1,100 lb).

Patches of light through the fog

At about 10 minutes walking distance of the estancia, you will find a cute little waterfall. The water flowing here is very clean, since the entire river bed is rocky material. In fact, the water of this river is used as tap water in the estancia. As a safety measure, they advise guests to not drink the tap water, and supply mineral water instead. However, the personnel just drinks this water and claims it's much nicer than the best mineral water.

Waterfalls

A big part of the establishment is a protected nature reserve, where different species of flora and fauna thrive. You can find different species of vultures here, as well as wild goats ("chivos"). The personnel is very friendly and gave us an excellent tour of the property. Derley, our guide, was able to get us to see the elusive wild goats.

The vulture is probably waiting for one of these goats to die. Friendly birds, they are.

They claim this is the darkest location of Uruguay and it is easy to believe that. There is absolutely no light pollution. We had the bad luck it was cloudy and the moon was above the horizon, but during new moon this place must be an awesome place to do some stargazing.

Clouds covering the stars

At the estancia they have cattle, such as sheep and horses. When we visited the estancia in August, there were lots of newborn lambs. The one below even has her umbilical cord still attached. She was born not hours before.

Just born Around the estancia, you'll probably also run into the ñandu (Greater Rhea or Rhea Americana), a kind of South American ostrich. 

Ñandu (Greater Rhea or Rhea americana)

If you want to detach from the stress of urban live and you like getting back into contact with nature, this is a great place to go to. The abundance and purity of the flora and fauna, as well as hospitality of the personnel are sure to make you feel relaxed in no time.

More photos here.

It's a thin line between life and death

The city that always sleeps within the city that never sleeps Originally, this wasn't a cemetery, but the garden of the convent and the church of the Order of Augustinian Recollects (Orden de Agustinos Recoletos), after which the entire neighborhood was named as well. The church, convent and its garden date back to 1732. The order was disbanded in 1822, after which the garden of the convent was converted into a cemetery (no pun intended). The church, called Nuestra Señora de Pilar, is still there and in excellent condition.

During the day, the cemetery can be visited. At night, the only way to get a view of the cemetery is from above. The photos here were taken from the 11th floor of a hotel on the other side of the street. Only a few lights are on in the cemetery, which gives it a ghosly glow (again, no pun intended).

Reading lights for the dead It's intriguing to observe the cemetery from this vantage point. In the morning, people start to walk by, on their way to their respective businesses one supposes. In the meantime, the inhabitants of the cemetery lay undisturbed in their final resting place.

Early morning walk

For more photos of the cemetery, click here.

Iguazú waterfalls during full moon

The photo above shows waterfalls as seen at the Brazilian side during full moon. The picture below shows a moon rainbow during that same night. Yes, you read that correctly. A moon rainbow. The  photos you see here have exposure times of about 1 minute to capture sufficient light, hence the foamy look of the water.

Moon rainbow at the Iguazú waterfalls

The Iguazú falls are located on the border of the Argentinian province of Misiones and the Brazilian state of Paraná. The river separates both countries here. The part before the waterfall is called the "higher Iguazú", and the part below it, not surprisingly, the "lower Iguazú". The falls are located in national parks on both sides. The Argentinian side was declared a national park in 1934, and the Brazilian side in 1939. In 1986 the UNESCO listed the Iguaçú National Park as Natural Heritage of Humanity. It now is one of the largest forest preservation areas in South America, with a staggering variety of wildlife.

Falls

The name "Iguazu" comes from the Guaraní words y, meaning "water", and ûasú, meaning "big". Legend has it that the god M'Boi planned to marry a beautiful woman named Naipí ("marrying" meaning here she would be sacrificed by the Guaraní and thrown into the river). However, Naipí fled with her mortal lover, a warrior called Tarobá, in a canoe. In a rage the god sliced the river, creating the waterfalls and condemning the lovers to an eternal fall. Supposedly Naipí is now a rock at the bottom of the falls, so she will never be able to leave M'Boi's side.

Depending on the amount of water flowing, the number of waterfalls varies between 150 and 300, some small and some very big. The height of the falls varies between 60 and 82 meters. The normal flow rate is about 1,5 million liters per second, which is already a mind-boggling number. However, in 1992 the flow increased to 29 times that rate (!), completely destroying the tourist infrastructure on the Argentinian side. The best known fall at the site can be found at the Argentinian side and is called "Garganta del Diablo" ("Devil's throat"). The Devil's Throat is U-shaped, 82-meter-high, 150-meter-wide, and 700-meter-long and is absolutely mind-blowing. It's possible to take a helicopter ride and see it from above, to better appreciate the immensity of it.

Garganta del diablo from the air As you can see in the photo above, a ramp leads up to the falls, allowing you to be almost inside the Devil's throat. We were lucky enough to be the first ones to arrive there. Being there is difficult to describe. The sheer volume of water rushing by and disappearing in the vapors below during an 82 meter plunge is overwhelming, and makes one feel very insignificant. I love it when nature humbles you like that.

Garganta del diablo

Apart from the Garganta del diablo, the Argentinian park has lots of other beautiful views to offer. There are two main tours one can walk: "el paseo superior" (the upper tour) and "el paseo inferior" (the lower tour). The photo below gives an impression of how many different waterfalls there are. In the lower left corner you can see a part of the "paseo inferior".

Lots of waterfalls The waterfalls are not the only thing to enjoy in Iguazú National Park. Nature is abundant, and you can observe lots of different flora and fauna. The South American coati is famous and absolutely not shy.

Making friends Since these are the subtropics, the birds you can find here are absolutely beautiful. A famous example of a bird you see here in abundance is the Toco Toucan (Ramphastos toco). As you can see below, the colors are absolutely stunning. Although they are supposedly poor flyers, I personally thought they actually looked very cool. They typically fly in pairs and to me it looked like a formation of fighter jets passing overhead.

Toco Toucan (Ramphastos toco) (3)

All in all Iguazú National Park is an incredible experience. Staying in an hotel in the park itself is unforgettable, giving you the hours outside the park's opening hours to enjoy all this beauty in peace and quiet.

Click here for more photos of Iguazú National Park.

Entrance of the old station

The building above is the old train station of José Ignacio. It lies in the middle of nowhere, nowhere near the current resort town that carries the same name. In more glorious times, the train station was one of the stops of the track that connected Montevideo to Rocha. The construction of this track started at the end of the 19th century and was originally exploited by a company called Ferrocarril Uruguayo del Este (Uruguay Great Eastern Railway).

The last time the track was utilized by a passenger train was on January 2, 1988. That day all passenger trains in Uruguay terminated their service. Since 1988, only certain railways are being used, and then only for freight. From the state of the rails near this station, I can safely conclude that José Ignacio is no longer part of an active railroad system.

The rails in front of the station are completely overgrown Currently, the train station serves as a public school. I've been told there are exactly 2 students. I hope to be able to go back there one day and take pictures when the school is in service. In the photo below you can see the playground with the train station in the background.

Playground

The old school, which has been abandoned since a long time, sits forgotten on the other side of the street. Luckily for me, abandoned buildings provide nice photo opportunities.

Front door of the old school

Doors with a view (1)

The building is from 1810, so this is actually from before Uruguay became Uruguay (independence was in 1830).

Nice spot to lounge

When our Belgian friends bought the property, it was in ruins. It now looks pretty and homely, and although there's lots of work still to be done, it's habitable and feels like a real escape from modern society and returning to more simple times.

Facade

More photos of this place can be seen here.

Yesterday I mounted my camera to a tripod sticking out of the sunroof, and programmed my camera to take a picture every second while I drove from my home in Punta del Este to a restaurant called Puerto Aroma in La Floresta, a trip of around 50, 60 kilometers. I considered this a busy day (it's Semana Santa, so holiday season), but compared to what you can see in Europe it's empty I guess. The video above is a time-lapse where the photos are played back at approximately 8 fotos per second. Hope you enjoy it.

Layers (2)

With around 8 hectares it's small, although they borrow some other lands of neighboring friends to increase the grape production. In my personal opinion, Alto de la Ballena makes one of the better wines in Uruguay.

Wine tasting It's possible to do wine tastings at the vineyard. There is a small wooden deck in which the owners will receive you with bread, cheese and of course their wines. They also give you a tour around the vineyard, which offers enjoyable views and an interesting explanation on the entire wine production process.

Rocky grounds

The best moment to start the wine tasting is around 1, 2 hours before sunset. Enjoying the sunset from here, with a view over the Laguna de Sauce and the Rio de la Plata, stretching as far as Pan de Azúcar in the distance, is a memorable experience.

The tough side of life

For more photos of Alto de la Ballena click here.

The Light Divine

Interior of Capilla de la Asunción

I wanted to take some pictures of the inside of the chapel, so I asked the current caretaker, the deacon, if he could let me in. He let me in immediately and was clearly proud of "his" church. When I remarked upon the well-maintained state of the chapel, he told me that that wasn't always the case. Apparently, after the death of Domingo de Tacuarembó, the chapel was no longer maintained at all. When the current deacon was assigned responsibility over the chapel 8 years ago, bats had taken over the chapel and it had basically converted into a ramshackle. History apparently repeated itself, and again the neighbors helped to restore the chapel to its former state and it now looks better than ever.

Capilla de la Asunción

Click here for more photos of Capilla de la Asunción.

El Aguila

"El aguila", or "La Quimera" as it was called originally ("the figment"), was part of a bigger structure. Most of this structure has disappeared over time due to erosion. It owns its existence to two men: the millionaire Natalio Michelizzi (an Italian who lived in Buenos Aires) and the Uruguayan constructor Juan Torres. On August 1st of 1945, Michelizzi, who owned a house at the beach, asked Torres to build a small chapel for him of 2 by 2 meters, where he wanted to place a figurine of the Virgin Maria.

To make sure the room wouldn’t end up too small, Torres decided to make the room larger (4 by 4). When Michelizzi saw the chapel-to-be, he decided to abandon the plan to make it a chapel and to dedicate this place to read, paint and to receive and have drinks with his friends.

Over time, a sleeping room, bathroom and kitchen was added. Torres, without any architectural plan and on a whim, imagined and created the head of the eagle. The eagle was covered with stones from the region to resemble the feathers. Michelizzi liked it so much that he asked Torres to enlarge the structure at the bottom by adding a new part in the shape of a boat. The floor of the eagle was transformed into a roof terrace on top of the boat, and inside was a bar. The prow ended in two concrete “needles” that resembled the open mouth of a dolphin.

Michelizzi died in 1953 at the age of 54, and shortly after the gardens and surrounding structures started to suffer from lack of maintenance. With time the boat part of the structure was destroyed by the Rio de la Plata. Due to the distinct shape of the eagle's head, legends started spreading. It would have served as an observatory for nazi spies, a smugglers headquarter and it would even channel "cosmic energy". Nowadays only the original structure exists, and it is open to the public all year round.

Escher's Tower

Aisle

In the photo above you can see the inside, where bright colors leave you with a positive impression. As you can see in the photo below, the outside of the church is painted light blue. This version of the church was inaugurated in 1922. There was a, much smaller, church in its place before.

Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria

The church is called after its patron saint, which is La Virgen de la Candelaria. The Virgen de la Candelaria is a recurring theme in Punta del Este. When Juan Díaz de Solís landed on the Uruguayan coast and declared these territories property of the Spanish crown, he named the bay of Maldonado and Punta del Este "Santa María de la Candelaria". This refers to an old legend of Tenerife, to which I referred to earlier in my blog post about the harbor, where the virgin Mary supposedly appeared before two shepherds on Tenerife in 1392. 

The church is not only attractive on sunny days. It's certainly also an interesting object during foggy mornings, as shown below.Nuestra Señora de la Calendaria

Click here for more photos of Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria.

Entrance

Carrasco Airport

When you arrive in Uruguay by plane and enter the hallway, you are welcomed by a sign saying "Mundo, bienvenido a Uruguay", which means "World, welcome to Uruguay". If you enter the airport from the parking lot, you see a text saying "Uruguay, bienvenido al mundo" meaning "Uruguay, welcome to the world". In the photo below you can see both phrases.

Angles & curves

On the upper floor (the departure terminal) there is an enormous sense of space. Very high ceilings and lots of glass contribute to that. With a capacity of handling 3 million passengers per year, this airport is a major improvement over the older terminal.

Carrasco Airport

Click here for more photos of Aeropuerto Internacional de Carrasco.

Ready to set sail

The harbor is home to two very different types of boats. On the one hand there are the little fishing boats that go out every day onto the ocean with their seemingly underpowered engines, and on the other hand you'll find luxurious yachts in all kinds and shapes, sizes and price ranges. Tourists enjoy day trips to nearby destinations like Casapueblo and Isla Gorriti (of which I'm sure I'll add blog posts in the future).

Sun bathing The harbor is not only interesting to visit on sunny days. To me, and I guess to many people, harbors in general offer a certain mystique on basically every time of day and any type of weather. The photo below shows the entrance of the main pier of the harbor on a foggy morning. 

Road to nowhere Not only homo sapiens enjoys the harbor. Another frequent visitor is the sea lion. They come in from Isla de los Lobos, a small island about 8 km's from Punta del Este which is the home to the largest colony of sea lions in the Southern hemisphere. There are around 200.000 sea lions living there. The harbor is like a restaurant to them, with fishermen throwing the unusable parts of gutted fish into the water. In the photo below a sea lion takes a dive after I disturbed him during his morning sleep.

I must go. My people need me.

More photos of the harbor of Punta del Este can be seen here.

Doom or salvation

Cross

It is possible to climb the hill and visit the cross. The hike itself is a rewarding trip which offers great views. From up close the cross, you can appreciate its size. Built in concrete, it was an idea of Uruguayan poet Juan Zorrilla de San Martín (he's the guy that's on the 20 peso bill and one of the most famous poets in Uruguay's history). Fun fact: all articles I found about the cross say this he conceived this cross in 1933, together with a clergyman called Engels Walters. I find that peculiar, since the guy supposedly died in 1931. Anyway, to make a long story short, the cross is almost 80 years old. It's 35 meters (115 ft) high, and can be climbed by a spiral staircase, which can be seen below.

Spiral staircase When you reach the top of the staircase, you can enter the crossbeams, which have some benches and a opening in the form of a cross. I had to conquer some inner demons to walk in the beams. Having vertigo and a wild imagination clearly showing my mind's eye the 20 meters of empty space below an 80-year old concrete crossbeam did make me swallow a few times.

Enjoying the view The whole trip to the top is quite an undertaking and requires at least a moderate physical effort, but it's very rewarding. Apart from the cross, the views are quite stunning.

View  More photos of Cerro Pan de Azúcar can be found in the gallery. 

Living room

Barbacoa The design of the barbecue house (known in Uruguay as "barbacoa") of Estancia Vik seems to be influenced by the New York Metro. It is completely different than the living room.

Patio The center of Estancia Vik is a beautiful patio with several pieces of art. The whole environment seems to be designed to make you forget the busy world outside.

Master Suite Legrand All the suites are designed by different Uruguayan artists. So every room is really completely different. The suite above is called "Master Suite Legrand" and is designed by Marcelo Legrand.

More photos of Estancia Vik can be found in the gallery.

Lightning over Punta (bw)

Tonight we had lightning in Punta, so I asked some friends of us who live in a building near the Mansa beach if they could lend me their rooftop to take some pictures. I was a bit too late, the most intense part had already past, but even so it was still quite the spectacle. I actually like the photo above in black and white, but there's a color version as well.

Lightning behind the Conrad

Regretfully, most of the lightning took place over the city part of Punta del Este and not so much over the Rio de la Plata. In the photo above of the Conrad hotel you can see some lightning though. There is not that much lightning but the view makes up for that. Even so, I prefer my lightning shots more spectacular, such as this photo I took a few years ago:

Kaboom Better luck next time.

Stormy dusk

Dusk is a very special moment to me, maybe even more so than the sunset. The colors are just amazing. When taking photos at dusk, for my taste the colors generally come out best around 30 minutes after sunset. The sky is turning an amazing blue, and lighting of man-made structures comes out nicely balanced. The photo above shows the gazebo on the Mansa beach near the harbor of Punta del Este, while the last remnants of sunlight turn the clouds in a nice pinkish purple. Below you can see the sky blend in with the Rio de la Plata and the lighthouse of Punta del Este in the front.

The lighthouse of Punta del Este

Peninsula

When life gives you rain... make photos.

You can get the photos from the album.

Gauchos

The festival has several activities that are interesting to see. One of those is the enactment of "the exodus", an historical event where the followers of the national hero Artigas march together to Salto Chico. The enactment is taken very seriously, people dress exactly as they supposedly did during the real exodus.

Children during the reenactment of the exodus. Furthermore, there is a horse parade in which poor and rich and young and old participate. Thousands of people parade through Tacuarembó on horseback. Again, people dress at their finest. Men generally dress in gaucho attire, but they use their best outfit. Most women dress as so called "chinas", wearing long dresses that are carefully laid out over the back of the horse. Every now and then someone yells "Viva la patria!" and everybody joins in. There is a general sense of nationalism that is not very common to see in Uruguay.

Horse parade La Patria Gaucha There is a festival area with places selling rural equipment and clothing for gauchos. And last but not least, there is the "doma". This is the Uruguayan variant of a rodeo, and gauchos have to try to sit as long as possible on the back of an untamed horse.

Holding on for dear life More photos of La Patria Gaucha (2011) can be found here.

The wavy bridge in La Barra at dusk

The bridge on the right was the first one to be built. Not so long ago, a second, identical, bridge was added. If you get to ride this bridge: the one on the left (so driving from La Barra to Punta del Este) is the most fluid roller coaster.

Shining beacon More pictures of La Barra can be seen here.

Sunset in paradise

More photos of Punta del Este can be seen here.

About to catch a wave

Cabo Polonio is an interesting place in Uruguay. It doesn't have electricity, so the shops there use a generator for the most crucial things, and fridges run on gas. At night the Milky Way can be clearly seen, as there is almost no light pollution. During the day, people just enjoy the beach, the gigantic dunes nearby or take a surfboard out.

To enter Cabo Polonio, you either need permission and a good four wheel drive, or you take one of the trucks. Most people take the trucks, which results in a village where there are almost no cars.

Truck

Originally, Cabo Polonio was a fishermen's village. Although nowadays the biggest source of income for Cabo Polonio is tourism, fishing is still practiced. The boats they use to go out on the ocean to fish are quite small.

Fishing nets (1)

More pictures of Cabo Polonio can be seen here.