Day 160 (November 30): Uruguay, Best Meal So Far

The morning of our third full day at the resort: eat breakfast, do some schoolwork that got dropped earlier in the week, gear up for outing. The good news is that we have a rental car and, now that the episode is over, I will admit that we put four kids in the back of a compact (maybe midsize) tin can sedan and drove around Punta del Este with incomplete seat belts. The roundabouts made this especially maddening for the kids.

With enough internet searching, I found a restaurant that had promise but without being so refined that it would be stressful to dine with kids. L'marangatu is on the beach (the calm, estuary side, if you're reading every post in order), has beachside seating under thatch umbrellas, has excellent service and outstanding food. And, for some lucky reason, our kids decided that this would be the moment to eat with courage and gusto. In several senses, it was the best meal of the trip so far.

First, we ordered a bunch of appetizers. We had "fish bites" that were perfectly (lightly) fried white fish that couldn't have been more fresh. We had calamari. We had an octopus tentacle that had the consistency of shrimp but the flavor intensity of a great cioppino. We had an order of mussels in a non-bland sauce that the twins devoured (so much so that we got a second order, which also evaporated).

There was some drama with the drink order because the kids have been begging for Shirley Temples and they simply don't exist here. The bar seemed promising and they said they could do it. Then the waiter reported that they were out of cherry flavoring. Would we be interested in a different flavor? He brought us a dark red liquid in a shot glass. It was like cassis or blackberry and it was delicious. I took at turn as mixologist and the kids declared it a success. Whew!

Not a video.

The view to the east (downtown Punta del Este)

The view to the west (the estuary/river)

After lunch we drove around the peninsula so that we could visit the famous "Dedos" sculpture on the beach. It's definitely photogenic!

Weirdly, what the kids liked most was the trench between the beach and the seawall. On the other hand, what I liked most was the cool pattern in the sidewalk. Go figure.

Later in the evening, Elise and I went out to procure some souvenirs and dinner. Neither went especially well. High season doesn't arrive until January and the few stores that are open are lightly stocked. It looked like I was going to leave Uruguay without sending a postcard until we stumbled upon one of the craziest places I've ever seen. It was part gift shop, part cannabis museum and part political shrine to one of Uruguay's past presidents who apparently was well known for campaigning in an old blue WV Beetle. In any case, we made it out with our kidneys and some new friends as well as postcards (and other souvenirs).