A museum trek

LOCATION:  Punta del Este, Uruguay
WEATHER:  A bit hot.  High 85

From our glass-walled apartment, we watched a big thunderstorm come over the bay and make its way toward us.  The palm trees below our 3rd floor apartment were swaying with the wind.  It soon blew over, and it was time for us to  run to the fish market. 

We took this photo of the fish stall, so that I could look up some of the Spanish fish names before returning. 

Today, we bought cooked octopus and raw scallops.  This HUGE sea lion was begging at the stall.  I’ve never seen one that looks so much like a land lion!

The weekend here was pretty busy, but now it is very quiet.  This windows in this  apartment building in front of us are mostly shuttered down.  They were all open this weekend.  School starts now in March (their fall), so tourism has really decreased for the year.

For lunch, I used that cooked octopus to make an octopus salad – with arugula, tomato, and avocado.  It was quite tasty, and the octopus was surprisingly tender.

Then, we were off to today’s destination – the Ralli Museum.  We had heard good things about it.  It is a private museum with mostly modern Latin American artists.  We thought we would check out taking a bus.  What an adventure!

First, we found a bus stop near our apartment.  Unlike in many cities, there are no numbers posted and no routes listed.  Also, the drivers don’t seem to know anything except their own route.  We hopped on the first one that came by.  I asked the driver if it went near the museum, and he directed us to get off at the bus station and ask.  So, we did.  However, the main bus station turned out to be for only long, overland buses – to Montevideo, Buenos Aires, and inland.  There was no one to ask and we didn’t see any local buses.   So, we got out our map, thinking we would hail a bus on the road leading to the museum.  It was getting quite hot, and we were starting to flag a bit.  We found a bus stop to wait.  A lady joined us.  I asked her about a bus toward the museum.  She said there wasn’t one, and that we would need to take a cab.  What to do?  Her bus came by and she verified with the driver that there were none we could take.  As the driver was closing the door, he shouted…..”You could always walk….it is about 15 blocks”.  So, we took off.  At this point, I am really getting hot and tired.  We weren’t sure we were going in the right direction, but the map indicated that we were.  We walked through several chic neighborhoods and it was interesting looking at the houses and shops.  Finally, is it a mirage?  It was a sign for our museum! Yay!!

We followed the signs, and made it to the museum, nestled in a park with lots of trees and open space. 

The museum itself is a lovely, open-air building and houses lots of interesting artwork.

There are several Salvador Dali’ sculptures, including one with his famous melting clock.

We had the museum almost to ourselves – strange but great.

We took a taxi back home, as we were pooped.  George said it was the best $12 he has spent in his life!

In the evening, we went across the street to the brewpub.  At 7:30, they were just opening up.  Again, we were the only ones there, but they were preparing for a busy night ahead, starting at about 11:00.  Their busy times, per their website are 11P – 2A.

DINNER: Tomato/avocado salad to start.  Seared scallops in a garlic/butter sauce with pasta on the side.