LOCATION: In our AirB&B in Punta del Este, Uruguay
WEATHER: Another scorcher. High 90
We took an early morning walk (before it got too hot), to the bus station to buy our tickets to go to Montevideo tomorrow. $10 for a 2-hour ride. Not bad.
On our way home, we walked along the beach.
It is lined with some really nice apartments, including one that has a tiny swimming pool on each patio balcony.
As usual, we saw a lot of people sipping on yerba mate’. This VERY popular drink is common in Argentina and Uruguay. It is a kind of green tea. People stuff the mate’ leaves in a cup. They carry around a thermos to make the tea, and then drink it through a metal straw that acts like a sieve. Before Covid, they would pass the cup around for a communal drink. I don’t think they do that now.
On our walk, a group of scuba divers were taking a mate’ break.
Here is another guy carrying his thermos along the way….
And here I am giving it a try…
We stopped at our favorite fish stall to buy tonight’s dinner. I told the cute gal that always helped us that today is our last visit here. She threw in a lot of extra goodies with our fish – lemons and nice parsley.
We stayed inside for most of the afternoon as it was too scorching to do much else. When it cooled down in the late afternoon, we went to a pub along the waterfront for a drink. Of course, at 6:00, we were way too early and were the only customers. There was a nice breeze from the bay. I had an interesting drink that had a touch of jalapeno in it, along with mint. George had a Uruguayan Scottish Ale.
DINNER: Salad to start. Sauteed grouper bought this morning, along with grilled onions and mushrooms. Side was rice. A nice ending to Punta del Este meals!
BOOK: “Black Diamond” by Martin Walker. I love Bruno, the protagonist, of this series. He is a dapper village policeman, gourmet, and gourmand, and is very lovablel. The series takes place near Bordeaux, France, exactly where we did a housesitting assignment once, so I enjoy reading about the scenery, villages, wine, and food that we enjoyed while we were there. 4 stars out of 5
Reids on the Road with Joy 