Kauffman Commentary

Today we traveled a couple of hours from the Montevideo port to Punta del Este, Uruguay. Carlos Páez Vilaró created this Guadi esque compound that takes on a life of its own. He purchased the seafront property in 1958 and began building with the aid of friends and fishermen. He likened it to mud nests of the native hornero birds. Today there is his private home, a museum and a 5 star hotel in this complex. It gives off a homey comfortable feeling and is filled with his art and art from his travels.  The views from the casapueblo are just breathtaking. Carlos passed away in February of 2014 at 90 years old.

We were allowed into his private home. His family still lives in the home.

Uruguay is quite close to Buenos Aires and they are rivals on and off the futbol field. Our guide said that 60% of the people own their homes. Their peso is more stable than Argentina’s, with the exchange rate at 42 pesos to 1USD.  The Argentine peso is 1,000 pesos to 1USD.  With a stable economy and a stable, secular government, Uruguay is one of the best countries in South America, with a lot of foreign investment in the country. 

The Ralli Museum doesn’t normally open on a Sunday, but we were treated to a short private viewing. That was followed by wine and cheese at a local country club that has a golf course and some vineyards.

At this point we started back towards the ship, only about 30 minutes and then stopped at a farm. This farm family within the last 5-6 years started growing olive trees. They have 10,000 trees and they even process their own bottles of the oil. The olives are small, so they are only used to make oil.

The family opened their home to us and served us several types of olive oil and a traditional beef sandwich. Everything was thought out and beautifully done.