The most popular coastal summer
vacation sites in Uruguay are in the departments of Maldonado and Rocha, on the
Atlantic Ocean. Although Punta del Este is the best known internationally,
there are other, less famous ones well worth visiting. Our correspondent,
Gloria Algorta, gives us an Uruguayan perspective on the string of seaside
resorts, from Solís to Punta Negra, in the department of Maldonado.
I've been to Piriápolis and the
surrounding areas so many times that at first it was hard to see it as a place worth
writing about, which is often the case with familiar things. I decided to tour
the area as if I were seeing it for the first time, looking at it with fresh
eyes.
Solís
I left Montevideo and headed east.
Just after crossing the Solís Grande stream at km 82, I found myself at the
Solís seaside resort, where I was met by my sister, who has a house there and agreed
to accompany me on my tour. For her, Solís is an oasis of peace on holidays and
weekends. Almost all the streets are dirt roads and you can hear birdsongs and
an unseen neighbor's wind chimes from the deck of her house. We eat lunch at
the iconic Alción Hotel, which separates the two beaches. Founded by English
railroad investors, Solís still overflows with English-style gardens and Garden
Club ladies, and sun umbrellas still shade English-speaking families.
unique feature of this seaside resort
is its charming stream, which is sometimes invaded by seawater. Here we can
enjoy both fresh and salt-water swimming, separated by only a few hundred yards
of stony beach. The stream widens as it empties into the ocean, creating an
ideal spot for water sports and beautiful sunsets. Near the other side of Solís,
on the bank of the Espinas stream, we visit a wooden bird watching blind, and
to our surprise, we sight not only saw birds, but also carpinchos, enormous indigenous rodents found from Panama to Buenos
Aires province, known as capybaras or
chigüiros in other countries.
Bellavista
Route 10 runs along the coast from
Solís to Punta Negra, passing through Piriápolis. The next seaside resort along
this route is Bellavista, but I won't describe it until the end of this
article, for reasons that will be clear later.
Las Flores
We continue to Las Flores, where the
oldest —and very charming— wood and stone houses date
back to the time the English financed the railroad. The highway splits Las
Flores in two. There are houses along the beach, and on the inland side, inns
with sea views stand on rising ground. All of these seaside resorts have their own
shops, restaurant-bars, and sports clubs.
Castillo Pittamiglio, along the road
that links Las Flores with the route connecting the other seaside resorts, is
now being restored. Pittamiglio was one of the most interesting men in Uruguay
in the mid-20th century; he was an openly homosexual politician, believer
in the occult, and freemason. A friend of Piria —more about him shortly—
he built his summer house with hidden passageways and the turrets of a medieval
castle. I'm familiar only with the façade, but the place certainly deserves a
visit now.
Playa Verde
Playa Verde is a world apart; the
entrance is barely visible from Route 10 because it sits entirely on the ocean
side of the road. Summer vacationers are loyal to this out-of-the-way seaside
resort and wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. It boasts two beaches
and an excellent restaurant, open weekends year-round. A friend of mine has a
Playa Verde house that features the kind of functionalist architecture favored
by Le Corbusier. Aside from the house, my friend also has a group of lifelong
friends of a certain age. Most people here display an intense loyalty, which I
don't pretend to understand, but it is enough to know it exists.
Playa Hermosa and Playa Grande
After a look around Playa Verde, we
take to the road again and continue on to Playa Hermosa and Playa Grande. The
mid-20th century hotels here weave a spell with their
hydrangea-framed verandas featuring comfortable patio chairs with striped
cushions. Of course, both places feature beautiful beaches. We stop just long
enough to take a few photos.
Not far from Piriápolis stands La
Corniche, a signature restaurant in a location that, until a few years ago, housed
Vértigo, the favorite disco of the area's young people.
Piriápolis
It is impossible to talk about Piriápolis
without remembering the pioneer Francisco Piria (1847-1933), an Italian
entrepreneur with dreams —or delusions— of grandeur. He left behind an
eponymous city on the bank of the Río de la Plata; a house in Montevideo, now
the seat of the Supreme Court; and another near Piriápolis, the embodiment of a
dream, known as Castillo de Piria. Catillo
de Piria is now a museum. In addition to his business acumen, Piria was an
intellectual and a politician. He was familiar with the Cabala and alchemy,
leading many people to assume that Piriápolis possesses a special, magnetic
energy The monuments are there to be deciphered by anyone willing to do a
little research.
Piria is responsible for planting
trees along the coast in the department of Maldonado. He was active in real
estate and agriculture and he also mined granite from Cerro Pan de Azúcar. In
1890, he wrote of the cove where he decided to found Piriápolis: “We traveled
through much of Europe, visiting many seaside resorts, mountains, forests,
valleys, and summer and leisure destinations. We saw so much beauty and so many
magnificent treasures, yet we were captivated by this enchanting spot. The
sight of it was enough to spark our passion." He built the Hotel
Piriápolis, now the Colonia Escolar de Vacaciones, on the broad, golden sands,
filling it with Persian carpets, Murano glass, European furniture, Limoges
china and much more. The port —essential for attracting Argentinean tourists—
opened in 1916, and the coastal road was modeled on Nice's Corniche. He set the
hotel and its grounds on the inland side, saving several yards of beach and
long-gone dunes.
In 1930, Francisco Piria opened the
Argentino Hotel, the largest in South America at the time. Piriápolis had a
growth spurt in the 1940s and 1950s, and with more than eight thousand
year-round residents, the city now has its own economic and cultural life.
Located about sixty miles east of Montevideo and twenty-two miles from Punta
del Este, this city and its surrounding area offer services, activities, and
landscapes for all tastes.
Piriápolis has hotels, a casino, a
movie theater, restaurants, pubs, discos, shopping centers, supermarkets, a
yacht marina, water sports, and more. The natural cove is unique in Uruguay:
its hills leading down to a calm, green sea are unusual in a country of plains
and rough waters. Many local and international events are organized year-round,
including the 8K Doble San Antonio race, regattas, beach sports, mountain
biking competitions, automobile races, a paella serving two thousand people,
and all kinds of shows. There are private functions in hotels and clubs, and
public events like performances by national stars as part of the Ministry of
Tourism's summer schedule.
The summit of Mt. San Antonio can be
reached by car or chair lift, providing visitors a panoramic view of the not so
distant skyline of Punta del Este. Mt. Sugarloaf, home to a reserve for
indigenous fauna and an adventure eco-park, is crowned with a huge cement
cross. A two-hour walk takes visitors to the summit. The view is spectacular
and the climbs I’ve taken with my children and friends have always been amply rewarding.
Ascending a mountain is a satisfying challenge, even when the mountain rises
only 1388 ft. And this is one of the highest points in Uruguay!
My sister and I have tea at the
Argentino Hotel. The surroundings are fascinating: our table enjoys a view of
the ocean. We walk through a lobby illuminated by enormous windows[G1] and admire its Carrara
marble staircase and delicate crystal light fixtures. The highly eclectic style
is nearly impossible to define.
San Francisco
We continue on to San Francisco, a
seaside resort that was just a variegated forest not so long ago. In my
opinion, it has the best beach in the region, complete with dunes and a wide
stretch of fine, white sand. Here the ocean is definitely the ocean, even
though the Rio de la Plata officially ends at Punta del Este. How can you draw
borders in a substance as fluid as water anyway?
Punta Colorada
Despite its wonderful view, the houses
on the Punta Colorada promontory are simple and unpretentious. My son Pablo and
his former Scouting mates enjoyed innumerable camp-outs in this slightly inland
spot, until construction invaded the forest clearing. All the seaside resorts
are growing in tune with the economic bonanza in recent years, filling the
remaining forest clearings with development.
Punta Negra and Beyond
Punta Colorada used to be the terminal
point of Route 10, and it is still the final destination for buses. Now,
however, the highway continues, passing Punta Negra, which features rocks that
give it the name “Black Point,” a rough, dangerous beach, and waves more than
large enough to surf. Route 10 ends a few miles from Portezuelo. There, at the
end of the road, a few ranches emerge in the middle of nowhere.
From Punta Negra, visitors can travel
toward Punta del Este on a dirt road leading northeast toward the resort route,
more or less near Portezuelo. Or, they can turn around like we did, and return
to Solís, happy to have been pleasantly surprised by seeing a familiar area
through new eyes.
Bellavista Once More
The way to the Bellavista seaside
resort is marked by enormous buoys along the highway. My husband's family has
had a house there since long before I met him. We have spent summers in
Bellavista since we returned from Spain twenty-seven years ago, and we have also
enjoyed innumerable weekends and many winter vacations there. My children and
nieces and nephews grew up on the resort's beach. I saved this particular place
for last so I could close on a personal note.
In its day, Bellavista was an
exclusive seaside resort: there were just a few dirt roads, traced by the
Aznárez family, local ranchers and owners of the seaside hotel. The Aznárez
family did not sell land to just anyone, but a couple of decades ago, during a
difficult period for the countryside, sales accelerated and Bellavista began to
grow and fill with all kinds of houses. There are year-round residents like the
retired couples who make day trips to Montevideo to see their families, telecommuting
Europeans, and Argentineans living off their investments. We all know each
other.
The beach consists almost entirely of
smooth pebbles. The presence of sand and the ability of beachgoers to go into
the water without rubber shoes depends on the storms that deposit and remove the
stones on the beaches. This is an important topic of summer conversation:
"Is there a beach?" we ask, inquiring about the fate of the sand.
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