An artsy day in Punta Del Este, Uruguay

Punta Del Este is one of the most fashionable towns in all of South America. It’s been referred to as a “luxurious playground.” While driving through the city along the Atlantic coastline, it’s easy to see how it developed that reputation with its many resorts, white sand beaches, shops and cafes. According to our guide, there is no crime there. I find that hard to believe, but what do I know? While driving through the meticulously kept residential areas, we also learned that the houses do not have numbers; instead they each have names. Also, there's lots of variety in architectural styles.

 

harbor front boats with city skyline in background

We again crowded into the tenders for a ride to the dock where we met up with our guide and headed for Tour Bus #15. She was a very attentive and instructive guide; however her accent was so strong I often had trouble understanding what she was saying.

Our first visit was to the Ralli Museum, a contemporary art museum that houses a collection of artworks by modern Latin American and European artists. Below are only a few of the ones I snapped.

 

Ronnie at Ralli Museum 

inside the Ralli

sculptures in Ralli courtyard

Arman's "Coleres"

LaCodicia Del Bobo, 1999

 Gerardo Matos Rdriguez "LaCumparsita" 

From there, we were driven to the cliff side villa of Casapueblo. The house itself is a work of art, and a local icon. Rather than try to describe it, I will include the story of this internationally renowned Uruguayan artist. It was very crowded when we arrived and it was past our lunch time. We both had a very light breakfast so we decided to grab a sandwich in the café before taking a quick walk-through and snapping more photos. In addition to the café, the hillside residence also includes many pieces of the artist's work, plus a gift shop where books and prints can be purchased.

 

Welcome to Casapueblo

ocean view indoor/outdoor restaurant seating

 

As you will read, the Casapueblo is the  life-long building project of an artist who did not like straight lines. Someone observed that “the house seems to employ not a single right angle” as it sprawls over 10 stories down the rocky bluffs. We certainly didn't see any!

 

Carlos Paez Vilaros' Casapueblo

1958 – Paez Vilaro first arrived in Punta Ballena in 1958 and was mesmerized. Undaunted by the desolate, treeless landscape without roads, electricity or water, he set about fulfilling his dream of building the studio of his life facing the sea.

The Beginning – First he put up a tin shed, where he stored old doors, windows and material he would use to build his future home.

La Pionera – Then, with the help of friends and fishermen, he created La Pionera, his first studio, made of wood.

Evolution -  Years later, he began to cover it with cement, modeling it with his own hands, like a huge sculpture while finding places in its walls for the objects he had brought back from his travels and special niches for his memories. Turrets, corridors, tunnels and terraces began to take on a life of their own, pinning the immaculate white statement of his architecture against the blue of the sky. 

As the years went by, Casapueblo kept growing, always in tune with the landscape surrounding it. Rooms kept being added like cars hitched to a locomotive, many of them build to greet friends from afar who had announced plans to come and stay at this house that had triggered so much curiosity. 

So Casapueblo is a place that attracts artists, collectors, the famous, researchers, students of architecture and globetrotters.

 

backside sits high on hill overlooking the sea

another view from museum shop

tools of the trade

Carlos Paez Vilaros, artist

 

resort view

On the way back to the ship, we stopped at Brava Beach to see “The Hand” sculpture designed in 1982 by the Chilean artist Mario Irrazábal. It’s 5 fingers of a giant hand coming up from the sand and as you might guess, it’s a popular spot for visitors to take photos. There's a sculpture park on Bravo Beach as well with large works made of steel, concrete, wood, iron and marble.  Unfortunately there was not enough time to see those. But all in all, we still packed a lot into only a 4 hour excursion.

 

"The Hand" - count 'em, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5?

Brava Beach (behind "The Hand")

 

As we were walking to the bus, I snapped more photos of some hang gliders over the water. I'm fairly adventuresome (maybe a 5 on a scale of 1-10) ha! but I've never had a desire to do this. However, if I weren't scared I can imagine that it would be peaceful just gliding along on the wind like that. And for the record, I love going up in hot air balloons and zip lining but this just seems a little scarier to me, especially the take off and landing part.

 

weeee!!!

 

beautiful, but kinda scary!