2 locally produced fountain pens!

(Why am I not surprised?)

Unfortunately, Uruguay does not produce any coffee beans. So, druring switching planes in Panama, picked up a pack of Colombian Coffee and one pack of Panamian Coffee. Close enough, I say!

At times, I had seen people drinking from a coffee cup but with a straw! The straw was made of metal and shaped more like a pipe. It looked more like a pipe-meet-coffee cup!

Found out in Uruguay – where lot of people were doing it – that is used to drink Yerba Mete – sort of like herbal tea except, caffeinated!

Got a few varieties of the Mate and two of those cups. Now, I need some excuse to drink it!!

We flew over the island that Sharmila and I will be staying in – in less than 2 weeks! The last time we were in this island was in 1993 – a couple of months after we landed in the USA!!

If you follow along the mouth of the river in the middle of the screen, then you might be able to vaguely spot a tall building right at the edge of that peninsula.

That is the JW Marriott in Marco Island. One of the most beautiful spots we have ever been to in the USA.

Wrapping up my trip to Uruguay. Waiting for my flight back to Atlanta via Panama. Absolutely loved the trip here. Here are some observations and tips:

1. It is a big country with very few people. Population is about half that of greater Atlanta. Of which, nearly half live in the capital city of Montevideo. But the people are very helpful and kind.

2. However, not too many people know English. Even in the large resorts, it was difficult to find somebody with passable English. Menus, instructions, directions – all are in Spanish. But people try to understand you and there is always Google translate.

3. This is a very safe country and traffic is incredibly disciplined. They will let the odd tourist cross the road nowhere near the pedestrian crossing without making much of a fuss. I took a bike and the cars would give me a wide latitude in the lanes. I would put this in the category of Costa Rica in terms of safety for tourists.

4. Uber is ubiquitous. My wait time was so little every time, it reminded me of Malta. Extremely efficient.

5. If you are a vegetarian, you might have a challenge. Like I experienced in Argentina and Brazil, this is totally a carnivorous country! There are grills everywhere. Getting vegetarian food is difficult. Even the Indian restaurant I went to had only one vegetable curry option!!

6. This I have never seen anywhere … it is very difficult to get salt shakers or ketchups at meals. Apparently, Uruguay has been going thru a concerted effort to reduce salt consumption for the population. Apparently, hypertension and obesity is something the government is trying to tackle to the ground!!

I hope you will visit Uruguay and absolutely make sure you keep Punta del Este in your schedule..

Desperately needed to go the restrooms after lunch. The “banos” were upstairs. I glanced at the sign – and almost walked in, when instinctively looked the other way and realized something was amiss. Thinking “M” was for men and not “mujeres”, I almost created a scene. It does not help that the men and women sign for the bathroom has the man’s picture on the “M” side of the bathroom!

Needed to pick up some Yerba Mate and those fancy cups with metal “straws”. The market is filled with grills like this and the meat was literally flying off the ovens!!