Our fridge is making peculiar noises but it is still working; the sun is out, nights are cold and Uruguay is lovely.
We have to be in our campground outside Buenos Aires by Wednesday worse luck but it will be for an excellent reason to meet long lost friends. Taking short hops and poking around oddly little roadside attractions in this perfect Fall weather is utterly delightful.
This is nowhere Uruguay but Layne manages to dig up all sorts of oddities to cause us to stop and ponder. On a map we were between Nueva Helvecia and Nueva Palmeira near Carmelo on the eastern shore of the Uruguay River which is the border with Argentina, land of chaos a million miles away.
In the New Switzerland of Uruguay we started Saturday by driving around after our free night in the park.
The immigrant stories are pretty similar across South America and once you realize tons of Europeans came to these countries you can see the same pattern we are used to in the States.
“If any Swiss Colony is going to prosper, let it be this one.”
There is a massive amount of nostalgia among their descendants who have no actual connection to the past, to the motherland.
I suppose a cynic would say there is a good financial reason to turn on the nostalgia tap but I find it rather touching how a bunch of Spanish speaking Uruguayans can look over their shoulders and see Switzerland. I’ve seen the same in the US where roots sprout a connection with Germany or Slovenia or some other place.
Rusty could have celebrated the founders of the town all day had we let him but Layne had a tower to visit. This is said to be the most photographed structure in town, a highly decorated water tank; she got out to take the picture and now you can see that beauty and utility can go hand in hand.
Then we had a statue of a troubadour to pay our respects to in this lightning tour of Nueva Helvecia but the only thing was when we got there a lady got mad because Rusty got out and played momentarily with her dog. The dogs ignored all calls to break it up and went off on a peeing spree while Layne snagged the picture. Apparently he is the playador of Nueva Helvecia. Enjoy.
The afternoon got rather more eccentric at Layne’s next planned stop, a sculpture garden in the middle of nowhere. I have to say Velarde Gil’s sculptures put me in mind of various self educated Keys artists who have over the years filled their gardens with products of their imaginations. This place looked closed when we got there. 
But sure enough the artist appeared, charged us five bucks apiece and have us a guided tour. His English failed at critical moments but our Spanish filled the gaps. He showed us with some pride the status of a famous Uruguayan performer Eduardo Franco of a group called Los Iracundos which translates as “the Irascibles.”
They were around from 1960 until about 1994 after he died of cancer at age 45. These encounters are a healthy reminder of how isolated we all are in our cultures. Hollywood has find an amazing job of selling America as in the US, to the world.
Moving on I got on firmer ground in this very odd garden of statues. This guy looks like Lech Walesa of Poland but knew he was José “Pepe” Mujica who died recently. He was a remarkable figure initial politics starting out as a revolutionary guerilla and ending up as the president of his country refusing to adopt the trappings of power. 
Einstein.
Marie Curie.
Hugo Chavez of Venezuela.
General San Martín liberator of Argentina. I’ve spent too long down here as I recognized him easily.
I had to look this guy up Jorge Ballte President of Uruguay from 2000 to 2005. He was an interesting character a libertarian as best as I can figure but a friend of the United States at a time that wasn’t popular but he also expanded Uruguay’s welfare state and rebuilt the economy from a ruinous recession.
Gil described this as the garden of revolutionaries and I guess they come in wildly varied packages. We wandered the garden and checked out his animals also sculpted in cement to survive outdoors. Apparently in winter Uruguay gets cold enough to see frost if not snow. 
Quite the eccentric afternoon in Uruguay the staid.
We had to drive a few dirt roads recordings off the beaten track but weirdly enough even dirt in Uruguay knows how to behave and the dirt roads are quite smooth.
City streets are pretty much crap like most places in South America, full of mud matched cement slabs, potholes and uneven patches.
Back roads vary between terrible and not bad but most are at least paved.
Main highways are well paved and smooth.
And for dinner we had to get on dirt to find our way to Layne’s chosen winery.
Almacen de la Capilla translates as “warehouse of the chapel” amdcthryboffer dinner al fresco and as a free service a place to park for the night and a hot shower. Dinner for two was $130 with several wines and free camping in this country is worth $30 so we settled in.
Not a bad spot to end an action packed day.
Dulce de leche crepe for dessert.
