My Trip to Uruguay
in December 2012 & January 2013
by Mikey Nielsen!
We had to go on a lot of planes to get to Uruguay. I felt like I was flying most of the time. When we finally landed, I was disappointed and happy at the same time. Disappointed because we were off the plane, and happy because we were finally in Uruguay!
We got to meet all of my step-dad Andy's family while we were there, although not all at the same time. But our friend Stacy created a photo that made it look as though we did! The photo below is from our Christmas Eve party... and a couple of other times!
We visited a lot of places while we were there. But my favorite place was the beach! We stayed for a week at a hotel in a town called Salinas. It was right by the beach so that we could just walk there! I built a sandcastle there. Well, my sister Sam and I built a sandcastle there. We built a moat all around it. And then we put turrets on the castle; actually, they were sticks, but we pretended they were turrets. Then we put a pinecone on the top; yeah, that’s right, I said a pinecone. And when we did that, Sam and I said, “We hereby declare this kingdom as SM Castle!” And the next day it hadn’t even washed away, or the day after that either. It was awesome! Here is a picture of me on another day when I buried my legs in the sand.
After our stay in Salinas, we went back to the Nonnos’ apartment in Montevideo. It was pretty hot there! I prefer the hotel in Salinas because it had air-conditioning; and the apartment did not. There were a lot more mosquitos in that apartment than in the hotel too. In fact, I bet you would have a hard time counting all of them. The city actually had a huge attack by mosquitos while we were there; a lot more than usual.
We also went to Colonia one day. We went to the lighthouse and climbed all the way to the top. We even went outside and looked around. We saw some pigeons from above. They looked so small; they seemed as small as the dot at the end of this sentence. In fact, here’s a picture.
And then here's a picture of when my mom zoomed in on them.
And then we got some ice cream. It was so good! Actually, we had a lot of ice cream while we were there. The food was really different there. But they did have cheese pizza at a lot of places, even though it was kind of different too. And they also had McDonald’s, although their food was also different. For instance, they didn’t put mustard or pickles on their hamburgers!
We saw the statue of Artigas a few times. Above is a picture of me and Sam by it. Artigas was like the George Washington of Uruguay. He was the commanding general of the troops in their fight against Spain and Portugal for independence. He was never elected President, because they didn’t have such a position then. But he was declared “the Boss of the People.” We even got to see his grave. Here is a picture of the mausoleum. It is guarded 24 hours a day by soldiers. Below is a picture of it.
And then we saw the fingers that looked like they were just coming right out of the ground. They looked like they were just going to snatch you up and pull you down. Pix please!
We also celebrated Christmas! It was an awesome party! I got some Nintendo games. Anyways, it’s not the getting or the giving, but the loving! We watched awesome fireworks that were totally spectacular. I could watch them forever since they went on that long. Actually, they didn’t go on that long, but it sure felt like it. Here is a picture of me and Andy watching them. It was so HOT that I even took my shirt off, but almost everybody does there, the guys, at least.
And, even better, we got to open our presents at night, instead of in the morning. Which was so awesome!
And then New Year’s. More fireworks. Awesome!
(And just a reminder for everyone, make sure you read the part with the caution sign on it. Seriously… please… do!)
After a few days, we had to leave. But the adventure keeps on getting better and better. In fact, the 10 hour plane ride was so much better than the last one that spectacular is too sissy to describe it. No, it was super-duper-spectacularly awesome. And when we finally got home, the thing I said was, “Home again, home again, jiggety-jig!” I couldn’t wait to go back to school! And that’s it. Oh, except for...
PENGUINS IN URUGUAY!!!
Penguins sometimes visit Uruguay. That is so awesome!!! Unfortunately, they only do so in winter when it is coldest there. And we visited in summer when it was very hot!
WARNING:
BRING BUG SPRAY TO URUGUAY!
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