by “In Punta del Este a sign opens and a party falls on you. Everything is DJ’s, praiseparties and many dollars to belong. Did you try walking the street after twelve? Look, there is a lot of spontaneity among people, not everyone wants to nor can he pay a fortune to eat and dance.” Alvaro, a Uruguayan receptionist from the city of Salto, who works at the central Alhambra Hotel, left the suggestion ticking when it was still December 31.
For days now, people on the peninsula have been talking about what the last night of 2023 would be like and how the first hours of the brand new year. Almost like an obsession, a karma. First I was worried about the weather, whether it would be good; secondly, if the last big tourist malón would arrive on December 28, 29 and 30 to make the sands of the top resort in the southern cone vibrate.
The weather responded without rain and with a comfortable temperature of 18 degrees when the clock struck midnightAnd in the last 72 hours, the city went from being loose, with room to move, to being constricted, suddenly dwarfed: Since Friday, you can’t even walk. By land, sea and especially by air, thousands of Argentines disembarked.
Clarion The night began early and at the Enjoy – which together with the Solanas, the Vik Retreats, the Fasano and The Grand Hotel make up the select group of five-star hotels – the four gastronomic venues were packed: at Ovo Beach by Osaka and In Saint Tropez, the cover cost 550 dollars, in Brisas 400 and in Provence 280. The four “sold out” with almost 600 people, plus another thousand “player” diners that they met at the Punta del Este Room and that they were invited by the Casino.
Dinners in restaurants in La Barra, Manantiales, La Mansa and José Ignacio offered a variety of proposals that ranged from elaborate menus to typical, less desirable dishes, with a widens the gap that ranged from 100 to 500 dollars per capita. “Here in Punta you quote and pay directly, you don’t speculate with people’s pockets, nor do people ask too much,” describes the philosophy of the vacationer, Rafael, a barbecue griller who doesn’t like to sell chivitos.
This chronicler dined in the aforementioned Provence, an exquisite step-by-step menu that included a crispy sphere of mushrooms with jam, octopus with olive herbs with truffle potatoes and a grilled beef tenderloin. (Now we understand how the Palermo letters are made). The dessert was a soft sphere of milk chocolate and raspberry, mango heart and crunchy coating. Satisfied belly and Around midnight, the Enjoy Casino was the first station on the journey on foot.
“I have been working as a croupier in this place and I can’t believe how many people are playing roulette, blackjack and slot machines right now. Don’t want to watch the fireworks, walk outdoors? They are in another dimension,” diagnoses Rufina, who has accumulated a lot of experience as a salon authority and does not remember such a crowded environment just minutes before the turn of the year. It is true, in here it is a microclimate: many people alone hypnotized in front of the coin machines . , but also couples who decide to celebrate by betting.
For Roxana and Roberto from Córdoba, there is no better plan than toasting in front of the screens. “We had dinner here, we listened to music and for an hour we have been looking for ways to have a little luck,” she says, relaxed and happy. “We don’t know this casino and we love it… And apparently we’re not the only ones who are enjoying it.” After two laps around the large room 77 people were counted who, when midnight struckThey were in different games.
Upon leaving the casino, the fireworks gala in front of the flagship hotel in Punta del Este began its show, which from what they say, “is surpassed every year.” The wide range of lights and pops are on par with what is seen in the world’s big cities.. The walk begins Clarion and before each block the sky lights up in a different color. Thousands take to the streets and the fireworks event lasts for more than half an hour.
The Claudio Williman rambla, which faces La Mansa, becomes the busiest artery, thus Walking is the best option to soak up the spirit of the streets of this area of Punta del Este.. There are parties in restaurants, inns and spas, but what attracts the most are the “ranchadas” in the middle of the avenue, with toasts and bottles of champagne on the roofs of the cars.
The cool, spectacular and windless night invites you to be outdoors. About one in the morning, cars parked on top of a curb and with their doors open are spontaneous meeting points. As happens with the multitudinous Bellomo family, who are about fourteen and overflowing with joy. “We are here enjoying this moment and dreaming that Argentina improves with Milei. Let’s go Clarín,” they shout in tune and with their bottles held high.
As you walk west, always parallel to La Mansa, restaurants, bars and hotels offer some kind of street spectacle. There is no shortage of tables and lounge chairs to turn the sidewalks into stalls and contemplate the landscape in motion.. The ice cream loaded with beer, champagne and cider abound and are the protagonists. he Argentinian It is the predominant language that is caught on the fly, but Portuguese and French are also abundant. On the wide threshold of the Millennium Tower a celebration is held with Jewish music: “Hava Nagila” plays, you are invited to take a few steps, but you run away…
At Stop 8, the I”Marangatú restaurant “takes this chronicler by the lapels.” There are no controls at the entrance, there is a party with more than three hundred people who dance the Rio carnival and one of its owners, Analía Suárez, says that During dinner in the living room “not a pin would fit. “450 dollars per place setting”, shoot as if nothing happened. “40 percent of Argentines, 30 of Brazilians and 30 of Uruguayans and Europeans.”
Due to its infrastructure, its own beach and its eclectic menu, I’Marangatú is one of the top places in Punta del Este. Also for its drinks bar run by Argentine bartender Facundo Ogueta, considered one of the best in these lands. “We have a group of ten Argentines who work at the same time, preparing drinks and without stopping for a momentbut I think that, beyond the stress, there is the satisfaction of the task accomplished,” shares the specialist, who says that the drinks that came out the most were Aperol Spritz, Fernet and Negroni.
Two thirty in the morning on Monday the 1st and Punta del Este continues to be a hive with a majority of Argentines. On the walk, now heading towards the port, we review what was discussed on Sunday afternoon with Alejandro Rivero, the leading voice of the Laguna del Sauce airport. “They arrived between Monday and Saturday about 300 air taxis and we had 21 Aerolíneas Argentinas frequencies“. While through Colonia Express, its spokesperson Sebastián Plana had said, “35 thousand more Argentines traveled between round trips.”
The walk along the Willimen promenade, on the beach side, is slow, there are more and more people. “Punta del Este is almost like last year, it overflows… I would tell you that There is a lack of those middle class Argentines who, due to the exchange rate, could not accompany us this time“, Jorge Piriz, director of Environmental Management, had contributed to this medium, saying that “an intense week ended in which we had to inspect a lot to enable permits for parties. “There were about 65 requests for permits for December and January, and 14 for this week alone.”
Each block is a rhythm, a musical style that filters and remains a handful of steps until another breaks out. From electronica, to cumbia, through María Becerra, Duki, Vicentico and Los Auténticos Decadentes, everything, without anesthesia. You pass through the Mailhos Pier and access Rambla Artigas, which leads to the Port, another nerve center for street festivities.
“The city of noise and pleasure. Of luxury, lights and good taste. Nothing to envy of Las Vegas. Much less of Ibiza or Saint Tropez. They say that Punta del Este is the electronic parties, the DJ’s, leave me with the street and the starry sky,” raises his voice the veteran Alberto, an Argentine who is sitting surrounded by a pogo, in front of the Guapa and El Secreto bars, organizers of a scene suitable for young people, children and veterans.
There are no shocks or situations that warrant any danger. There are no excesses, respect prevails. Tranquility and conduct allow the versatility of the audience and the night lasts until the candles stop burning. “The municipal ordinance says that the events can last until six, but being a special date it may be extended. Of course, it states that the municipality of Maldonado will hold a cleaning operation with 150 people so that from mid-morning on Monday the city looks impeccable“, Piriz had said to Clarion.
After three in the morning the legs weaken and, apparently, there are no signs of draining the area, quite the opposite. Paradoxes of destiny and as if it were an open-air karaoke on the Atlantic coast, In the most upscale resort you can hear hits by Damas Gratis and Mona Jiménez that make the crowd explode with joy. “They’ve drunk all the wine, oh, oh,” celebrates the jet set loudly and dancing with the glasses that never empty.
Punta del Este. Special delivery
