When visiting the Gaucho Festival in Tacuarembo we stayed in Valle Eden, which is just west of the city itself. It was a pretty area. We rented a room, which seemed like the migrant sheep shearer’s quarters and was insanely over priced. Friends that went up with rented camping spots. They were dirt cheap and their tents were probably larger. We ended up leaving a day early because of it. We might go up again this year, but we’d definitely camp.

More photos from Valle Eden and the Gaucho Festival in my Gaucho Festival in Tacuarembo Flickr Set.

Yearly, Gauchos (Uruguayan Cowboys) and not gather in Tacuarembo, Uruguay (northern Uruguay) for a huge Gaucho Festival. An entire “camp” is set up around a medium sized lake just outside the city. The camps (in the grounds) are traditional gaucho camps and homes, displaying and demonstrating traditional living. Among other events, there are a parade and a rodeo.

More photos available in my Gaucho Festival in Tacuarembo Flickr Photo Set.

In the center of Independence Plaza is a very large monument to General Artigas (seen below). Below that monument is a crypt which houses the urn containing his ashes (seen above). The urn is guarded by a special honor guard who you can see stationed to either side in the picture above.

Continuing the journey… I was near Manassas for work took a visit to the battlefield on the weekend. The short tour was fairly interesting. There was much more to the site than what we visited, but it was a scorching hot day, so we kept close to the visitor’s center.

More photos in my Manassas Battlefield Flickr Set.