The Party!!!

It all started as a result of our being pretty disappointed that we hadn't been able to watch the fishing boats coming in each day. Our landlady Diana said that the fishermen told her the waters were too warm for fishing and once they cooled a bit, they would be back out with their nets. Last Wednesday, we were thrilled to see two fishing boats out beyond the point...then again on Thursday. On Friday, as we watched from our balcony, one of the little boats suddenly aimed for shore and Bob ran down the path to the beach to take pics of the landing. A second boat followed about 15 minutes later. The fishermen seem to give full throttle as they are getting closer to the beach and they do actually beach the boat while one of the crew jumps off and is met by a fellow who hooks a rope to the bow. They haul the boat up above the tide line with a winch and there they rest for the night....10 fishing boats in a row. An hour after he left, Bob arrived home with a very large fish he'd purchased; gutted but with the head and tail intact. I asked how he planned to cook it and he replied "I haven't a clue!". He was so excited and headed off to get some advice from Diana. She told us that their friends, Gabby and Christian, renting the cabana next to ours, were chefs (he's managing Chef for 5 restaurants in Buenos Aires) and in honor of Bob's birthday, they would prepare a feast for us on Saturday night.

Early the next morning, Josef (our landlord) came to the door and handed Bob the cell phone. It was Margarita, calling to let us know that they were on their way to see us and had rented the third cabana. They arrived in the early afternoon, got settled in their little house then we headed downtown to have a bit of lunch at a restaurant overlooking the ocean.

Following lunch, we took them on a long walk to beautiful Playa Grande. That's Margarita below, going in for a dip and Bob and Michael solving world issues, as they always seem to do on these walks.

As we walked back to Diablo on a path through the sand dunes, an amazing image appeared coming toward us. I thought that the last dude might be someone named Banderas but since I saw him on the pre-Oscar show, I figure it couldn't have been him.

Back home, we changed for dinner and by 8 pm we gathered in the yard behind Christian and Gabby's house where both their bbq and Margarita and Michaels were lit and the wood burning down to the coals required to cook the meal. Diana and Josef and Gabby and Christian had purchased 4 more fish. A couple were stuffed (potatoes, tomatoes, onion and herbs) and another was seasoned with fresh basil while the other two were cooked without any thing at all.

They had invited two other couples and so we were 12 in all. What a fantastic time!

Below: Josef, Christian and Bob, lighting the bbq's (and getting a little "lit" themselves!); Christian, grilling fresh dough for appetizers (yum yum!);Gabby, making salad

Below; Margarita and me making another salad;Two of our fish grilling; The cooked stuffed fish

Below: Christian serving the first fish;You can tell we didn't like it!;The Chef and his assistants

Below: Attendees at Bob's Big Bash; Bob with his girls...Diana and Gabby; Diana had fashioned garden lights out of water bottles, sand and candles

After dinner (around 11:00 p.m....several hours past my normal bedtime), Margarita and I noticed the sounds of drumming coming from the front of the house. We went out to investigate and everyone else followed. After watching the wandering minstrels for a bit, we strolled down the main street to the bars and restaurants near the beach. Josef went into a bar where there were only two men sitting at a table. He knew them, said something to them then called out to Bob to come in. It was a small open-air restaurant bar and one of the men was an entertainer. He stepped up to the microphone and began to sing "Happy Birthday" (in Spanish) to Bob. Josef raced off to collect our group and we all stood in the restaurant while this lovely man continued to perform for us. Josef began to dance and asked Bob to join him. Two other men also got up to dance. We were all moving to the music and laughing at the spectacle before us. One elderly man struggled up with his cane and danced as well. Margarita told me that Uruguayans are too shy to dance but something happened that night! We turned to look over the balcony and saw that a fair sized crowd had gathered and photo's were being taken of this crazy group. Bob was such a hit that night and he really enjoyed himself.....the guy that states very strongly that he never wants a birthday party. He had the time of his life. After the excitement was over, Diana looked to the back of the crowd on the street, pointed and yelled "Sharon! Look at BAD BOB!!!" There he was, at the back of the crowd, engaged in conversation with three lovely young German tourists. He maintains that they asked him for help but even Michael couldn't get the truth out of him. I took a photo....just in case......

Below: Apologies for the poor quality of the video due to the lack of light in the bar. Just had to share some of the fun.

The next day I cooked brunch for Margarita and Michael, we went for another long walk on the beach on the other side of town. We had a late lunch at The Happy Shrimp (delicious!!!) where everything is made from scratch, then they returned home. When Bob and I got back to the house, Christian, Gaston and Josef had gone seeking mussels and returned with their prize.

We love this place and are having the time of our lives! Salut Uruguay and Uruguayans....and Argentinians...and Canadians!!!

Punta del Diablo continued....

It is impossible to describe the feeling that Bob and I had last Saturday morning when we turned on the tv (something we never do!) to see the catastrophe in Chile. We recognized some of the damaged buildings in Santiago and Valparaiso where we had been only a few weeks before. Two of our guides in Chile had mentioned earthquakes and that there hadn't been one for a few years. The mines in the Atacama desert (where we had spent time in San Pedro) were temporarily closed due to the magnitude of the thing at 8.8. We were pretty much glued to the coverage and all thoughts of the Olympics were put aside and pre-empted here in South America.

When we recovered from the shock of the news, we were thrilled to hear that the Olympics were such a success and so were our athletes. Lovely that it all went well. Thanks to all of you who kept us in the loop about the events.

Feliz cumpleanos #sesenta tres Roberto...on March 3rd!! That means "Happy birthday #63 to Bob" and we had a beautiful day! We walked over 20 kms return trip along the beautiful beaches of this country, north to the national park of Santa Teresa. We had a picnic in a eucalyptus grove above the beach then spent time sitting on the beach listening to and watching the waves.

The young man below must be a 'Survivor Man' (Les Stroud) fan! He built a shelter for his friends. Note that the young man inside the shelter prefers to indulge himself in Uruguayan's favourite activity....mate sipping!!

Late in the day we came to our favourite WiFi cafe where I ordered sangria ($2 for 1/2 litre, $4 for a litre...guess which I ordered???) to celebrate the occasion while Bob opened his birthday greetings. He was so thrilled with the videos (you clever people) and all the messages. A great day for sure!!

Below: Emailing in the park. We can see the ocean from here and there are cute shops and a restaurant. Wooden wind chimes make it even more beautiful...not to mention the sangria! The owners of the shops presented Bob with a birthday card. He was really, really shocked and happy.

Feliz cumpleanos Peter, on March 4th.....#cuarenta (#40!!) Wow...it just doesn't seem possible! Still looking like a kid so the life must be more than agreeing with you!

Below: Fish drying on the line; Main street from our bedroom balcony...yep...those are dirt streets!; The view of a magnificent moon from our bedroom balcony

Diablo is a really cute town and every kind of lodging is to be found. Some of the rentals are quaint and some of them are....well....more quaint. Here are a few for you to choose from for your next vacation.

We are loving Punta del Diablo! What a great town for people-watching, walking and generally doing nothing but relaxing, reading and exploring.

This morning I opened all the sliding doors and saw the sky filled with huge huey dragonflies and butterflies! What a sight it was in the sunshine.

We found the following snippets of information about Uruguay interesting.

-Every school child in the country has a laptop. I had heard this on CBC radio prior to our trip and was amazed to hear that this is the only country in the world where every child has a laptop.

-Anyone in the country can take courses free of charge...even visitors! All you have to do is give a copy of your passport and you can take anything from languages to sculpting. The government offers this to all people no matter where they reside. The tiniest villages have courses available.

-All major highways have tolls.

Blessings to everyone!

Punta del Diablo

Our trip to Diablo took about 2 1/2 hours. It was mixed weather and a good day to be travelling.

Margarita and Michael told us that Diablo was a hippy town and they weren't kidding. We pulled up to our beautiful little house and I discovered something about myself. I'm an old hippy who never took the opportunity to explore that part of me! This place is amazing and we feel right at home here even though we are definitely in the minority. There are a few "grey hairs" in this town and they don't all sport braids and beards, however the majority of people to throng here are under 40.

Our landlady Diana, is a beautiful young Uruguayan who lived in New Jersey for 3 years during the truly dreadful days following 9/11. She said that she never felt comfortable in the U.S. and was happy to return to her home with her Italian husband Giovani. They built three adorable houses here and they live in a wooden cabin behind the houses. Ours is decorated like Darla and Peter's first home together; lots of sun and moon images, bright colours, tile floors (wood in the bedroom), funky furniture, curtains and bedspread. We have a balcony off our bedroom and the view of the ocean is wonderful. This is such a busy town and, just like our house in Toronto, beside a park, there is always serious people-watching to be done.

The mural you see below was done for Diana by an artist friend who we happened to see painting (it's all done with spray can paint) at Carnaval in Periapolis.

There are endless km's of beach to walk, surfers to watch, forest to explore and bumming to do! This is a perfect place for all of it.

Below: See the three colourful houses above the fishing boats? The yellow to the left of the blue one is ours. The location is excellent.

I will save our trip to Chuy for another day. Monday was rainy and we thought it would be a perfect day to drive the 40 km to this border town. The middle of the main street divides Uruguay from Brazil. What a bizarre place! We will revisit and take pics to share with you.

In the meantime, be good to yourselves and know that we think of you and love you all!!

Ciao!!