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Published: October 19th 2008
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Punte Ballena (near Punta Del Este)
What a top spot. The view is absolutely spectacular. With good eyes, you would have a uninterrupted view to Antarctica. A long way, I know, but the water here is almost as cold. The days have been warm enough for a swim, and it’s nice in the heated pool, but I wanted to go in the ocean. Dipped my feet in and nearly had to crack the icicles off. Played in the shallow end for a bit, then slipped and fell in up to my neck. Brrrr! Jumped out gasping for air. Not even Callum would swim in there, that’s how cold it was!
The hotel is, well, how you describe it? Different. No room numbers, just pictures above your room and that’s your room name. In fact, in the town itself there’s no house numbers, it’s all done by saying what your house name is. Very strange, but we love how diverse our cultures are, sometimes even within the same country. The hotel itself is hard to describe, so I hope you can see what it looks like by the photos. Not really our taste, but credit for trying something out of the ordinary.
Met up with our friends (Andrew & Rosanna) finally and went to a great little place for dinner. It had a jumping castle for the kids (they’ve got 3) and Rosanna ordered for us in Spanish. Ah, no hurdles for once. The next day, we got to see the house they bought, as well as organising to go to the meeting on Saturday night with Rosie’s parents, Juan and Teresa. Nice 3 bedroom two storey place, with the garage being converted into a granny flat for Juan and Teresa. They can do all the building they want with no council approval, then get someone to check it afterwards. A couple of guys helping Andrew out rocked up on Saturday, around 7pm! They’re keen here.
The Kingdom Hall is pretty small, especially for 110 publishers. There’s 5 cong’s that meet here too. There’s a few more here too that speak English, and although one brother spoke who none, when we talked to his wife about joining in a football match, his ears pricked up. Done deal. As well as being invited over to another family’s place for dinner on Tuesday.
Sunday
Went to the markets today, heaps of fruit stalls. Had
lunch there, chorizo roll, not bad, no way near as fatty as in Argentina. And less than a dollar. Had a hot dog later on, foot long too, for only 55 cents! Hmm, should I shout Andy a couple??? There’s also a large section for trash and treasure. Man, talk about trash! But that’s what they can afford here. Actually, it’s funny to see some things so cheap, but some things… Looked at some electric tools, cheap no name crap, like a small circular saw, is about $130, for something less than $30 at home. So we’ll have a careful look next Sunday for some souvenirs. You didn’t expect Tiffany’s jewels, I hope.
Went to Fernando and Sylvana’s for dinner on Tuesday with Juan and Teresa. Was good to get to know some locals. They have a little girl, Julianna, that Callum played with. They organised to pick us up on Friday arvo and take us on a tour around here. Sylvana speaks English quite well, so that helps heaps, and both kids will be at school, even better.
We’re at our new residence now, a unit our friends organised for us. Close to the beach, but it’s not quite
find 'el sol'
no room numbers, only room names hot enough to swim there yet. No internet here either, so I’m annoyed that I didn’t update the blog earlier. Oh well, heaps to read this time.
Had a bit of a look around Punte del Este, very quiet. A lot of things are closed. They rake it in during summer when the place is packed. Looked in at Conrad’s for a show, so we might see a tango show next week. Callum stayed with his friends Thusday night so he could go with them to school the next day. Marianne and I were picked up by Fernando and Sylvana and went to play football. Fernando is 49, me 37 and there was only one other guy in his 30’s, but we all kept up with the young blokes. Kick off was at 10pm, on a small futsol field, (5 side field) and played for 2 hours. Very fast paced game, and some really good players there. Still managed to get a few goals and plough through them, rugby style. Fernando was goalie most of the time, and I’d call his name out. After a while the young blokes were paying me out, calling out “Fer-nan-do!” and laughing their heads
off. Well, here they say Ferrrrrnando. Yeah, real funny boys. Was a great game, but no photos, too busy again. So we finished up at midnight, and of course had to go for dinner still. Found an Italian restaurant, and enjoyed the night with Fernando, Sylvana and Julianna, who’s only 7, till 2.
Callum enjoyed his day at school. They start at 8.30 and do normal school work in Spanish in the morning, so Callum did squat. They have English all afternoon, and finish at 5. Awesome, ay? So we managed to see a fair bit while out with Fernando and Sylvana. Firstly had lunch at a small place called Jorge’s. Brilliant food. They come here all the time. When you finish your meal, Jorge asks if you want seconds, always on the house too. Of course! If you come here, go to the corner of Roman Guerra and R. Perez del Puerto, Maldonado. Then we went to La Barra, over a bridge that for some reason is built like it is - see photo. So of course, Fernando can’t resist and flys over it, sending our stomachs to our throats. La Barra is another popular area that has many
holiday homes on the beach that lay dormant for 9 months of the year. Very nice beach too, like Punte del Este’s Bravo beach. Noticeably clean around here too, unlike everywhere we went in Argentina. Stopped on the road side where a couple of people were selling shells and things. Would’ve loved to get a few things, but wouldn’t get them through customs. The rules here are not even close to the strictness we have at home on taking coral or sea creatures. Go for your life here. Even taking tiny sea horses and setting them in plastic for decorations, and baby manta rays in a jar of alcohol. Further on, off the Mansa beach, we spotted a humpback whale playing about 100 metres off the beach. Took some video of it, but no breaching unfortunately. Looked like a young whale too. Was there again on our way back, I wonder how long they stay in one area, hope to show Callum. Then, we went to Punte Ballena, but not the beach. We went to the highest point there, where in 2 sections of the road is a somewhat optical illusion. The road seems to flatten out, even go down
slightly. But when the car is stopped and in neutral, it rolls downwards! Even when the car is rolled into what seems the lowest point, it comes to a stop and rolls back. Fernando can’t believe we went to all the places we have, and had to come here to find something so amazing. He’s a funny guy, only wish we could understand him. Before they dropped us off, they asked us for dinner again after the meeting on Saturday night and to go witnessing with them on Sunday. Can’t wait.
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