Grouchy Gabe visits the ROU

 Janine and Cecilia's brother Gabriel was here for a visit at the end of February.  He spent an easy two weeks living among us with no set schedule.  It's a rare pleasure to have a visitor that's not rushed either by the pressures of getting in all the 'required' visits or their own hectic itinerary.

Grouchy who? It was a pleasure.
                                                                                                                                   

We had a chance, during Gabriel's visit to spend the weekend in Punta del Este and we jumped at it.




The stay was short, but the weather was great.

Gabriel, Janine & Cecilia

These are some siblings that had some catching up to do.
And boy did they.



After so much distance, it ended up easy breazy.
You never know.

One night we had to remind this long estranged 'Porteno/Yanqui' just how good our Chivitos are.

This night we had a nice table outside at Tinkal. It's right on the Rambla and the night-time ambiance was spectacular.

And the Chivitos? Fantastico, por supuesto.

We had some problems with the plan to upgrade from PS2 to PS3.

Rebecca had been so kind and dilligent to find the new equipment and games while Gabriel hauled it down here.

The kids are thrilled and are trying hard to sell the old system,  which languishes on a sort of 'ebay', Mercado Libre, waiting for a new home.

Mission Accomplished?

New York state of mind

A bit more of my trip to the States:

W.10th Street

Although it was surreal to be plucked from the daily routine of life in Montevideo, I couldn't help but be awestruck by how beautiful NYC can be. 
It's not hard to see how America developed it's sense of superiority, magnificent accomplishments abound. You can almost overlook the wretched excess and oppression that created it. 

Farmers Market

Bonneville beauty

 

The Boivin's

I had a few chances to connect with friends and family during my stay. The trip to the Hamptons was great, but in some cases a visit was bestowed upon me.
My brother-in-law Gabriel and his wife Rebecca came down from Westchester to visit. This was kind enough, but they also brought a huge cache of gifts for Luca and Vincent.  We had a great night of catching up with a side of reminiscence about the neighborhood. They had both lived in Greenwich Village many, many, many years ago (kidding) and met while working together at the West Village landmark; Chumley's, just two blocks from Holly's place. I was treated to a nice dinner, gellato and sincere well wishes on my travels and group back home.



 

Grant Neale

My long time friend, Grant also took me out on the town. He's a fellow carpenter and talented actor somehow still managing to do both, successfully! He's been a friend to Holly for years and also stopped by to check on her recovery. I'll probably see him on TV before I see him in Uruguay. Well......?

Yes, he looks a little like Roman Polanski. He's performing a one man show about the very same. Topical, nutty.



Our dear friend Samantha was on the must-see list. I had a couple of nice visits to our old neighborhood in Park Slope to see her and her son Aidan.  Not enough time, I need more time for crying out loud! Well, they are likely candidates to visit us (again) and as always, we all hope for another visit to the US soon.

Aidan

 

The days passed quickly and as always, there's not enough time to do all you'd like. Still, it was amazing and refreshing. I stocked up on design ideas and the sheer magnitude of incredible business ventures gave me an inspirational boost to take home.

The 'Friends' building was in our neighborhood.

Subway tile art, wow!

 

Bagels with the works at Murray's

Thanks for reading.
Peace