Vincent, he's 12

Although Vincent turned 12 on March 26th, his party was this past Saturday.
Standard operating procedure: secure futbol field, invite all the boys from his class, make a zillion burgers.
It went well with the exception of one injury.

Balta recovers bravely.

Baltazar took an elbow to the nose. We have word that it was indeed broken. He handled it like a champ and was right back on the field the next day at another party.

Gabriela and Amalia were there to help out.

We cooked burgers on the parrilla and Janine had some great cakes, but the real star was the field. We celebrated at Defensor Sporting our club, where the kids do their sports. The field is large and lit for night playing and as usual they couldn't get enough.

You can hardly talk to Janie when she's working a party.

Can you notice how sweaty some of the kids are?

Fun for all and another one in the books.

Rocha

We lucked into a friend's house in Valizas for the last half of Tourism Week here in Uruguay. 

We'd had a great time in La Paloma, but Valizas is way up into Rocha, the department (or county, sort of) that holds all the really good beaches.

The farthest town in Rocha, before Brazil, is Chuy a border town that's know for duty free shops and deep discounts. A kind of SA Tijuana. I haven't been that far yet.

We have made it to Punta del Diablo which is nearly as far and awesome. This blog's cover shot is from there. We checked out the old fortress  of  'Santa Teresa'. Built by the Portuguese, taken by the Spanish and eventually dealt to whomever the waring powers favored during the land divides of the mid 19th century, it ended being abandoned and covered over by sand. Check the link for more.

This groovy street sign even had a map.

But Valizas has always held a special charm for us. We've been coming here since I was brought to Uruguay in 1995 and for Janine, uh, I probably shouldn't say when she started coming, but it was a long, long time ago.

It's very quaint and decidedly unpolished. Homes range from really decent places that would be nice anywhere, to cute little get-a-ways like the one here. 

There are a few ramshackle dwellings to round things out.





However, one of our first orders of business (after the direct path to the ocean) was a trip to the Dunes. This unmistakable landmark is what's unique about this part of Uruguay.

These huge sand dunes front the ocean and are accessible by foot, but it's no stroll in the park. You'll feel it by the time you reach the top.

While walking up, I was imagining those guys reaching the top of Everest. You can see your companions, but with the wind you can't really hear anything and the blowing sand seemed like snow. 

It was very cool, but all that sand killed the camera so these were the last shots I have from this trip.

 

On the way we spotted this likely sick Sea Turtle. The sea animal rescue squad was on their way, we were told. Something like 35 had come ashore for reasons unknown.

These guys were ready for the trek, but by weeks end they will have walked enough. 

Later in the week  we walked the shore to Cabo Polonio: just 4 hours! Cabo is my favorite beach here, accessible only by four wheel drive trucks, it's a rare place. I wouldn't venture there in January though;  apparently it's special to a lot of jet-setters too.

Climbing.

So off we went to climb the dunes. 

They feel a lot bigger than they look here.

Yes, it was surreal.

Vincent had his pal Manuel and Luca brought Santiago, whom you may recognize from our La Paloma vacations. 

They were wild, but mostly well behaved. Throwing water balloons around town at night and running home for cover when they got caught, things like that. 

Hey, we asked for it.

Up at the top the view was spectacular and the back slope was very steep. The kids tried to sand board, but that was a tall order for these inexperienced sand surfers. Plenty of fun sliding around though.

The back slope was serious.

So they had to jump. They had to.

I wish I could show some of that walk to Cabo Polonio. I've been asked about a million times how many kilometers it was, so I'll have to find that out. It was a lot, just ask my barking dogs.

I am still tired from this trip, but in the best way.

Today is Luca's first day, back for his second year of High School. This 6:00 am is gonna take some getting used to.

Later.

Eighty Nine

     
 We had a little get together for Ama's Birthday and with all the vacationing and coffee business, it was somehow passed by.

 
Here we are at Don Pepperoni's. It's a big Argentinean chain, maybe like our version of TGIF's. 

Paulina stole the show as usual. Xime, Matias (of course) with Jose Luis stopping by near the end. We met quite early really. Joaquin and Magdalena, Tia Flo shown here with Pauli. 
  
This would not be her only party. Amalia's pals took her to lunch another day as well. Can you be 89 and still have pals? I guess you can.

More La Paloma

This Summer was full of fun for everyone.

Black Bikini Club

As you can see, nobody had any fun before I arrived.

I don't know about that highlighting move, it's supposed to be blue type with, eh whatever.

good view from the porch

Claudia has still got it. She's single you know.

I like Cacho because he's worn, like me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

'El Emi' is Emilio

Gabriela can still bring it too.

Gabriela Darre is responsible for most of these photos, not for instance this one of her. She always says her photos are not so good, but as you can see she can use the camera as well as anyone. That's her son El Emi.

Where's the fire?

If you're getting sick of these two and their fabulous tans, your not alone. They did make fire, I mean, a fire. Oops.

The beach was always the place to be.

It seems so long ago already. It's been just a month and the world seems different. Vincent goes back to school next week, Luca shortly thereafter.

Onward and upward. If we take our progress in the slow doses our suffering was ingested, we should be just fine.

Thanks for reading. 

Vacation - La Paloma

We wait all year for these weeks. Thoughts of languid days, rough furniture and very few showers help us to last out the frigid winds of winter in Uruguay. If not for Rocha I don't know that we'd have made it.

                            

We weren't disappointed.                                                        

 Amalia came for a few days.  She had a great time with the exception of that one arrest which was huge misunderstanding, charges she's likely to beat.

Jani, Mora, Clo

Gonzalo

  








Claudia Carambula swung by too. We entertained the idea of going to La Pedreda for a day, but in the end couldn't. We won't likely see Chero and family until they're back in town.



 Two asados the week I was there. I did ok at my turn, for the other a friend took over and showed me a few new tricks. Watch me next time.

Cacho worked the mussels.

Pass the er....

Me make fire.

The kids were drawn to the town fair; crafts, henna tattoos, crazy t-shirts. We had to go a few times and hang out, but it was easy.

It was an easy evening at the fair.

Vincent, Joaquin, Emilio check out the fair.

Afternoon break means WAR!

I introduced fly strips to La Paloma.

 It was nice to be out of doors, all the time. And better usually, the flies were pretty bad. I killed many, but there's still more work to be done.

I got crazy trying to capture the sunset with my digital camera.

Cacho and Janine get the fish night going.

 

A moment of peace.

A week spent very chummy.

We have news of the unrelenting snows in the Northeast. Of course, we miss the snow, but that sounds wrong when you have too much that just won't quit. So for now we are in glorious summer and that ain't bad.

Thanks for reading.