In my overzealousness to introduce everyone to the greatest beach bar in the world, I gave an incorrect website address. The correct one is: http://www.parador.lahuella.com/. Brittany brought it to my attention that I had given a website address for a dog food company. Oh well, sort of goes along with the blog but in no way indicates the rating of the food at LaHuella. It is 5 star all the way!
The other website I meant to give everyone is for the EstanciaVic, a faboulous resort near Jose Ignacio. It is: http://www.estanciavik.com/.
Sorry for the error and enjoy the websites!
Friday, October 29, 2010
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Just Like Candy
OK, I am going to be the first admit that is a wierd title but everything I taste here evokes that statement. And it isn't just the food, it is the culture, everything. It is everything that you love but feel like you shouldn't have. Oh boy, am I in heaven here or what????
Let me first start with the panaderia, or in English, bakery. Think of Arnhold's bakery in Danville to the 10th degree. Everything is to die for. We stopped by the bakery and Mark bought two of everything. We have been feasting on it along with some vino on our deck daily. One reason why we aren't getting around to the museums, etc. like we hoped. The other reason is that we are seriously focused on our home purchase and hope to be in within the next week or so.Just like candy--AGAIN. This has to do with DOGS. They are everywhere. And if you know us at all, you know that we LOVE dogs. So here we are in this country where dogs roam around free and they actually have a life of their own. Do NOT tell Ollie and Hal this as they are still couped up in our small one bedroom apartment. Although, they do have access to the deck which we have rightly named "Olliehood". Oliver controls this corner of the world. His bark actually echoes throught the streets! (It is still quiet here but next week is Spring Break, so watch out Punta, here they come.) We have come across some of the greatest dogs in the world here, second only to our own!
We have continued to meet so many wonderful people, too! Last night we went to our favorite spot for music and food, the El Viejo Almacen. A great jazz band was playing. This is the third time we have gone there and lo and behold, we ran into people we knew. That was great. These folks were from the Ex Pat group that we attended so they are all from the US--transplants like us. They love it here and have been here longer than us so they have valuable info to share. But the thing we liked was that they were at our favorite place. So far, we have an intuituion for great places to hang out. We have also been very lucky with our food choices, but that is not very diffiucult as most places are GREAT!
On our way back, we stopped at a resort called Estancia Vik, thanks for our friend, Phil. He called ahead and we were able to visit. There are no words to exprees the awe at this estancia/resort. For those who cost is of no concern, consider booking it Danno!! No place like it in the US--I personally promise you that. It is nature and comfort at it's very finest. We were treated to a tour of the place--8 out of the 12 rooms and the rest of the place which includes 3000 acres of the most beautiful countryside one has ever seen. They have polo games there, too! The cost of a room, the minimum, by the way is over $1000/night. I truly believe it is worth it. There is, of course, horseback riding, bicycling, etc. My personal favorite were the huge rocks, geoge's in the main pallor. Utterly breathtaking.... I didn't take any pictures there so you will have to check out the website to see what I am talking about but believe me, it was truly a once in a lifetime scernery!
OK, back down to earth. We are busy decorating our own abode. We love it. Things are falling into place as if God has a plan for us. We really believe this is where we were meant to be! The people that we have met that are helping us with our house have been unbelievable. We plan on having a big party as soon as we get in. We will be celebrating our move as well as the good vibes we have felt since moving here. Nothing, absolutely, nothing has dissappointed us thus far other than a couple of mistakes that we have personally made!! Life is good, God is good and we are happy And, last but not least, I promised Charles Olson, a picture of the beach. I threw in a little extra enticement for you and Antoinette to come and visit. (She may not enjoy the pic as much as you.)
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| Get out your magnifying glass! |
Monday, October 18, 2010
The Uruguay Way
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| Hillside dotted with wildflowers leading the way to the beach. |
On my last blog, I said we were going to the museum and arboretum. Sorry to say we haven't been yet. I think we are already getting lazy....sunny Sunday afternoons on the patio have a way of slowing us down. We will get there soon as we are awaiting our first guest on November 1st and we are busy planning the agenda. Most of our days continue to be spent on getting into our home. It is almost finished but still needs alot of work, like cleaning, etc. I am hiring a cleaning lady to do a deep clean. She works for $6.00/hr on the deep clean and then I can hire her for regular work at $4.00-$5.00/hr. I almost feel guilty about it! Will post a pic of the house soon.
One thing I find particularly frightening here is DRIVING!! I have to admit that I just drove by MYSELF for the first time yesterday. I had to go to the Dr, which was interesting since I don't speak Spanish. Mark has done all the driving so far and it is tough to get used to the new way.... First, no one stops at the stop sign, mainly because there are cars parked all over the sides of the streets so they stop halfway into the intersection, look, and then go. I get so nervous that they aren't going to stop at all but then that is silly because they don't want to get hurt either. Then there are all the motorcycles. Most people drive them because gas is expensive here so you see young men and women, children on the back, as well as older folks on motorcycles everywhere. The only problem is they just do whatever they want. They pass on the left or right, you have to be looking for them everywhere. Talk about defensive driving.... And then there are the bicycles. Those are all over also. Also, during the low season in Punta, they turn off the stop lights. An interesting concept. It is great because you don't have to stop every block at a stop light but you have to realize that the car to the left or right of you doesn't have to stop either so you have to be looking out for cars all the time. And lastly, there are round abouts EVERYWHERE and those a sort of confusing, too. One good thing is that it is easy to get around here. We are on a peninsula and close to the tip you can look to the right and look to the left and see the ocean. That is pretty cool. It reminds me of Torrence Chapel Road and Lake Norman.
Banking continues to entertain me. My account here does not give me a credit card or checks so I need cash for all transactions. I am constantly in the bank withdrawing funds. When you come in, you have to take a number and then have a seat and wait, on average, an hour. Your number shows up on a lighted board and instructs you to go to a certain window-sort of like at Marshall's retail store. The other day, I went in and took my number. The sign showed 037 and my ticket was 830. I figured I had to wait until number 83 showed up on the board. So I went home and came back. At that point it was 75, not too far away. At 83 I walked up to the window and the clerk got all flustered and told me no,no.no. I am like???? Someone in broken English told me that my number was eight hundred and thirty and that we were at 783. So another 1/2 hour wait till 830. They need to add another number to the board! Basically, I had to wait for 100 transactions to go by before I got to do mine!!! And, if you are not there when your number is called, you take a new number and start all over again. So, I learned, bring a book and work on my Spanish. Life is slow here and that is the way Uruguay likes it.
Stumbled to a great place to get my haircut by an Aussie/Uruguayan couple. Great because the Aussie speaks English. Cost all of $15.00 for a shampoo, cut and blowdry. I was all set to let my hair get very long but at that price, I decided a stylish cut might look better. Mark has decided to try to let his grow. I am not into the ponytail look so I will probably encourage him to find a barber!
Posting a couple pictures from a walk around town last weekend. It is still pretty quiet here so many of the restaurants are closed but it is slowly showing signs of life, much like Spring!
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| Pretty fencing and potted plants |
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| They love their bulls here! |
Friday, October 8, 2010
Where Western Montana Meets St. Tropez
Ola,
The title accurately describes the country. The countryside is absolutely gorgeous and rural with goucho's riding horses, buggies, cattle, sheep and estancia's everywhere. Uruguayans also grows olives and grapes so occasionally you will see a beautiful hillside with vineyards or olive trees.
Punta del Este, on the other hand, is the St. Tropez of South America. It is flush with casinos, shopping, restaurants, and in high season, a couple hundred thousand sunbathers and vacationers. We have yet to be here for this time of year and I hear we are in for a royal treat. Just don't try to get anywhere in a hurry, though, because the roads are jam packed. I think we will walk everywhere we go. That will be alot easier.
As you can see from the picture, they DO celebrate Halloween, much to my delight. I thought we might have to give up our traditional Halloween party when we moved here but looks like we will be able to resume---once we have enough friends to have a party!
The other picture is the famous Hand in the Sand. There is alot of unique art around the beach but this is by far the most visited and photographed. Punta is very busy right now readying themselves for the onslaught of people. The construction around here is everywhere--fixing the roads, sidewalks, painting the buildings and high rises. It is absolutely the cleanest city I have ever been in. People love to sweep around here! It is also a very safe city. I can take the dogs out for a walk day or night and never worry about someone attacking me. People are so friendly here. They are very helpful and many more speak English than I would have imagined. We have been slowly practicing on our Spanish but hand gestures and talking very slowly seems to be working well at present.
The food is here is good. Pizza is delicious, the piralla--all kinds of barbequed meat, is great, the fresh fish is so healthy and tasty and then there is the Chevito! This is a couple of meals in between a hamburger bun! It actually has a thin steak, ham, fried egg, cheese, tomato, lettuce, mayo, and I almost forgot, bacon, on this sandwich. You really have to know how to order an old fashioned hamburger or you will get the Chevito or some version of it everytime. I think we now have it under control along with a few extra pounds!
Today we went to a carpenter to have him make a sign for our casa. In Uruguay, you name your home. We were trying to find the place and a nice young man walked up and ask if he could help. I don't think he took us to the place we were looking for but that worked out just fine. We are going to make our sign out of old boat wood and the name will be, "Suits Us". It has some significance as we had an old home on a lake years ago that had that over the door. And we feel the same about this home so.... Suits Us is it!
This weekend we are going to the visit the museum and arboretum. Will follow up with that info on next blog! Have a wonderful weekend. Mark and Janet
The title accurately describes the country. The countryside is absolutely gorgeous and rural with goucho's riding horses, buggies, cattle, sheep and estancia's everywhere. Uruguayans also grows olives and grapes so occasionally you will see a beautiful hillside with vineyards or olive trees.
Punta del Este, on the other hand, is the St. Tropez of South America. It is flush with casinos, shopping, restaurants, and in high season, a couple hundred thousand sunbathers and vacationers. We have yet to be here for this time of year and I hear we are in for a royal treat. Just don't try to get anywhere in a hurry, though, because the roads are jam packed. I think we will walk everywhere we go. That will be alot easier.
As you can see from the picture, they DO celebrate Halloween, much to my delight. I thought we might have to give up our traditional Halloween party when we moved here but looks like we will be able to resume---once we have enough friends to have a party!
The other picture is the famous Hand in the Sand. There is alot of unique art around the beach but this is by far the most visited and photographed. Punta is very busy right now readying themselves for the onslaught of people. The construction around here is everywhere--fixing the roads, sidewalks, painting the buildings and high rises. It is absolutely the cleanest city I have ever been in. People love to sweep around here! It is also a very safe city. I can take the dogs out for a walk day or night and never worry about someone attacking me. People are so friendly here. They are very helpful and many more speak English than I would have imagined. We have been slowly practicing on our Spanish but hand gestures and talking very slowly seems to be working well at present.
Today we went to a carpenter to have him make a sign for our casa. In Uruguay, you name your home. We were trying to find the place and a nice young man walked up and ask if he could help. I don't think he took us to the place we were looking for but that worked out just fine. We are going to make our sign out of old boat wood and the name will be, "Suits Us". It has some significance as we had an old home on a lake years ago that had that over the door. And we feel the same about this home so.... Suits Us is it!
This weekend we are going to the visit the museum and arboretum. Will follow up with that info on next blog! Have a wonderful weekend. Mark and Janet
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Great Evening Out
Friday night we went to a local bar to see a friend of ours, Ignacio. His brother, Santiago, owns the bar and restaurant and he told us there would be a good band playing. We arrived early in order to get a seat in this small establishment. Of course, there was no one there at 9:00pm. That is like showing up at 5:00pm for a dinner here in the US. But we did accomplish our goal of getting a seat right in front. It was the only table that was not reserved!
Ignacio is a local realtor. A young man from a very nice family. We met everyone on Friday night. His brother is the owner of the bar, his Dad is the cook and his sister and sister in law are greeters and servers. We ordered the special drink, which we had no idea what it was. Soon after, a fruity strawberry daquiri arrived with cute little straws. Mark felt a little "girly" so he gave it to me and ordered a beer. The beer was about three times the normal size. And I though Japanese beers were big!
Later we ordered a pizza and it was one of the best we've had in awhile. (We never did figure out where to get good pizza in NC!) The band played from 11:00 - 1:00pm. Mark and I were jamming all night. He declared it was the best night he has had here so far and one of the best bands he has ever heard! We are going there again tonite for jazz.
At the end of the evening we went to the front desk to pay our tab and were told that it was taken care of. Our young friend, Ignacio, had paid for us. That was a very nice gesture from a 25 year old young man--very classy. Needless to say we had a wonderful evening.
We are continuing to cautiously proceed on our home purchase. We meet tomorrow with the notary--sort of like a real estate attorney. They handle the entire proceedings. Most of our days are spent looking for lighting, furniture, etc. Since we arrived here with approximately 8 bags to our name, we will need to spend quite a bit of time shopping!!! (NOT THAT I MIND!)
Speaking of shopping--we went for a stroll down Gorlero St today in Punta del Este! OMG, the shopping is unbelievable. Everything from top designers such as Valentino, Loius Vittan and Fendi to Gap and Abercrombie. It would literally take you a week to go to every store. The home store and furniture stores are top of the line--a little out of our price range. We will probably go to Montivideo for most of our needs. Better prices and more selection.
One last tid bit worth sharing......As we've been driving around, we've noticed a few ladies of the night out strutting their stuff. They start coming out around 4:00pm in the afternoon. Mark and I assume that prostitution must be legal. It is a hoot to see them. They are actually in a fairly nice area of town and not bad looking. Just an observation, nothing more!
Today is gorgeous and we are sitting out on our rental deck sunning......Life is GOOD!
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| Great night out! Great bar, great band and great food! |
Ignacio is a local realtor. A young man from a very nice family. We met everyone on Friday night. His brother is the owner of the bar, his Dad is the cook and his sister and sister in law are greeters and servers. We ordered the special drink, which we had no idea what it was. Soon after, a fruity strawberry daquiri arrived with cute little straws. Mark felt a little "girly" so he gave it to me and ordered a beer. The beer was about three times the normal size. And I though Japanese beers were big!
Later we ordered a pizza and it was one of the best we've had in awhile. (We never did figure out where to get good pizza in NC!) The band played from 11:00 - 1:00pm. Mark and I were jamming all night. He declared it was the best night he has had here so far and one of the best bands he has ever heard! We are going there again tonite for jazz.
At the end of the evening we went to the front desk to pay our tab and were told that it was taken care of. Our young friend, Ignacio, had paid for us. That was a very nice gesture from a 25 year old young man--very classy. Needless to say we had a wonderful evening.
We are continuing to cautiously proceed on our home purchase. We meet tomorrow with the notary--sort of like a real estate attorney. They handle the entire proceedings. Most of our days are spent looking for lighting, furniture, etc. Since we arrived here with approximately 8 bags to our name, we will need to spend quite a bit of time shopping!!! (NOT THAT I MIND!)
Speaking of shopping--we went for a stroll down Gorlero St today in Punta del Este! OMG, the shopping is unbelievable. Everything from top designers such as Valentino, Loius Vittan and Fendi to Gap and Abercrombie. It would literally take you a week to go to every store. The home store and furniture stores are top of the line--a little out of our price range. We will probably go to Montivideo for most of our needs. Better prices and more selection.
One last tid bit worth sharing......As we've been driving around, we've noticed a few ladies of the night out strutting their stuff. They start coming out around 4:00pm in the afternoon. Mark and I assume that prostitution must be legal. It is a hoot to see them. They are actually in a fairly nice area of town and not bad looking. Just an observation, nothing more!
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