High Season is Here

As you know from the last blog, our daughters and their two best friends were here to visit late December and early January during the highest part of the high season.  Of course they had a wonderful time.  We were surprised by how easy it was to get around as we had anticipated traffic similar to Hilton Head or Mrytle Beach at springbreak.  It really seemed like normal city traffic.  The city was built out to accommodate 200,000 for high season but high season is only for 2 months max.  After that, all the vacationers leave and it turns back into a city of 10,000.  Mark and I can't figure out why more people don't come other months of the year but it remains a mystery as no oneseems to have a legitimate answer to that question.  So the big highrises remain empty 10 out of 12 months of the year.   We see some opportunity there for travel agents!

The summer has been really pleasant with dry air and temperatures up to 90, but mainly around 80 - 85F.  Great beach weather.  There are so many different beaches to go to, you never really feel crowded, each vary in type of sand, wind, number of jellyfish, etc.  Haven't been to the beach much since the girls left but do enjoy walking daily on the sidewalk across from the beach.  Some days we have up to 4 cruise ships in the harbor.  If you are thinking of traveling down this way, it would be a great option.   Most ships itenaries include a stop in Punta del Este.  And did I mention, the shopping is great?


Pool almost there!



Finally hit water!

We are currently having work done on the outside of our home.  The pool is almost finished, and the well as been completed.  The work is really rudimentary as I mentioned before.  For instance, the well was drilled manually and it took 10 days to hit water.   They drilled down about 140 feet.  It amazed us to watch the workers go around in circles for 8 hours a day.  It made me dizzy so I am sure they were!  The pool was laid with rebar and then cement blocks were laid around the sides.  Now they are smoothing cement over the blocks.  They have the lights in and I think the drain and pipes so we will be picking out a blue paint color soon.  We will be SO GLAD to get it done and be able to start putting in our irrigation and lawn.  The dogs will be, too!

Check out those feet!



My newest buddy, Sunshine



Speaking of dogs, we have a new addition to the family.  "Sunshine" is a little red female daschund that we stumbled onto when we were taking in Hal for some treatments.  She is adorable with beautiful eyes and shiney red coat.  She might actually be perfect if it weren't for her clodhopper front feet.  I hope this no indication of how big she could get! Of course, we were not looking to get another dog since we already have two but it seemed like she was meant to be.  She is a combination of Blue and Hazel, our two female daschunds that we lost last year due to illnesses.

Last week, we went to pay all of our taxes for the year.  This included are car tax, property tax, school tax, etc.  If you pay before the end of January you get a 20% discount.  So for everything we paid $1500!   Not bad, heh?  We also went into get our new drivers license while we were at the municipal building.   Had a little bit of a surprise there.  My D/L was expired so that now requires me to take the written and drivers test in SPANISH, with no translator.   Hmmm,   I knew I should have been studying my Spanish all along instead of putting it off till the winter.  Now, I have to hire a teacher that is specifically versed in this area and she/he will help me pass.   I hope I can do this on the first try....we will see.   Mark doesn't have to do anything because his US license is still valid.  Lesson learned!  At least we have one valid driver.   He is not too happy about "Driving Miss Daisy"!

The cost of living is reasonably good here.  I am not really sure about the food inflation aspect.  The grocery stores are about the same as in the US.  But many things are much cheaper, particularly things that are grown here like oranges, peaches, and rice.  But it still  seems we spend the most on groceries.  Maybe that is because we don't eat out alot.   Electric has been high here over the summer months, especially when you have alot of company!  The best aspect as far as costs are concerned are taxes and health care.   We pay our h/c once a year and it runs about $3000 for VIP treatment.  Those are the two things in the US that really hurts retirees so we will at least be here till social security and medicare kick in, if there is any when we get that age!

One of the things we have been missing, in addition to friends and family, is ethnic food.   You cannot find a mexican, chinese, japanese, vietnamese restaurant hardly anywhere around here.   There is one chinese restaurant and it is OK but very expensive.  We don't complain about much here but that is one thing we do miss!  We are going to go to Montivideo, about 1 1/2 hours away, and find an ethinic food store and start making hot and sour soup, etc.!   Today, we are cooking a turkey, which is also hard to find, but we asked our local butcher the other day and they had some so we bought it.   Wish we would have had it for Thanksgiving/Christmas but better late than never!  It is smelling good in the kitchen right now.   Can't wait!   Am making dressing, mashed potatoes, and fresh green beans!

We are hoping to get the Super Bowl on TV in February.   Were sorry to see the Bears lose, being from Illinois but go PACKERS!  If the game is not on TV, we will purchase on the internet and hook our computer up to the television.   We have a pretty big Samsung HDTV.   It also has 3D.   Nice picture so we should be able to enjoy the game.  Will miss the parties, though!

Thank goodness for Skype.   We call our family almost daily and it sure helps with the distance.  Our Skype address is:  Mark.and.Janet.Bial2, if you ever want to call AND see our smiling faces...:)

These grow wild.  Found in the vacant lot next door.

Mas Jamon y Queso



Arriving at airport after long flight!



Arriving at MVD

Yes, that is what it says "More ham and cheese"!  This became our mantra while our daughters and their two best friends were visiting over high season.  At last count, in a two week period, we had eaten ham and cheese as a meal at least 10 times.  We had it on pizza, as an appetizer, in a sandwich, in an omelet, in a chivito, etc.   We didn't intend to eat that much jamon y queso but many times it was the only choice.  For instance, one evening we had it as an appetizer before we went to a concert.  At the concert we thought we would be able to order off the menu but no, lo and behold, the only thing available was a jamon y queso appetizer!  Then it became a running joke.   I don't think they will ever eat it again!  They did, however, have some excellent meals in between the jamon y queso.  We took them to La Huella, Nam, and the best prilla restaurant in BA, La Cabrera.  We also took them to the Mercado de Puera in MVD on the way back.  In addition to those fine establishments, we cooked homemade pasta, prilla, green noodles and chicken (my specialty), and mexican food.  Of course, each meal was accompanied by plenty of Uruguayan wine to wash it down, with an occassional martini or caphrina thrown in.    But enough about food and drink.  Here are some of the highlights of their visit!

Coming back from our impressive new airport in MVD, we drove to the top of the hill in Piriapolis where a statue of St. Anthony resides.   It is said that if you go there and pray to him that you can find the man of your dreams so we told each girl to put a prayer together and we gave them a flower to leave at the foot of the statue.  We will see if this old folklore really works!!

Then on to our house which is a mess right now.  We are in the middle of trying to put in a pool and yard so things were not looking as good as I had hoped, but it didn't seem to bother the girls.  They were more interested in the beach, which we hit immediately.  After a day of relaxing, we had some friends over for a prilla at our house.   Mark cooked steaks and cherizo with homemade french fries.  Mmm good!

Wednesday we headed over to Colonia de Sacramento.   A three hour drive with 6 of us in a small VW Boro.  Very uncomfortable but well worth it.   Colonia is a beautiful city full of old cobblestone streets and buildings.  We then hopped on the Buquebus to BA and spent the day sightseeing and shopping.  It was a whirldwind tour but it gave them a taste of the city and I am sure they will want to go back someday.

Most the of the rest of the time was spent shopping in Maldonado where ate foot long hotdogs from the street vendor  and Punta shopping on Fashion Road where we salivated over the clothes! We attended a couple of music concerts to give them a taste of Uruguayan music.  Our favorite band was playing both times so it was a pleasure for us as well. We took them to the Conrad to gamble a few dollars in the slots and to see a fashion show (which never did happen!).  We went down to the beach on New Year's Eve to watch amazing fireworks that lasted for about an hour.  We also went to LaBarra, Jose Ignacio and Bikini Beach.  This area is north of Punta and is where the young kids hang out at night.  Britt and Crystal got to go to some high season private parties, which I understand were, AWESOME!  Megan and Bay were leaving the next day so they opted to stay home and party with the locals they had met, Santiago and Ignacio.  Great guys who really enjoyed meeting the girls.  Don't worry guys, the girls loved it and will be back soon!

The high season has turned out to be much more tame than Mark and I expected.  It is much less traffic than if you go to Hilton Head or Mrytle Beach in the spring/early summer.   Yes, the beaches are packed but there is 40 miles of beaches to spread out on from Piriapolis to Jose Ignacio so it doesn't seem that bad.  The good thing is there is alot more activity and things to do.  Punta really bustles with life for two months and then it is back to normal.  The locals don't like high season much because the grocery stores are crowded, etc. but Mark and I thought it was rather normal.  The other good thing is that you can rent your home out for two months and average about $5000/month for Jan/Feb for a house of our size.   That would pay for a couple of plane tickets back to the US--unfortunately it would be winter there!

We are still struggling with the language barrier.  Although, we do continue to meet residents who speak English, it is not fun when you are trying to deal with a contractor, etc. that only speaks Spanish.   Britt was pretty good with her Spanish so she helped us quite a bit during her stay.   This is a priority item on our winter agenda!   We will be dusting off the Rosetta Stone and getting busy in front of the fireplace.  But for now, we are enjoying the summer weather and the beach and beautiful sunsets.

Sightseeing in Coloni

Footlong hotdog in downtown Maldonado



Mercado de Puerto in Montivideo




Colonia del Sacramento

 Hope you are all enjoying your snowy weather--we did miss that at the holidays!

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