Feb. 21 – Uruguay
Tuesday, March 7th, 2006Day 204 – It was a long night, but we were all up early, because today we went to the beaches of eastern Uruguay. We stopped first in Punta del Este, a major beach town, and had lunch. The most impressive thing to me was the hand sculpture at the beach, just off the center of town. I was told it was sculpted in memory of people who have drowned. With that knowledge it was very moving to me. The sculpture really seemed to catch that last particular action perfectly, a hand raised out of the water, and hold on to it for the viewer to take in. Depressing to say the least, but beautiful. A well done piece of art.
As we headed further east, down the coast Henry, our van, started make a louder sound than was necessary. It was coming from the back-end of the vehicle, by the wheels. So we spent some time driving around two different towns trying to find a mechanic/gas station that does lubrications for cars. We wanted to have them check the level of our transmission fluid. Turns out the fluid was full and nothing looked wrong. So after jiggling a few things around, Jason and the mechanic went for a ride to see if they could hear the sound. Henry decided to be quiet; he is shy I guess! We were fine for the rest of the drive, for now….
We made our way slowly to Barra Valisas, stopping at a roadside cafe to enjoy some coffee and to let the kids stretch their legs. It was the perfect travelling pace to enjoy the road. Barra Valisas is a beach town, and I think the best way to describe it is as a gypsy town. It is a very bohemian village with a transient personality. A network of roads made of out of sand and straw help the driveways be less of a trap for cars. Stores selling handmade jewelry, restaurants, homemade ice cream, and recently caught seafood lined the main street. The people who lived there were laid back, transient, hippie types; along with vacationers wanting a quieter, less crowded beach. We stayed at Orlando’s friend’s vacation house in the company of his mother, Blanquita. Blanquita is a marvelous lady, with unquenchable energy. She is a very generous host, full of smiles. The house was a nice clean stucco home with a loft upstairs for sleeping. It stayed very cool during the hot heat of mid day, and is the perfect size for a vacation home. The water level in the well was very low, due to low rain in the area for the past few months. But when the water did come, it came out as a nice, chilling shower that cooled us off; though not everyone enjoyed the temperature as much as I did 😉
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