Piriapolis and its fishing boats

The fishing boats in Piriapolis are being discovered by tourists as a sightseeing place.

The fishermen are busy as heck this time of the year, with everybody wanting their corvina (hake), lenguado (flounder), brotola (?) for lunch or dinner. Many crews clean their fish just after docking - that's why the water closest to the dock looks like soup!

The smaller boats look tired under the strong light. We have had a very warm Summer.





I like the boats in black and white. The mooring lines, reflections and empty spaces are best appreciated when there is no color.





Some boats have people's names and keep company to each other, as old friends. Others wait for their next job in a tight formation.

Cell phone vignettes from 2011

Like most Montevideanos, I carry a cell phone that has a simple built-in camera. Here are a few pictures of the city, taken during 2011.

Visiting ANTEL's skyscraper they let me into the upper floor. Even in a gray day, the view is nice! Moreover, it is the only way to see the private areas of the harbor, on the Bella Vista side.



The whole city was in the street that happy night when Uruguay won the South America's Football Cup for the fifteenth time.



This truck from the 1930s is always around the Old City, but I don't think it is working. Looks like something out of the Untouchables TV series. I half expect to see Elliot Ness going out of the back doors.



The classic Customs building in the harbor, under the afternoon light. There is a man earnestly holding in place the no-U-turn sign. Montevideanos are so caring of their city.



Thanks for following these snaps. Merry Christmas and Happy 2012 to you all!

Work in progress

Visited again the Carrasco hotel, which is being thoroughly restored by Sofitel. People are working hard on the intrincate detail both inside and outside the building.



The building is surrounded by a tall metal fence, so you can only peek at what is going on inside. People will gladly paint on the fence; we are an artistic city.



The work-in-progress at the Hotel Carrasco reminded me of the unfinished Lourdes church by the great Eladio Dieste, master of ceramic and brick structures. This 1934 church is located in Rivera avenue. It was going to be replaced (or complemented, I'll never know) by a Dieste masterpiece. Work started in 1965 and was interrupted in 1968, never to start again. Look at that unfinished bell tower at the back.

Celeste madness, again.

You may have heard by now that Uruguay won the Copa América 2011, the South American competition of football teams. It was no mean feat to eliminate Argentina in their home turf in quarter finals, especially because the locals played well. Mexico and Peru went before, and our last rival, Paraguay, eliminated Brazil.

The explosion came last Sunday evening, after the final game with Paraguay ended with a 3-0 victory.



The city went stark, sky-blue mad for several hours. From grandparents to grandchildren, everybody went to the streets just to shout and wave the flag. I got the old camera out and went to the Rambla to see what was happening.



Hard to see who was crazier - us on the sidewalks or the car passengers!



People were heading to the Centenario stadium, to wait for the winning team. The team arrived there at 3 AM. Lots of disorders in the old stadium; nothing was prepared for the very long wait, and it seems that vigilance was slack. But then, who would have dared to prepare a celebration when the game was still to be played? It would have been most un-Uruguayan.



Next day, Monday, the city was a long yawn. Everybody had stayed up late, but there were a lot of happy faces. I had never seen before so many sky-blue pullovers, ties, shirts, you name it. A new fashion trend must have started while I was sleeping!

Good bye to candombe weather

The April parade of candombe groups marks the end of the season. Cold weather and rain are just around the corner of the calendar.

The parade is all colors and joy.



Beautiful vedettes show off their graceful dance steps.



Mature dancers have their tricks, too.





See you again in Spring!

Carmelo & Calera de las Huérfanas

Carmelo is a small town around Arroyo de las Vacas. It is the only town founded by Artigas himself. He knew what he was doing - it is a wonderful site.

There is a unique rotary bridge over the creek, does not get much use these days.



Old dredges should be busy around nearby Martin Garcia island, but instead they just sit in the harbor, collecting rust.



The Carmen sanctuary in Carmelo is one of the oldest on our little country.



Near Carmelo (about 6 km) you can see Calera de las Huerfanas. This is a place where the Jesuits had a mission until mid 18th century, including a lye works and mining site and a large cattle site. It became a Estancia after the Jesuits' expulsion. Now, a NGO is reclaiming the historical site - good work that should be supported.



Jose de San Martin's family lived several years right here, although he was born later when they moved to Yapeyu, Corrientes province. Most of his siblings were born in this Estancia. They went on to fight for Spain in several theaters of war while Jose was liberating South America. Crazy times.

Wooden fruit boxes

Montevideo is full of fruit stalls which show off their products in open wooden boxes. The stall operators are not always keen about photography, but the colors and patterns are compelling.



The boxes are always scarce, they come and go from the main market to the stalls. Sometimes they break or get lost in transit. Market operators write their business names on the side, in an attempt to keep accounting and get their boxes back.



When piled to be loaded, sometimes the boxes make regular patterns, but not very much so. Nothing Uruguayan could be too regular.



Best part of this subject are the textures and tones. I like the following one because of the onions spilling out of the box.



Thanks for looking.