A last charter to Bella Vista

The Bella Vista Dock is close to the Carnelli railway station, the former Shell Oil tank farm (now UTE)  and a power generation station. I can imagine barges, maybe yachts, coming and going.  Ruined by pollution, next to the heavy traffic of city accesses, it is still a spectacular place to seize the Montevideo bay and wait for the sunset.

 Last Sunday, I noticed a new feature near the dock, a relatively large ship. This is big news for the place. I had never seen a ship there in several years. 

The ship looked as if she was in her last charter, just out of a Conrad sea story, grounded and waiting for the cutting torches. After sailing the high seas for a vessel's lifetime, there are worse places than Bella Vista for the end. 

The Red Champion

Hard to go through Colonia without bumping on some classic car. Some of them are used as sad orchards.



My favorite is a 1949 Studebaker Champion, always parked in a strategic place.




It is blazing red.




It has a back side designed to impress drivers of passed cars. The back window is divided, I would not know why.



The car has some beautiful details.



Kudos to the car owner for keeping this dream car in such a good shape, and thanks for sharing it with the world.

Colonia del Sacramento

The old city of Colonia del Sacramento is located 180 km west of Montevideo. It was founded in 1680 by Portuguese military to mark the western limit of their claims, after the 1494 Tordesillas treaty. I visited it a few weeks ago, during a sunny weekend.

The treaty determined limits by distance from the Cape Verde islands. As  in those days longitude could not be fixed with precision, many battles took place between Spain and Portugal for the posession of Colonia. The British also battled briefly here during their River Plate invasion in the early 19th century.

Colonia is now a UNESCO World Heritage site. You'll have to look hard to find this plate, but there it is.



The gate to the old city is always open.



Once inside, tourists make a bee line to Suspiros Street



Somehow, night suits Suspiros street better.  Few people remember that, before the old city restoration  which started around 1967, this was a red light district. 

The lighthouse, next to the stone remains of a building, is another tourist attraction.



Those shadows on the white buildings are one of the best subjects in the city. The guns in front of the Navy museum were recovered from River Plate wrecks, of which there is no shortage.

The city is very quiet in the early morning, with old houses that have been converted to the tourist trade.

Those yellow street lamps are everywhere. Either you like them or they get on your nerves.

I was lucky to catch an event. Representatives from traditional societies of Portugal, Brasil, Uruguay and Argentina converged into Colonia for a demonstration. They looked as if out of a time machine.

After their concentration in front of Government Hall, they streamed to the old city playing music.

Technical: B&W pictures are from a just acquired Russian Horizon, from about 1965, and a Minolta Autocord from 1953. Film was TMX developed in Beutler. Color pictures comes from a current Canon G12, since almost nobody develops C-41 these days.

More fish

They keep capturing good catchs and I keep photographing them. Fair deal.





Each one of the small fishing boats has a personality. It takes personality to look good against the background of those very expensive sport yachts in Buceo Harbor.


This small seawolf hangs around until it gets its share of the catch.

Palacio Salvo

We don't have castles but we have the Salvo.

This is the top portion of the most emblematic building in downtown Montevideo. Build in 1928, it was briefly the highest building in South America (105 m height). It has definitely seen better times.

Once it had a lighthouse at the top, and a tiny observation room just below the mast that could be visited by the public - I visited it back in the 1960s. Built as an hotel, nowadays it has only small flats and offices, and a couple of radio stations, probably attracted by the high mast.

Supposedly there are ghosts in the building. In 2010 there were rumours of demolition.

There is a twin building in Buenos Aires (Palacio Barolo) by the same architect.

The picture was processed digitally to give a negative image, because I like the way the lines come out with this technique.

They've got fish

Those fishing boats at Buceo have been having a hard time lately. Cold weather, scarce catchs.



Last weekend, they got fish enough. The fishermen were smiling.



The guys were untangling the catch from the nets, and throwing the fish into the plastic boxes for transport. Small trucks were coming, no need for refrigeration this time of the year.



The larger boats got black corvinas - awesome animals, about 1.2 meter long. Excellent for the grill, if you have a lot of people to feed. The guy in the background offered me to exchange one for my old Autocord. It would have been a profitable trade!



It took some work to get the big black ones out.



Technical: Minolta Autocord, HP5+ in Rodinal 1:50. Thanks for watching!

Sailing

Sometimes I get lucky. In one of the usual walks along the Buceo area, several relative large sailboats were going out. Just in time for my old camera to catch the last two!

A crowd was watching the boats out. Someone shouted, "You always late!". I think that was on the crew.



After aligning, the boats were setting their sails up. Calm waters but enough wind to blow the sails.



Out they went into the inmense brown-gray River Plate.


Technical: Minolta Autocord, HP5+ in Rodinal 1:50.

Work in progress - Carrasco Hotel

The work is progressing - some fences have been taken out, and in the back area (North side) the top windows seem to be restored on the outside. Architects like to work top down, back to front.



Scaffolding covers every square meter of the front and sides - this is where the work is concentrating now.



A general view from the southwest - still a construction project, but inching closer to the world-class hotel.



Let us hope that the restoration will finish before the waves of the global economic slowdown reach our shores. In any case, it has been serious work!

Technical: TMX + Beutler, Pentax Spotmatic with 35/2 Takumar and DDR Tessar 50/2.8.

Good Friday, against the clock

The Tour of Uruguay bicycle race (the Vuelta) had its against-the-clock étage in Carrasco last Friday. Often this étage defines the whole race. One racer is started alone, every minute or so. They must fight the wind alone - if they meet another racer, they must run separately. Even so, the winner made something around 49 km/h average, which is faster than I have ever gone on a bike, let alone keeping such a pace for more than half an hour.

Racers start from a small wooden cage, after registering at a table nearby. Looks a bit quaint to unexperienced eyes.



A helper holds the bike straight from the back, while the starter counts down the seconds. The faces show concentration. Yes, that hand is under the seat.



The last five seconds are given with hand signs, five, four, three, two, one, GO!



Lots of people in the Rambla, a wonderful day. There were teams from many countries.



Close to the starting area, the teams parked their vans and buses. Modern technology let bikers warm without moving. Here, the Avai team from Brazil.



Thanks to the organizers for bringing this show to us Montevideanos!

Candombe in Malvín, once more.

Fall season is back, bringing the last Candombe parade in Montevideo. It takes place in the Malvin area, along Rivera avenue.

The parade colors are stunning, but I chose to use black and white this year.

Lots of enthusiasm this year - more of an amateur and family feeling, a popular feast - and full rythm as always.



The old dancers are my favorite subjects in these parades. They move with agility, even though they simulate back aches and arthritis, and most of them are very elegant dancers.





I like to watch the preparations for the parade. All the effort that the amateur groups develop for their show is plainly in view. It all takes place in a small area, close to the beginning of the parade.

For instance, a group of girls check their makeup.





Nearby, a dance group poses for the photographers...





...while drums get tuned to the heat of a small fire, improvised with old newspapers and small firewood.





Everybody was taking pictures, even with toys - this little girl was assisting her enthusiastic mother.





Glad to be part of it, and thanks for looking!

Technical: Minolta Hi-Matic 9, an old rangefinder camera launched back in 1966. Film: Ilford Pan 400, developed in Rodinal 1+50.

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.