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.

Carrasco Hotel goes on

I took another look at this beautiful historic building, located in Carrasco near the River Plate.



It's official - Sofitel is telling the world it's them doing the restoring job. Hope this means business.



There is a tall hedge around the building, I could just point a camera at random over it. I should be taller. There's work being done inside.



Restoring involves a lot of adornments, especially inside the building. But this window will give an idea of what is involved.



The area close to the hotel also needs some serious cleaning and restoring. Maybe it happens when the hotel is finished!



I will continue to follow this project from time to time. It will be a big symbolic event if the hotel starts working again.

Bicycle race

When I was a child, bycicle races in the week of Carnival were a big thing. We followed the one-week race on the radio, sometimes even on a map, checking out the individual racers and their clubs. Like the Tour de France, only in the small and 50 years before. You know, time measurements, speculations and team strategy, who is getting away and who is catching up, the stars, the works. And all these before anti-doping control.

I remember going with my father to see the heroes go by in their high-tech bikes and to cheer for our favorites.

Last weekend, I went again to see the racers go by in their last few kilometers, half expecting the noise and the fury of the old days. Radio transmissions were exactly like I remembered them. I even suspect the same guy speaking, he must be close to retirement on the long side of it. They came quite on time - and fast!



But nowadays, the race seemed just fast and functional. About 1 minute before the racers, a couple of police bikes checked the area. All the bikers were through in a couple of minutes. The last ones had to compete with the CUTCSA passenger buses retaking their routes.

Maybe the Vuelta Ciclista in Holy Week gets more attention. I hate to see traditions pass away. I must be getting older than I thought.