We watched this baby enter the Punta del Este bay on Monday at noon.
A review with few pictures because this pathetic blogger didn't manage to charge her camera! There must be pictures out there from Saturday night, and I have received a few from Silvia Haas taken Monday morning.
Saturday's dinner was epic in more ways than one. To begin with, Doris Hernandez, who was the hostess, had provided a Plan B location in case it rained. So it poured, and we proceeded to our indoor facility, graciously offered by David and Maria Malel, he a Uruguayan returnee, she, Australian, and both recent arrivals. The Malels and Doris were prepared for the confirmed list, but we were actually receiving confirmations until the very last minute, and some might even have showed up without one.
In the end, there were 75 of us, including a few children and teenagers. The place was bursting with people, and did I see Irv bring up a chair from his car or something? As usual, the food was plentiful, extremely diverse and delicious, and once again we got to meet some new people. I have to confess I am having a hard time keeping up with the new names all the time. For example, who was the American gentleman referring to his wife, Tammy, as "My Tamisita"? I can't remember his name, and I think it was the first time I met them, but I'm not too sure.
I met a couple from Romania via Canada (everyone from an exotic country is always "via Canada") who have bought a nice new condo and plan to spend time "in crescendo" in Punta del Este, culminating in retirement in a few years. There was also a lovely couple of visitors, he Uruguayan, she Polish, but long time residents in the U.S., currently in New Hampshire. They sound like they will be spending more time around us.
By the way, there are a few items in "lost and found" held by Doris, so get in touch with her to claim them.
We hadn't had enough socializing, no. So yesterday morning we filed onto the terrace at Las Ostras to do some further chatting. As usual, there were some new people there, such as a Dutch artist who lives in Rocha town and who was happy to encounter Paul and Frances, two unrelated Dutch regulars in our group. Also the nice friend of Neal and Karen -- Neil is doing much better, btw, will be going home in a couple of days -- visiting from San Diego and apparently having no trouble at all finding his way around.
Las Ostras has the undisputed amazing location. Their terrace is huge, with 180 degree ocean, island and bay views, so despite our numbers -- somewhere around 40 of us, I would guess -- we took up just a fraction of the terrace. The day was unbelievably beautiful, which seems to be the case on our Monday meetings, so we spent a good 3 hours, and enjoyed a delicious lunch sandwich of chicken, zucchini and mozzarella on whole wheat pita bread, plus a complimentary basket of pao de queijo, the Brazilian cheese puffs. The prices were reasonable, and the service were very understanding, freaking out at the notion of individual checks, but smiling till the end. They say they will have us again, so we may come back in February.
All around, a great way to bid farewell to 2009...
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