Explorations north...

Hola!
We're still marveling at the simplicity of life in Piriapolis. It's a stunningly beautiful spot. The atmosphere is mucho laid back. No hurry... no worries. We like it.

Yesterday, we walked north along the Atlantic's boardwalk/sidewalk until we came to a secluded beach called Morgan Bay. I'd say there were about 10 people on the entire beach. We walked the beach until it ended at the punta (point).

On the way back via the road, we came across the little communities of Punta San Franciso and Punta Colorado. It really reminded us of some of the places we visited on our trips to New Zealand years ago. At the time, we marveled at gorgeous empty beaches with spectacular vistas. Here it is much the same... bella vistas, uncluttered beach towns, no high rises, few houses, no litter, no shops, no tee shirt selling---- nothing but pure nature in all its glory. It's amazing.

Round trip, it was about a 3 hour walk. Before getting to the beach, we came upon a tiny fishing village (shacks, boats, fish cleaning area, and fish-selling cabanas). The fishermen and their families live right there on the rocky beach in shacks... living the fishing life... with sunsets that don't stop. A boat had just come in and was loaded with fish.

After our 3 hour walk, we needed some sustenance! We spied a little empanada/fish restaurant on our way north so we stopped there. The waiter/owner spoke English. He gave us all kinds of info on what the offerings were. I ordered mejillones (mussels!) with lemon---- to die for! I adore mejillones (try pronouncing that one... it's sorta like.. "may-he-hone-yayes")! These were gathered right across the street from where we were sitting---- talk about fresh! Bob got a delicious grilled fish and then we also ate a small order of majillones in a tomato sauce with rice. Yum! One day we'll stop and get some empanadas. Here were the choices for the stuffing... cheese, fish, mejillones (yup, empanadas stuffed with mussels!), ham, ham/cheese, meat, etc, etc.

We are up in Punta again today. We tried to rent a car in Piriapolis this morning, but no luck (no cars at one and way too expensive at the other). So, we hopped the bus to to Punta Del Estes. It's $5.00. We didn't pay attention and when it was too late, we realized that we got on the bus going south, not north. We were headed to Montevideo! By the time the ticket guy came to our seat we were quite far along the wrong route. He didn't speak English, but these 2 sweet ladies by us did and they explained that we would be dropped off somewhere where we'd have to wait for a bus going in the opposite direction; but not to worry, the police would come to wait with us. So, sure enough, the bus got up to the 4 lane highway and they dropped us off. The ticket guy walked us across all 4 lanes, making sure that we didn't get hit by a car. He was carefully directing us... just then the Punta Del Estes bus came along! Yippie, no police were necessary. We got on the right bus to the stares of the other passengers wondering why their Rapido bus had to stop. Stupido Americanos that's why!

We got good information here about renting a car. After that, we walked around the beach a bit and met a group of American high school rugby players who are here from Washington D.C. to play in a tournament. They were having a game of soccer on the beach and we could hear there voices as we walked. We chatted with one of them a bit.

Bob is gone on a rented motorscooter to check out a golfing area he saw on the way here. It's out of town a bit, so he thought he'd rent a scooter. After doing a little more walking around, I'm now at the WiFi cafe having a cafe con leche while blogging.

Pictures later! Life is good.
Adios,
Mary