Punta del Este

Spindrift
David Hersey
Sun 13 Jan 2008 13:09
9AM 13/1/08

We will leave Punta del Este Midday. It is approximately 1000 miles to
Port Stanley. As we are expecting the wind to turn South or Southwest in
a few days we will not go directly to The Falklands but keep a course well
West of our track so that when the wind does change we will have a chance
of sailing. This will probably add 100 miles or so the journey. There
are still debates on whether to call in at Mar del Plata or not. Steve is
off this morning looking again for some boots which for some mysterious
reason he neglected to buy in Europe when it would have been really easy.

Punta del Este has been a very pleasant stop. The people are very
friendly, the place is immaculate, there are miles of beaches and resorts,
but it’s upscale, not tacky at all. There is clearly a lot of money in
the area, wealthy Argentines have summer homes especially in an area known
as Beverly Hills. The Architecture is a complete hodge –podge. You can
find any style you might imagine, no two buildings are remotely similar
and they range from shacks to mansions. They all have names.

The Yacht Club has hundreds of boats, after a day’s outing the parade of
boats returning is like rush hour in London. When you have a meal, there
is more than likely live music and it’s to a very professional standard.
There shops open late morning and carry on until midnight or even later.
You need to get a restaurant table before 10:30 or 11:00 before they’re
full. We went to a huge supermarket, filled with European things, open
24/7, last night at 5:50 and had the place to ourselves.


A highlight was the Ralli Museum, a collection of wonderfully mad South
American surrealists as well as more traditional painters. Many wonderful
sculptures including several Dali’s to make you smile.

As I have a reasonable connection I will try to add some photos to give a
general impression. It’s not very scientific or complete I’m afraid.

There is a hand sticking up out of the sand on the beach, probably
inspired by the Dali Thumb in the museum. There is a giant size shopping
card and a wavy bridge which is really strange to drive over. There are
shops with curious names.
More to follow. This has already crashed once just when I had all the
pictures ready th send.

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