Jose Ignacio

Decided to get to know Punta, and on the way out of the hotel, saw Eugenio having breakfast with another hotel guest. After warm greetings, he re-iterated his opinion that we should go to Jose Ignacio, a small beach town 20 km away, requiring a car. He volunteer to take us to the car renta place with Silvine, who was staying at our hotel. I agreed, in part because I wanted to hear what the two of them had to say about where to visit, since our trip after Spanish school is largely unplanned.

As we drove into Punta del Este, about 15 minutes from La Barra where we are staying, both of them dive into stories of Punta, where they lived, stayed, worked and dined. Eugenio was a personal trainer here many years ago, so knew the place when you could stay for $5/night. Although he was not the best driver on the road, it was fun listening to someone who was so passionate about a place.

We left Eugenio and Silvene and had some lunch at a small Chiveria. The day was quite warm, too hot to actually do anything besides go to the beach, so we rented a car and drove to Jose Ignacio. In order to do something besides eat and sit on the beach all day, our "cultural highlight" of the day was hiking to the top of the lighthouse, where we got some good photos, but decided it was too hot for anything cultural.

The beach was very nice, softer sand than La Barra and quite a bit more crowded. On the way out, we stopped at a beach vendor and I grabbed a photo of a beautiful 16-year-old with a gypsy-like bandana in her hair. I wish I were a better photographer -- I could see in my mind the National Geographic-type picture I wanted, but didn't get exactly that. Still, I was pleased to get the shot I did, and fortunately most people here seem to have e-mail, so I was able to send it to her.

We returned to La Barra and went to Punta for dinner. Very elegant dining at Punta 33, excellent service in a lovely restarant near the port. Chatted with the guitar player, turns out he lived a while in Bethesda. Small world.