Monday, June 18, 2007

Getting Lost In Atlantida


Like driftwood aligned by high tide, tranquil towns lay along the length of Uruguay's azure Atlantic shore. Not nearly as lost as legendary Atlantis, Atlantida hides in the trees just beyond the urban realm of the big city. With the hospitality of Pedro and Lourdes, or Luli, and the help of Justo and his magic elastic Renault, we explored another white sand waterfront wonder...

Like a cluster of sleepy sea lions, holiday homes in Atlantida hunker around its warm, walkable, forget-about-the-world-for-a-while streets. A stroll down tree lined lanes through town leads...


...to the founders fountain and public park...


...past bursting flower blooms, church bells chiming the time with far more worry than the wandering wayfarers...


...by Atlantida's signature structure, a ship styled hotel marooned above the waves...


...and along the friendly storefronts of main street.


Luli's getaway is a beautiful place where we laugh, lounge and play.


While we wait for lunch, Justo and Marcel sandwich Guillermo, one of Marcel's many awesome amigos...


You can bet your pesos that Pedro will have the parilla fired up, slow cooking a slew of asado!


Francisco, or Pancho, a pal of Alejandro, eyes the barbecued prize, sizing up his options.

I did my best impression of Homer, or Homero, for Marcel and Ale, two major fans of "Los Simpsons", but I couldn't eat it all. D'oh!


If you're lucky, life is filled with fantastic moments surrounded by friends, family and food. And, well, we must be the luckiest gringos in Uruguay to have friends like these.


Sticking with tradition, Leandra follows an asado picnic with a hammock siesta in the shade while the boys and I burn off some beef battling at ping pong and darts.


In the trees, an emerald hummingbird glitters, flitters and nestles in and out of the green foliage, nimbly licking nectar from flowers.

Atlantida's beach beckons boaters, fishers, bathers, and sun worshipers with stark stretches of sand, waves and rock.


Quick and easy, tranquil and pleasing, Atlantida is a favorite escape for everyone with a weekend to seek freedom from the city.

Shelter from forgotten storms sits alone on a reef, while surf fishers vanish into a mate break.

Pleasure cruisers and life savers peruse the hordes clad in bikinis and bermuda shorts.


Like cherubs floating in the clouds, children cool in the calm heavenly pools of the ocean.

Layers of vacationers survey the day from their favorite spot in the shade, sun or water.


Luli, Leandra, and the boys head to the beach for some afternoon exploits.


Rolling swells of unborn waves lift and drop us in the warm water while Atlantida watches.


Luli and Pedro may be two of our best friends, but they feel more like family.


Marcel and Alejandro are both amazingly nice, smart, and intelligent young men. Marcel is among the top students as a first year college student, and Alejandro is a computer wiz preparing for high school.


Another famous edifice in Atlantida is the Eagle House perched precipitously over the sand.

Leandra giggles on the ground while Marcel reaches for the sky atop La Águila.


A long, leisurely, sand kicking lope, staring into the slow motion sunset, paints a perfect picture.

Flashing our smiles, others are lost in a sunset silhouette igniting the wet beach.


Sunny days in Uruguay make for unforgettable moments.



2 comments:

spinfisher said...

Where are the pictures of the topless beaches!!! :)

Anonymous said...

Hi, very good your blog. I´m from Uruguay, and I´d love to travel by the continent and meet the people from our lands soon. The blog ´ve been very useful and interesant for me. Grettings from Montevideo!!! (my english is very poor, sorry)