Punta del Este

We rolled into Punta del Este looking for a VW show. We heard from the Fuscanet guys that there would be stuff for us to do all weekend, but we really didn’t know what that meant.

We cruised La Rambla and admired the city in general. Nice place. It reminds us of California, but better. In the smaller towns on the outskirts of the city, the beach, dunes, trees, and dirt roads reminded us of small California coastal towns from years gone by. Interesting houses tucked into the foliage and white sand beaches out front. Once you get to the city, it’s still pretty cool, but looks more like a mini version of Miami. It’s not even summer*, but there are already plenty of tanned and coiffed vacationers strutting their stuff on the malecón. We hear this is where the wealthy Buenos Aires Porteños come to be seen. Seems about right.

Once your go around the point, you get the wind and all the beach-side cafes disappear. That’s about when we found Los Dedos. It was done by the same artist that did El Mano del Dessierto in Chile (see the theme?) but we missed that one on our route. Not long after we parked in front of the big fingers, along came a VW caravan. Maybe 20 or so. From all over, but most of these guys were from Gramado, Brazil.

It should go without saying that we met some really nice folks (and Gramado is definitely on the list) and saw some nice classicos.