After a delicious lunch inside this splendid pile of rock yesterday, we wandered around Carrasco.

I know what you’re thinking: Look at those buildings! We must be in South America!

Amazing dwellings seem to be the norm.

And look at this—a fixer-upper! Some paint, a little TLC, and …oh. Actually, I don’t like the look of the vertical steel “I” beam outside the front door. Maybe we’ll pass on this one.

Lovely day to have lunch with friends at the refurbished casino in Carrasco, the closest part of Montevideo for us suburbanites. Also a lovely neighborhood, a place I’d find desirable if I had to live in the city. (And wanted to spend a lot more than I do.)

After seeing this building empty for several years, it does my heart good to see it alive again.

Delicious meal, and we got the full 22% tax knocked off when I used my US Visa card, and paid  in USD as priced on the menu, so no need to exchange to pesos. Sweet! The little things ….

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Plus we got to see not one, but two, full-sized plastic horses. With lamps sticking out of their heads.

Tell me it gets any better than that.

Cuartel General de Bomberos, on the Plaza de los Treinta y Tres Orientales.  Fire Department Headquarters. Today was t-shirt weather, the way it should be in March.

Cold this morning, but we didn’t light a fire since we were out the door to Carrasco, Montevideo, for blood work. The Montevideo airport’s name is Carrasco, but Carrasco is also quite a charming beachside community. Going to the clinic there is a satisfying experience in every way: civilized, professional, pleasant. A total contrast to the dreary clinics in the Ciudad de la Costa, closer to us.

If I had to live in Montevideo, Carrasco would be my choice. Whether or not I could afford it – another issue.

Bright, sunny blue-sky day. Almost home, we stop to get gas. No need to get out of the car. Attendant fills the tank, without asking does a thorough job of washing windshield and back window. I usually tip 10 pesos (half a buck). In this case I give him 20. Some attendants ask if you want the windshield done (because they don’t want to expend unnecessary effort); others don’t even bother.

One of my son’s friends worked as a gas attendant for a while. Interesting stories. I know the tips are appreciated, and not always forthcoming.

I ask about a bus company’s location – we know one but not another, and find it challenging to sort out which ones run when to Montevideo. The attendant asks me to pull forward, away from the pumps, and goes to ask another attendant. Comes back with no clearcut answer. But he’s happy to chat, and offer suggestions for ferreting out info I need.

For an American, it’s like going back in time. In a nice way.