Piriapolis - Birthdays, Braais and Running! Sounds just like home!

Running Road race
So we found a 10km road race to enter, it seems on the hottest day that we could possibly have had ever. I am sure it must have been at least 35 degrees, but no hold barred - we have been training a little again, as we have been on a walk on mooring since arriving in Piri. We have persuaded our Irish friend Laurence that running this race is a good idea too, so lucky for us, Laurence also does not mind lugging us around with him. So off we set for Monte Video, it is my first road race since before I was pregnant with Lucy, so I am a little apprehensive, but really looking forward to it. We assume of course that we can wear any old running kit, which is what happens when you run a race in SA as a temporary runner. When we collected our race packs prior to the race, we were issued with a rather thick high neck green T-shirt, which we thought was just for commemorative purposes. Haha, think again! That was the Sponsor Samsung's compulsory kit, and all 5000 entrants will be running with that T-shirt - yes even in the appalling heat. Well that was ok I guess, for Laurence and myself, who had packed our green T-shirtss with the sneaking suspicion that this might be the case. Andrew on the other hand, had no such luck, had no compulsory green T-shirt with him, and had to beg and plead lack of a clue with the organisers who kindly took pity on him and furnished him with another T-shirt, the only problem was that the only sizes left were small. So Andrew ended up running the race with an incredibly tight fitting, short, squeezy shirt. There were some other entertaining aspects about the race, that were rather different from our races back in SA. The best of these was the race being held in a horse racing stadium, which in itself was not very funny, however, that athletes warmup area was the same the race horses warmup ring, which is about 80m long, so picture 5000 athletes trotting around the warmup ring, and to finish off this picture, in the middle of the ring was a stage where the local popular DJ pumped out some tunes, and Monte Video's answer to Jane Fonda did a warmup routine for all the competitors, including start jumps and all! Other than it being incredibly hot, which hampered everyone's predicted times by a minute or so, we all had an entertaining morning of good honest exercise. Andrew running a 41 minute race, Laurence a 47 and me a 51. Not so bad, though a little way away from everyone's PB!!

The Uruguayan answer to a Braai - The Asado
We have been to a few very good asados while we have been here. This is the Uruguayan answer to the South African's braai. There are a few differences in the way that they do things though. The first is the type of fire that they make, there is a big bucket of coals in a grill on one side, that is kept permanently on the go, supplying coals to the actual grilling area. This means that you can build a huge fire, which is of course a great thing to do, and it means that you can cook for as long as you want, you are not limited to the half hour that the coals are ready to cook - a la SA style. Every house, abode, shack, or mansion has at least one and three is a pretty standard installation. I have to say that this is definitely a one up on most SA designed braai's. If I recall correctly, I think our friend Mark Preen has a braai designed in the style of a assado - so there is a whole nation over this side of the ocean who agrees that that is the best way to braai! The meat is interesting, as the cuts here are completely different to what we are used to, which makes buying steak an interesting experience if you are hoping to buy something familiar. They are big on rib cuts, is a cross section of ribs, but with the bone cut much thinner that we are used to, and the meat left on much thicker than we are used to. This results in a tasty, but quite fatty piece of rib, which are delicious to munch around the grill. Another speciality here is the chorizo salsicha (sausage), of which they have many variations, all of which are very rich, very fatty and very delicious. They also have go about things at Uruguayan pace, so unlike the South African braai, where all the meat is ready all at once, and you eat everything at once, the Uruguayan style is a much slower relaxed approach, where you eat the meat as it is ready on the fire, which means the cooking, eating and general enjoyment of the occasion goes on much longer, definately like this style of cooking meat and partaking thereof 100% more than our cook, eat and go approach!

Carnival
We have been here for the end of carnival time, so we have been regaled with tremendous drumming travelling across the bay from the Rambla every night. We have of course gone to watch some evenings, and it is all good fun, very family orientated and festive. I don't think it is quite the Brazilean/Rio Carnival atmosphere and hype, but good fun none-the-less.

Lucy's Birthday
Rita and Alex very kindly offered to host Lucy's birthday at their house, I can't believe it, she is 1 year old, walking like a champ, and turning one in Uruguay of all places. Would I have ever guessed! We have invited all our boat friends, so there are about 15 or so people coming to the party, and we are going to have asado. Some of those great Cativelli salsichas and some chicken and other bits and pieces! Hundreds of pink and purples balloons and a neon pink birthday cake, the cake we had made by a local who makes cakes as a part income. It was enormous and filled with the local popular sweet delicacy - Dulce de Leche, which is actually just caramelised condensed milk. They eat it by the bucket load here, and it is absolutely delicious. Lucy was very spoilt - of course - with all sorts of gifts, ranging from a fantastic green pull along wooden crocodile called Lawerence (named after the incumbent present presenter) to some Duplo Lego for Lucy to post into the bilges! As we all know, one year old birthday parties are more for the parents than anyone else, well this parent for one had an absolutely great day, and Lucy had a blast, she played with Rita and Alex's 2 children Diego and Gabi until she was exhausted.


Leaving Piriapolis - the triathlon
So finally we leave Piriapolis, blimey, that was a bit longer than the original plan of 2 weeks to fix the engine! Three months later, we cast off, we had been told that this happens when cruising, and now we see why! Of course the longer that you stay in a place, the more difficult it is to leave in many ways, as you make friends, get to know your way around and get to know how and where it is best to get things done. But I think we had finally had enough of Piriapolis!! We stayed one week longer that we had planned, as we had decided that we wanted to attempt a triathlon that they were having here, hehe, yes, very funny, neither Andrew nor I had been on a bicycle for 6 years! The event consisted of an 11km run, 22km mountain bike and a 3km paddle. We have both been doing a bit of running, but probably the longest thing I have done while training is an 11km run! But I thought I could probably make it, though I have to say I was a little scared! Andrew decided to race as an individual, and our friend Alex had just purchased a new mountain bike, which has not even done a race yet, and he was kind enough to offer this to Andrew to race with. Our Irish friend Laurence was also keen to race, and agreed to race as a mixed team with me. Luckily Laurence had a mountain bike that I could borrow, so one 20 km ride, and I was ready! I promptly managed to catch Lucy's cold, so for a week did not train, and just managed a short run 2 days before the event to convince myself that I was ready and able. Ok, I have to admit, I was a little nervous, but quite excited too, so, off we went, the run was a single 11km lap with 2 very steep hills, and the cycle was the same route, but 2 laps. Well at the end of the run, I already felt like I had done enough exercise for the day, and was a little concerned about what we still had to achieve! Somehow or other, Laurence managed to drag, pull and push me and the bike around the course in one piece, well more or less anyhow, as at the end of the bike, my calf went into a big cramp, which stopped me in my tracks for a minute or two! We then attacked the kayak leg and managed to pull back a place or two on the water. Wow, I loved it! We managed a 6th place out or 29 mixed couples, so all in all not a bad day out!
Andrew is of course, another story completely, taking things, in true Andrew style, very seriously, he went and sussed out the course, and trained on the course on both the bike and running. Andrew's preparation was meticulous, down to changing the laces in his shoes so he can change shoes quicker after the run. Andrew came out of the starting blocks like a scalded cat, and had a fantastic race, winning his category (of old bullies) outright, and coming second in the entire race, a great achievement for somebody who has not been on a bike for a year or six!