禁漫天堂

Parque Rod贸 is across the street from the Rambla -- Montevideo鈥檚 long stone 鈥榖oardwalk鈥� that runs along the R铆o de la Plata.

I came out of the park casino -- yes, there鈥檚 a Casino Parque ! -- shortly before sundown .. and realized that the geography of the area was about to produce a potentially awesome scene:聽 the sun setting over a large body of water from an Atlantic Ocean-side location.聽 That鈥檚 rare because the sun sets in the west all over the world, but here on the eastern side of South America, the R铆o has a special location.聽 It is not really a river, but a huge estuary stretching all the way to Buenos Aires, Argentina, so large that on this summer鈥檚 day (Feb. 27), it afforded a gorgeous golden sunset over the water.

I approached the setting sun walking on the Rambla past a patinaje, a roller skating venue that is half the size of a North American professional football field.聽 Scores of folks aged 3 to 30 were skating for fun and exercise.

Just past the skating area is stone seating perfect for looking out to sea, or in this case, enjoying the setting sun.

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At sunset, there were no noticeable food or beverage vendors on this part of the Rambla.

Seeing bright colored lights down the way, I doubled back west on the Rambla toward them.聽

It was an amusement park -- with multiple food booths.

And also:聽 about half a dozen carnival rides, including a ferris wheel, an above-ground 鈥榩irate boat鈥� swinging stern-to-bow on a pivot to lift riders 45 feet into the air .. and a scary fun-house called Casa de Terror.

As the boat swung back and forth on the pivot, the shrieking of the dozen riders was heard all over the park, crescendo-ing each time an end of the boat reached the high point of its ascent.

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