Ask anyone, expat or local, what they like best about Montevideo, and the likely answer is ‘La Rambla’. La Rambla is a wide band which includes a busy duel carriageway, a wide pavement, and beaches and coves, stretching the 20 kilometres from the city centre eastwards to the residential suburb of Carrasco.

It was a text message from a friend that got me and my waggy, happy mongrel Perdida walking the eight blocks from my house to the Rambla yesterday: ‘Air Display at the Hotel Casino’.

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Three streets inland from the coast drivers were struggling to find a spot for their cars, people were walking, children in hand, clutching folding chairs and matés, wheeling buggies and wheelchairs, chatting and laughing.

On wet days the sidewalk and beaches of the Rambla are deserted. When the wind is up, windsurfers, kitesurfers, or just plain surfers brave the dark, frothy breakers. In the summer, the beaches are busy with children building sandcastles, groups of friends sitting on folding chairs under parasols sipping maté, and swimmers splashing in the water. And the broad sidewalk bustles: roller-bladers, cyclists, and dog-walkers jostle for space, fitness freaks speed-walk or jog in their pelts, and couples line the little wall marking the boundary with the beach.

Yesterday, a month and a day late, it was the first day of spring: dazzling sunshine, a soft breeze, a bright blue sky. And Montevideans had turned out in their thousands to celebrate.

When we reached the beach it was already packed, and the show soon started, in a summery atmosphere of fun and excitement. Seven T-27 Tucano planes from the Escuadrilha da Fumaça of the Brazilian airforce appeared from the north, the inland side, and with acrobatic dexterity, often too close for my comfort and Perdida’s, gave us an hour of pure adrenalin.

The crowd was delighted to see the first smoke design the planes drew for them, which clearly read URUGUAY-BRAZIL in huge letters over the blue Rio de la Plata. Then followed a series of daring spectacles, with the planes spiralling into the air and dropping down through the spiral like a ball of lead to what looked like inches from the water, flipping, whooping, flying upside down, flying in from six different directions to meet in the middle.

I confess I found myself screaming out loud in terror, but I was not alone.

The final act was the design of a huge heart just above our heads.

A really special Sunday afternoon. Have a look at the photos on http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=26424&l=01508&id=664241054. Apart from having a glimpse of the airshow, you will get a real feel for La Rambla at its best!