Crystal Palace Montevideo

... of the old Palacio with original period furnishings. We walked down as far as the old port and went into the 1868 Port Market building, a huge wrought iron and glass structure. Today it is a huge mass of different steak-houses, all offering huge chunks of meat barbecued on wood fired grills up to 8 ft wide. After lunch we returned back to the moped, passing the 1799 church Matriz, the oldest building in town and then rode back to the vehicle to stay for another night.

Arrived in Montevideo for 2 days. First day just went walking along the waters edge for a few hours and had a n early night at the hostel. Next day went walking downtown. A quiet city, with lots of nice buildings, right on the water. Nothing to do at al though, was quite boring.
Cooked chorizos and marshmellows on the open fire at the hostel that night because noone in the hostel had ever had cooked marshmellows on a fire before.

... a chance to see many different things but sadly not to stop very long in those places. We didn't stop either in the old residential district, the Prado, which is full of beautiful houses, 1920s and 30s style. Really Montevideo, by South-American standards, is extraordinary! But for me the best was the coast, and the Rio de la Plata. Seeing little sailboats going peacefully around under the sun was real pleasure! :) Really it's a place where I could live! The next day I ...

... gonna get myself a souvenir cup thing to bring home lol. Found the shopping centre, which was 4, blocks up and 4 blocks to the left (but the blocks are all lob sided so you'd never find it if you didn't know). It apparently used to be an old prison but looked pretty nice from the outside. Inside it was nothing special it just had the kind of stuff we could get at home but surprisingly expensive considering everything else is cheap. Ismael said its cos ...

... distance. Historic sites : Colonia del Sacramento, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is Uruguay´s oldest city, once a Portuguese settlement in 1680, located 177km (1h ½ southwest from Montevideo). The fortresses of Santa Teresa and San Miguel  (also a hotel) near the Brazilian border. Montevideo, the capital city, has an Art Deco style in many of the buildings of ...

... Has some lovely beaches but its a bit Gold Coastish in Australia. For those of you who have never been there, don´t bother going now. Full of skyrise apartments and tacky gift shops. Punta Del Este is a bit classier than that but it just a more upmarket version. Lots of wealthy Argentines holoday here and you notice it pretty quickly in the prices. However, borrowing a branch in true Tipperary style, if you bring your own ham and cheese sandwiches on a day trip ...

... it was a typical tourist trap so we decided to walk back toward the ship, while catching the sights. It worked out pretty well because we had to only walk one direction and got to see most of the areas of the old city. There was a flea market in one square with very eclectic stuff. Jewelry, old and new, old plumbing fixtures, dishes, arts and crafts, just about everything you could imagine and lots of stuff ...

... of the Obelisco and a semetery that's really creepy. The downside is that I've heard from several sources that Buenos Aires is a haven for pickpockets and people who will flat out kidnap you, knock you out for your money, and leave you on the streets. So, we'll see what happens. But, when I do go to Buenos Aires, the first thing I'm going to do is go to the South American Explorer's club house, get some information, find a hostel, meet some more people and ...

... wild man, also very funny and sincere. Now at the age of 58, he said his life was starting to slow down a bit. He was inspired by our travel plans and for some reason kept saying, "I like you guys! You guys are sick perverts, man!" For two hours Daniel passed along pieces of wisdom that he has learned over the course of his life. My favorite was that a guy should never settle down with a woman unless she "knows how to do quantum ...

... using ropes. 7:30 pm - I worked on my blog for a couple of hours while Philip watched TV. He just viewed some highlights of the college football games today on espn.com and then made some delicious vegetable soup while I lounged around, washed my hair, and felt cold. ¨Hope you´re not coming down with something.¨ ¨Me, too!¨ Su., 8-31 - 3:30 pm - I slept well, after taking some prunes, while worked this morning, so I feel much better in that ...