Holiday Inn Montevideo

As far as possible travel locations go, Montevideo was somewhere around the bottom of my list of "must see" places. Apart from having a really cool name I didn`t know anything about the place. During my travels in Peru I learned that not far from the capital is a famous beach (well famous to those who have heard of it) Punta del este, again not a must see place in the cold of winter.

So from my ...

... Iguazu in one of the next few days. I got an invitation there from some nice people to surf their couch, so I was quite excited with the plan. Nevertheless the Eastern weekend started, which means that all the Uruguayans head to the country side to enjoy their free days with their families. As more than half of the population is living in Montevideo, it turned out the be on of the busiest ...

... for a walk along the beach to the furthest point. Took a few photo's and then got myself a tortilla with ali oli from the garage and a bottle of water. Sat in the sun on the grass and ate my lunch which felt great being able to just sit on the beach in the sun with the breeze so it wasn't too hot (jealous yet? Lol). Oh I now have some of the names lol:- Happy - Jhon Dalton Hat - Rodrigo Diaz Mobile Shorts - Mauricio Romo Mr ...

... is nobody´s forte here. But that can only help me learn the lingo more quickly. I´m also one of only two girls in this hostel which is pretty empty, but it´s a good chance for me to catch up on reading, writing and learning and I have the luxury of my own room which probably won´t be happening for a while again....Montevideo is my chill out zone for a day. Tomorrow I´m off to nearby Colonia, the dreaded backpack will be hoisted again.

... couple, in Uruguay for an extended long weekend (6 days). We spent the rest of the evening walking the streets, enjoying the old town which has a wonderfully renovated main strip with nice buildings, shops and cafes. A lady at an information both had told us that there is a parade in town, so we went to check that out and it turned out to be the final preparations for Carnival. So we joined into the big party on the street with the folks beautifully dressed up ...

... apres midi a marcher dans les rues autour du port avant de revenir par la grande rue commercante. Nous goutons pour le dejeuner aux Empenadas, sorte de beignets sales de pate feuilletee garnie de poulet de fromage de viande de toutes sortes etc... Il y en a meme des sucres pour le dessert. C´est bon mais alors qu´est ce que c´est lourd. Ici comme partout ailleurs en Urugay tout le monde se ballade avec son verre de Mate. En effet le mate est une ...

... but Rox and I chose the cheaper method of taking the approximately 1 hour ferry from BsAs to Colonia (a popular stop and tourist destination in Uruguay) and taking a 2 and a half hour bus ride from Colonia to Montevideo. Taking taxis are safe and cheap so we took one to our next couchsurfing hosts who live near downtown in a beautifully renovated apartment. Alejandra and Gonzalo are an adorable couple who have been living together since buying this apartment and ...

... beautiful if crumbling buildings many of which seem to be in the course of renovation (this is probably one of our favourite cities in South America but, does not seem to get that many visitors (presumably because it is so close to Buenos Aires). Being the port area prices are high as it is frequented by passengers from the cruise ships. We wander in to the covered market area and find not market stalls, but wall to wall parrilla restaurants. Even in ...

... it (bad luck), there was a flight that night at 5:30 pm!  Awesome!  this was the same time as the ferry we had expected to take, so we should have had enough time to make it.  Well, things are never that simple...the agent had to call the travel gods...which took about an hour....by the time she confirmed the changes it was 4:10....and the laundry still had to be picked up....well, we were committed at this ...

... I recalled, only to get her answering machine. Finally, about 11, Philip announced that we HAD to get out, even if it wasn´t as planned. We walked downtown to the not-so-great Info Office (where the man doesn´t speak English) and got info about taking a bus to the Prado area (botanical gardens are there) and also to Santiago Vazquez. For Prado, we get bus #582 on Rondo (not spelled right) street, but we´re not positive that it´ll be going the ...