Melia Comfort Montevideo

... were sandwiched in between pieces of ugly architecture that could have been from the U.S. in the 1970s. Meat is certainly a big commodity here. We visited a converted train station turned into a facility for restaurants specializing in meat. People here like to drink this interesting tea drink called mate that they carry around with them. It´s a little brown cup filled with herbs. The have a ...

... numerals, this was marked on the maps as Monte VI, de este a oeste (Hill or Mountain 6, from east to west), and was abbreviated as Monte-VI-d-e-o, or Montevideo. Another story about the naming of Montevideo is that the ship's lookout who first spotted this hill shouted out, "I see a hill," which in Spanish and Portuguese is something like "Monte veo." So the mixed reports about Montevideo extend even to its name.

... and real estate agents for the popular US program "House Hunters International" on the HGTV network, and if selected to participate on the show you will be flown to the country/city to contribute on a brand new episode. And if you live there already, even better! The real estate agents also get great exposure for their business on TV and when the show airs HGTV.com will include their contact ...

Zo daar zijn we weer, terug in Montevideo. Helemaal chill en relaxt. In niet minder dan een week hebben we ons helemaal aangepast aan het leven in Punta del Diablo. Een gek dorpje, dat is het zeker. Tot drie keer toe hebben we ons verblijf met een dag verlengd, zo chill is het er. Er gebeurt geen kloot en iedereen vindt dat fantastisch, inclusief wij. Als je door de hoofdstraat loopt, hoor je niets anders dan de kiezels onder je slippers kraken, de wind langs je oren ...

... you can opt for the click open and closed, the flip-back top with spout, or the screw open and closed. [sidenote: almost any bar or restaurant will refill your thermos with hot water either for free or for a very small fee. there are even hot water vending machines.] the problem with using a gourd as a cup is that the gourd is pointed at the bottom. is it suave? oh yes. can you set it down on the table for ...

... puppies and heckles passersby to come and hold their wares. *people dancing the tango at around 7pm every evening in a particular square led by a really old lady jazzed out in fishnets and a fancy hat. *cars from the 40's [literally] either as they were in their good old days [with a bit more rust/held together by the grace of god] or pimped out with flames on the doors and spoilers. you may hear: *the drumming of dozens of people gathered ...

... though they had to flood some falls that were meant to be more spectacular than Iguazu. The area between Buenos Aires and Iguazu is gaucho (cowboy) country, with huge estates of cow ranches. From the bus we could see many whole cow skins hanging from the trees drying out in the sun and acres and acres of olive groves. We came down on the way back from Iguazu, as far as Corcordia on the border of Uruguay and crossed over the Rio Uruguay to Salto by barge. I don´t think they ...

... but Tom thought it still had a bit of a ´pound shop` feel to it -lots of cheap goods and discount shops! Each night people on horses and carts went around the city sorting through the rubbish bins and loading up their carts with cardboard, old radiators and so on, anything it seemed that might be saleable. At least the horses looked like they were happy and well cared for.

... called, sympathetic to our rainy plight. He chuckled when I reported that we were inside all day yesterday and didn´t kill each other! They are preparing for Hurr. Ike. 11:30 am - Thanks to Pedro (but we could have used this info 3 weeks ago), we walked to an excellent Mercado - DeVoto, only 7 blocks down Lima Street. We bundled up, in sweaters and raincoats. I wore my scarf as a babushka and put my blue rain hat over it. Since my raincoat is ...

... for hard candy (picking up a couple of other things, as well) after noontime, when EVERYONE is let out of work for lunch and has to shop. Will we ever learn? Finally, we returned to The Madison for lunch, mostly because of the personable Elena, the waitress, and, of course, good food. It was 1:00 by now, and the place was packed, with, again, just her running around to take care of at least 10 tables. I faced the kitchen and counted at least ...