Oxford Montevideo

... micro curry and another jacket potato, got to make the most of it! And prepared to head back into Argentina the following morning.

We had intended to go to Rio in Brazil next but have decided against it, partly because I am getting the hang of Spanish a bit now ( I emphasize a bit), Ang speaks Spanish well so neither of us particularly want to learn Portuguese. Rio is about 1000 miles up the coast so though it sounds awesome it is too much of an effort but we ...

... countries that we have visited. She had been in Montevideo for a few months, but was leaving because she did not feel safe in the winter.


Surrounding the plaza are several important buildings, including the Teatro Solis (actually adjoining the square at one corner), the 5-star Hyatt Hotel, and an administrative building for the Uruguayan presidency. The most interesting of these buildings is ...

... the hotel to check in. My first impressions of Uruguay is that it doesn't look like a real tourist place. I'm staying in Montivideo which is the capital but there isn't loads of big name hotels and fast food places, which is good as it seems like the true country rather than a commercial version of it. The hotel was the Positos Plaza and seemed pretty nice, it's got a gym and a roof terrace and free Wifi (get in lol). After I got showered and changed ...

... copse woods. We did not expect it to be like that at all. In Montevideo We walked around admiring more colonial buildings. It was a nice layed back city, so layed back that we didn't fulfill any of our plans. We went to a museum which was closed when we got there so we went to hire bikes to see a bit more of the city but there were no bike available. We then went to a market to get some food which was packing up when we arrived. We did nt have much luck.

... and discovered they needed further confirmation on the credit card and as it was all in Spanish it was all too tricky. I tried again on another website with a different card, but that didn't work. Although I was no closer to getting to Rio, at least I knew that going was what I really wanted to do. Plan C was to get up early, call the office in London and arrange a ticket that way - it worked, but I still had to go to the office and pay in person.....BUT I WAS GOING TO RIO.

... Brazil, a delightful 18 hours of motorway joy...It wasnt too bad actually, and the long distance busses here put european ones to shame, the seats are deliciously comfy, recline way back, and there is ample leg room. Beautiful. Our highlight so far of Montevideo (only been here 1 day) was going out for lunch at a restaurant which was full of ...

... mad Irish boys again there and they told us of the awful things they had been up to, including throwing stray dogs in a swimming pool at a hostel we had been looking forward to staying in for months in Iguazu (apparently the best hostel in Argentina, with a massive pool, we just couldnīt stay there after that, I couldnīt have swam in the pool knowing mangy dogs had been in there!). On New years day we went for a meal in Palmero with some friends and had a steak each which ...

... stopped raining, the streets were deserted and rainswept, which with the stormy skies, added to the atmosphere, which was slightly detracted from by the skanky dog which accompanied us on our tour! In sunshine the next day, Colonia was just as gorgeous, although we spoiled the peace and quiet by hiring a crazy dune buggy to tour the streets (the other option was a golf cart, but Nige opted for fast and dangerous rather than slow and ...

... and entertaining ourselves. it wasnt a very nice day adn scenery wasnt great so i napped the whole way there. we were all pretty crabby and sleepy when we arrived two hours later. there wasnt anywhere to hire boards and i hadnt bought enough clothes with me - was very cold. started to regret this decision. we did see some very cute sea lions sunbathing and being fed scraps by the fisherman though and luckily it was soon ...

... We walked to the Pal. Leg. to learn that the Engl. Tour is at 4:30. We gave it up for today. Th., 9-4 - 2:30 pm - We saw not one, but TWO episodes of The Tudors on TV yesterday, pretty much in order. (But Queen No. 2 was pregnant once, and then she was not, and now she is again, plus someone (a woman) hung herself, and we havenīt figure out who that was.) Then, at 10, Philip discovered a good movie - Francisco and his Two Sons - plus Jane ...