Sheraton Montevideo

... time to move on.

We stayed at the Hotel Iguassu, which had a nice location, but aside from a nice lobby and a helpful hotel staff, was ugly, loud and freezing cold. The last night I slept in my coat. Our guide did a pretty minimal city tour walking us around the historic district, but not explaining much or taking us in to see anything. Some of the buildings were really beautiful, but ...

... Uruguayan telephone company.


Despite these good points, we were ready to put Montevideo behind us, and move east to Punta del Este.

Oh, yes; the title of this posting. We were told that as the Spanish and Portuguese explored this area, they identified landmarks on their maps. One of these landmarks was designated as the sixth hill from the ocean, i.e., from east to west. Written in Spanish with ...

... a metal straw to drink a very hot liquid from but it's a friendly and intriguing custom. there is mate paraphernalia everywhere and if you fancy, you can buy a mate gourd cased in a cow's hoof. no lie. *weekly flea markets where people sell everything and anything from used shoes and antique candlesticks to local produce and live owls. there is a puppy corner where everyone and their mother whose dog has recently had babies sets up boxes ...

... operational hydroelectric dam (this will become the worlds second largest when the Three gorges dam in China gets going next year). It was massive and we drove underneath it and over the top, with a huge lake on one side and a sheer drop on the other. It is pretty impressive and creates 80% of the whole electric demand for Paraguay and 25% of the demand for Brazil (which is pretty amazing considering the size of Brazil - a third of the S.American continent). In order to build ...

... artesan shops. Most restaurants have a massive fire and grill where the meat is cooked, around which the customers sit. To us non-meat eaters it was pretty grim! Overall Montevideo felt like a town that was once very rich, but now those days are long gone and the city is falling into disrepair. It´s quite sad really..... The new town was less run down than the old ...

... machine - didn´t leave a message) and Betty (got cut off and then never got her back because the new phone card we bought is only for pay phones - curses!). I found FL Follies on YouTube and sent 2 videos to Marjorie and Debbie Thayer. I slept well, and Philip made French toast for breakfast. Right now there's something very loud, with lots of screaming and shouting and thunderous gunfire, on the TV. I sure do miss those earphones from the RV ...

... I doubt we´ll walk back for it today. We next strolled around the pedestrian streets, stopping in at a 3-floor department store with the name ¨cooperative¨ in the name. It was about 30 degrees warmer inside than out, and people continue to wear their heavy coats, etc. inside. We have to take jacket and sweater off! I´m looking for an outside mat for this apartment as a ¨thank-you¨ gift, but have had no luck yet. We made the mistake of ...