Montevideo

We are here. Thanks God for making the rain stop, although some would blame him for starting it in the first place.

We left La Paloma on the 9am bus on Friday and it took four hours to get here, but it was a relief to leave, that`s for sure. It feels wierd being back in a city, but as far as cities go, this one definitely has a calm feel to it.

After checking into a hotel that had been recommended to us we went and had a mooch around town. The Old Town is really pretty and very colonial (not that I really know what that means) but it can get quite sketchy at night apparently.

We spent four or five hours looking round and after a siesta it was time to go out and sample some of the nightlife that this place has to offer. We ate quite late, maybe 10ish, and it ws nice seeing people coming out to eat at nearly midnight. It reminded me about how much England needs to get a grip with it´s licencing laws. After a tasty feed we headed into the local bars. I swear we are the only gringo´s here, although I did see someone had let the side down earlier in the day with an England shirt. We ended up in a club which was very amusing. We blagged our way in without paying (although again I suspect the gingo thing went in our favour), necked a tequilla, and then got into the groove. Actually we sat and people watched. This place is definitely missing a trick. The DJ was mixing 80s and 90s stuff like Madonna`s "La Isla Bonita" and UB40´s "Red Red Wine" (one of my favourites - it was class), as well as stuff by Depeche Mode and INXS. I wonder what would happen if Montevideans heard a 4-4 beat. Maybe they have, and we just went to the 80s and 90s night! Anyway, it was a class night.

We had another look round town yesterday. The Old Town is the best part and there are a lot of street hawkers and buskers there, as well as this bizarre antiques fair which seemed to have some skinned mink for sale. We also ate some tasty (and wierd) meat (you´ll have to see the next blog entry for details on that).

We are now half way through our trip and we are heading to Buenos Aires tomorrow which should be great. Almost everyone you meet who is traveling in South America raves about it so I´m looking forward to seeing what all the fuss is about. We are going to stay in a hostel so we can easily meet some more people although it already looks like we will be meeting Jay and Chloe there, who we lived with in Rio, as they are staying in their own apartment. I am ariving a day too late to watch "El Classico" though, which is the football game between Boca Juniors and River Plate. In fact it kicked off 45 mintues ago. Gutted! But I think H is pleased. I hadn´t planned to see a Boca game while I was in South America but if there is another one on in Buenos Aires whilst we are there I will definitely try and go.

Oh yeah, we will be travelling to Buenos Aires by ferry. I am a bit sick of buses, especially as we will have a lot more ahead of us, and it´ll be a nice way to arrive in Argentina. And I expect you lot are sick of reading about my bus journeys.

And H is now beating me by 54 games to 40 at Shithead.

Here´s some (un)interesting (and not very well taken) pictures of Montevideo.

This is the main square in Montevideo, the Plaza Independencia.

The Old Town.















And again.















A street market in the Old Town.















More art (and H).















And again......















And finally, the main street in Montevideo, Av 18 de Julio.