Montevideo day 2

Montevideo really is a pretty bleak place. We walked the length and breadth of the city today, trying to find something worth seeing but in the end, the highlight was eating a burrito at a Californian chain store. The lowlight was a bird pooing on Jemma's head. The hostel hasn't done much to improve our impressions of the city - there is currently a small family living here who ate all of the breakfast before we got up and generally ruin the hostel vibe. Tomorrow we catch the ferry for Buenos Aires where we will be staying in the renowned party hostel, Milhouse Avenue :)

P.S. I have now enabled commenting on this blog so anyone should be able to comment, even if you don't have an account

We have seen many cars like this in Uruguay

City centre

More photos of Montevideo and Floripa HERE

From Florianopolis to Montevideo

Jemma enjoying the complimentary whiskey served on the coach

We spent our last day in Florianopolis at the beach, kayaking on the lake and chilling out. Half way out into the lake it transpired that Jemma had never canoed before and couldnt canoe to save her life so I had to row us both back to the shore. Three days in Floripa was enough for me, and on the last day the weather started to turn. In retrospect, it was a lovely hostel and it was nice to have some chill out time without so many people about. On the first night we ate a ridiculously overpriced seafood meal because Jemma had it in her head she had to have shrimp, so all I could eat was the rice and chips. It takes a lot for me, the chipmonster to say I don't like chips but these didn't have any potato in - they were just fried fries. The next day I chose the meal and we went to Subway. Good old Subway, like McDonalds, it tastes universally good. We then had to get from the remote resort to the central bus station walking in the blazing heat with our massive bags. Once there, we caught a bus to Uruguay and the journey took 23 hours in total from door to door. We were very impressed with the bus however, as they served us free drinks ( including whiskey) and meals along the way. Surprise surprise though, the meal consisted of a ham and cheese sandwich with a hot chicken Kiev, which, wait for it, also had ham and cheese inside the chicken. They also showed two good films including the Shining. We got to Montevideo early this morning having slept very little on the bus. I have to say it is the most unremarkable city I have ever visited in my life. It feels more European than Brazil but has a kind of Eastern block atmosphere to it - old rusty cars everywhere and people wearing clothes a decade out of date. I can't wait to leave and get to Buenos Aires. The highlight of our stay here so far has been having my first McDonalds, which was actually more expensive than in the UK but made such a nice change to constant ham and cheese. After this trip is over, I hope I never have to see another ham and cheese sandwich ever again in my life.