Uruguay

On Thursday afternoon, Trevor and I hopped on a boat to Uruguay. Fifty minutes and some odd customs/immigration checks later (a Uruguayan and and Argentine sit next to each other and pass my passport along and I'm done? All on one side of the river? Ok...), we were in Colonia. Lonely Planet calls Colonia "charming and quaint," and they pretty much hit the nail on the head. While there wouldn't be much to do there for more than a day, it's very cute, full of historical sites and solid restaurants, and worth seeing. Highlights include the view from the lighthouse and the beautiful colonial architecture in general.

Next stop: Montevideo, a city which I'll admit I knew nothing about and made me think only of memorizing Latin American capital cities in high school Spanish class. And... it's one of the weirder capital cities I've visited. I think maybe a day and a half wasn't quite enough to understand this place, but from what I've gathered, it's a smallish city in a quiet state of crumbling decay with bright spots of activity here and there. The part of the city I liked best was the old town, the Ciudad Vieja - old buildings, narrow streets, lots of vendors, plenty of cafes and bars - the only place that seemed to have anything going on at night, even on a Saturday.

Another highlight of Montevideo is the Mercado del Puerto, which, strangely enough, is a collection of bustling restaurants--mostly parrillas (grills)--crammed into a wrought-iron building of sorts. Unique atmosphere and, at least at El Palenque, where we ate, great parrilla. Sensory overload, though: voices, clattering, various wandering street musicians, crowds, the smell of meat cooking, etc. It's also home to Roldó's, a cafe that's been there since 1886 and is known for serving medio y medio, a mix of sparking and white wines--which, I might add, costs 25 Uruguayan pesos a glass... about $1.25 US.

Late Saturday afternoon, a relatively expensive cab ride took us across the city and up to El Cerrito, site of the Museo Militar, and more importantly, a great view of the whole city and a panorama of everything around it. As usual, the photo doesn't do it justice.


Now I'm back in Buenos Aires and excited to spend this week with my mom and aunt Lisa, who arrive tomorrow morning, and then the week after that with my dad and Melanie. And then the semester's kind of almost over...!?! Never a dull moment...