Blogs from Uruguay, South America - page 7

Holà. Ma 1ère soirée à Montevideo s'est bien passée. Je suis dans un hostel (auberge de jeunesse) avec entre autres un Français, 2 Allemandes, 1 Finlandaise, 2 Uruguayens dont 1 fan du Tour de France, et beaucoup de Brésiliens. La matinée a ressemblé à l'après-midi d'hier, à savoir régler mes problèmes de banque et l'après-midi il s'est mis à pleuvoir et je n'ai pas encore vraiment pu découvrir la ville. Ça me laisse au moins le temps de vous donner des news. Quand je pense que sur le drapeau uruguayen il y un soleil et que je ne l'ai toujours pas vu (le soleil, pas le drapeau)... Et oui, il faut que je vous parle de mes problèmes de banque. Quand je vous disais qu'il y avait de quoi faire un film! Je voulais de l'aventure, ... read more

Sinking my teeth into Uruguay...much like Uruguay's most famous current footballer sunk his teeth into Giorgio Chiellini. And Branislav Ivanovic. And Otman Bakkal. Hopefully the only thing I would be sinking my teeth into literally would be Uruguay's famous beef. As much as he is known for his controversial actions, Luis Suarez is a also a brilliant footballer with skill, pace, guile and a fiercely competitive spirit. The rest of the Uruguayan national team isn't too bad either, considering that Uruguay only has a population of 3.4 million - even less than New Zealand. What kind of a place produces such extraordinary talent that allows such a small nation to punch so far above their weight? I was hoping to find out. Mixing up the modes of transport I was taking, I was travelling to Uruguay ... read more

Boat on the Border BuqueBus Ferry My Day Trip from Buenos Aires to Uruguay In Buenos Aires I went on line to check my bank balance and make some transfers. I had recently changed my return date to the United States, extending my 2016 dive tour by ten days. On my statement there were six or seven withdrawals on the same day. This made me anxious, for I pay foreign transaction fees to Argentine banks as well as to my U.S. bank. During my short trip to Ushuaia the ATM limit was only $100. Thus the excessive fees. When planning my trip to Argentina I had read about the “blue” dollar and travelers agreed one should bring lots of American cash to Argentina. The exchange for American dollars is almost 16% on Florida Street (blue dollars), ... read more

Hello Everyone, So we got up early for our free breakfast, again it was bread and dolce leche (awesome sweet milk spread). We were leaving to head back to Colonia today but our bus was at 1430 so we still had all morning to explore!! We went for a walk in the early morning down to the Rambla-waterfront where the joggers are, we attempted a 5 minute jog but it is evident we clearly need to get back in the gym. It is a lot warmer in Montevideo, so Vick can now stop wearing the ski coat! One area to visit is ‘Mercado del Puerto, a fantastic restaurant area, here they had lots of Asado’s, so the best time to see this really is at night. Our early morning walk took us into the Plaza Independencia, ... read more

Hello Family and Friends, Today we were leaving for Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay by ferry. We bought the ticket in the week for about £50 return as it was cheaper to come back to BA and then take a bus up to Iguassu, instead of taking the bus to Salto and then to Iguassu. Pablo and Romi kindly offered to drop us off at the ferry terminal at 7am (they are so kind!) the trains do run at this time, but as it was dark they said it would have been unsafe. As we drove through the city at 6.30am, the nightclubs were still busy with people coming out and even people still queuing to get in some places!!!!! Literally a city that never sleeps! We arrived at the terminal an hour before the ferry departed ... read more