So, then,  Christmas has gone again. We had a bit of a strange day as the weather (unlike the day before - and after!) was very wet and wild. We woke to have our normal breakfast of bread and coffee (everywhere we`ve stayed in Uruguay serves the same breakfast!) and there was a bit of cloud cover, but not too bad. We walked into the village to get some supplies for our planned Christmas picnic on the beach without any problems. Our respectives families both phoned, so it was really nice to hear how they were all doing. Nearly all of Xana`s family was in Portugal together for the first time in ages, so she spoke to them all. They both seemed to be having better weather than us!. We started to get ready to go to the beach, but then the rain kicked in with a vengange. At first it was not too strong and we were debating on wether to go or not. We decided to wait for a while and were very glad we did! The rain and winds were really strong and forced us off the verander and indoors for a couple of hours of snacking, drinking red wine and playing card games. Luckily, the weather calmed down a bit later and by 4 or 5 we decided to risk going for a Christmas day swim. It was our first time swimming in the ocean on this trip, so it was good to get in, especially on Christmas day. That night we wandered into town and had a couple of hamburgers! It wasn`t quite the day we had planned, but it was nice to be by the sea.

 

Next day the weather was much better, so we spent most of the time on the beach - our first proper beach day. We then had our last evening meal in Ponta del Diablo, as the next day we were (hopefully, as we weren`t 100% sure where the bus picked us up from, how we would get to that point, and when the bus would be there!) going to Punta del Este.

 

We spent the day wandering around town, trying to find a taxi to take us to the bus stop and generally killing time. There was a nice cafe down by the beach which had a cool breeze, so we spent a couple of hours there and then, having been unable to find the only taxi in town, managed to get a lift off the partner of the Posuada owner to the bus stop. The bus to Punta del Este turned up when it was supposed to (more or less), so we made it to our next stop with no problems.

 

Punta del Este is a rich holiday resort that reminds me of Surfers Paradise in Australia (in fact, a lot of Uruguay reminds me of a poorer version of Australia. They are at the same latititude, so the climate and geography are similiar, and the architecture can be similiar). A lot of rich Argentians come over from BsAs to party here. The hostel we stayed in was purpose-built so had all the right stuff, but was pretty souless. The people who worked there were all too-trendy surf dudes who weren`t particularly friendly and it was stuck out a bit further from Ponta del Este than we thought. We went into town yesterday and went to this nice little restaurant that was recommended by the guide book. It was a bit cheaper than some of the others in town, so we ended up going a bit crazy with a bottle of wine, desert and coffees! Must try harder to be a proper backpacker... Must try harder to be a proper backpacker... Must try harder to be a proper backpacker...

 

Anyway, today we`ve checked out of our hostel and are now in Punta del Este waiting for our bus at 10 o`clock tonight to Brazil (it`s now 1pm, so we`ve got a lot of time to kill...). We go first to Porto Alegre (overnight bus) and then have to find a bus to take us to Florianapolis. We`ve not been able to find out details on that yet, but I`m sure it will be fine!

 

Uruguay has been a nice place for a week or two. Not sure if I would want to spend much longer than that as there`s not loads to do. One of the most noticable things about Uruguay is the amount of matè drinking that goes on, much more than Argentina. Everywhere you look there are people carrying their matè gourds and a thermos of hot water under their arm. In Argentina, it seems like matè is a thing to do at home, but here everyone is at it - walking down the street, on the beach, everywhere. The funny thing is that nowhere sells matè in a cup, like a tea or coffee. I`m not sure why they haven`t got places where you can buy it - everyone just carries their own! Sorry, I should have said, for those that don`t know, matè is a herbal tea like drink that is drunk from a special gourd (also called a matè) through a metal straw. It`s a very social thing, with the matè being passed round the group, being topped up after each person has finished.

 

Okay, will go and try and find something else to do for the next 9 hours.

 

Take care and hope you all had a great Christmas.

 

Hi,

Well it`s been a while since I updated the blog, so there`s a bit to let you know about. The day after last writing was our last day at the language school, so Xana and I had to take our exams. We both passed (Xana, naturally with flying colours!) and then wanted to go for lunch with a few people from the school. We wanted to go to an all you can eat place (called a tenedore libre) where you can get as much meat, fish, salads, pasta, deserts as you can eat for about 4 pounds. We had to get the tube out to Palermo where the restaurant was and it was pretty crowded. It was very packed at one particular point and there was the guy who seemed to be standing unnecessarily close, but I didn`t think anything of it at the time. We then all lost our balance breaking into a station, but, although we didn`t realise at the time, it was just our section that had this problem. Two stops later we went to get off and it was then that I realised that someone had stolen my wallet from my front trouser pockets. Looing back we figured it must have been the guy standing too close who engineered the fall and took it then. Unfortunately the wallet had a bank card and a credit card (we had been trying to pay for somethings online recently and I hadn`t taken the credit card back out) in it, so we headed straight to the nearest internet place and got the emergency numbers for my banks and I then quickly cancelled the cards. There was no payment taken from them before I cancelled them, so there was no real damage - just the inconvience of being without the cards. There was also about 30 quids worth of pesos in there, so in the scheme of things (considering I wasn`t hurt or anything) it could have been worse. A friend of ours is coming out next year, so she`ll be able to get the cards to us and we have back ups, so not too painful.

 

Anyway, after that we went to a really nice bar called Milion. It was a very fancy building. We decided to go to a club afterwards, but wished we hadn`t bothered as the bar was much nicer! A few drinks later we headed home. We then had to spend part of Saturday reporting it to the cops in case I needed to claim anything. In the evening we just packed ready for our next day ferry trip to Uruguay.

 

We said goodbye to our apartment and (after a few concerning minutes waiting for a taxi) headed to the ferry terminal, only to be told that due to the rough weather (and it was very rough - really strong winds) the port in Uruguay (Colonia) was closed and maybe the boat wouldn`t be sailing on time, if at all! We checked in anyway and, luckily (especially considering we had no Argentian money left and didn`t want to take out any more), the boat sailed only an hour or so late. The journey wasn`t too rough either.

 

Colonia is a very nice, quaint town that was built by the Portuguese before being taking over by the Spanish. There`s lots of old buildings and a nice relaxed place to be. It was a bit pricier than we`d been expecting (it was quite touristy), but nice. We kept bumping into this British couple (who had emigrated to Canada) who had been on the boat over and ended up having a meal with them one night.

 

After two nights in Colonia we were ready to move on and caught the bus to Montevideo. Montevideo has a relaxed vibe about it. It`s about 1.2 million people and is much cleaner than BsAs. There`s not loads of must see activities here, but it has nice beaches (although we didn`t actually go to any of them!), a nice strip of bars and restaurants and a small old city quarter. We spent four nights here in a hostel right in the city centre, which was nice, if a bit loud (we`re getting on a bit now and need a good nights sleep!). We noticed that there was a theatre close to the hostel, so decided to check out was on. They were showing Swan Lake and as it was only 6 pounds a ticket and Xana had always wanted to go and see some ballet, we decided to go. Xana really enjoyed it. The lead female dancer was, apparently (!) very good and the music was very impressive, with a few tunes you recognised. It wasn`t really my thing, but at least I`ve now been and can say that for certain  - rather than just assuming I wouldn`t like it! Going to the ballet in Montevideo certainly wasn`t an experience I was expecting when I left the UK, but as Scott, one of the guys from the Oasis tour, would have said - it`s all good!

 

The last night we were at the Montevideo hostel they were throwing a party, so we made sure that we moved rooms as far away from the bar area as possible (told you we`re getting old!) and then headed out for a meal, with the intention of heading back for the party later. The restaurant we went to had a dj playing in the square outside so we sat down and enjoyed the food whilst listening to some pretty cool tunes. After the food, the dj packed up and then a live (two man) band set up. Looking at them we werèn`t expecting much (one looked like a Uruguayian Mr Bean), but they were actually quite good. They did cover versions that all the crowd seemed to know and by the end of their set there must have been at least one hundred people watching. They were very self-deprecating and the lead singer (the Mr Bean lookalike) kept making very bad jokes all through the set, but it somehow worked! Later than we had planned we headed back to the hostel with the intention of one quick drink and then to bed. Just as we were about to go, one of the guys staying at the hostel we`d spoken to before, spotted us and started talking to us. We then spent nearly two hours talking to him and some of the other people there. The party was pretty rubbish (the owner said 200 people were supposed to be coming, but in the end it was nearer 20!), but we didn`t get to bed until nearly 3.

 

Next morning we checked out headed to the bus station to travel to Punta del Diablo. The morning was hot and sunny, but by the time we came to leave there was the most torrential storm either of us have ever seen. We were stood outside the coach loading our things for all of about 10 seconds, but we ended up absolutely drenched. It was as if someone had emptied a bucket of water over our heads! When we arrived in Punta del Diablo, the weather had calmed down, but it was still raining and we had no idea where our Pousada was! We took shelter in a local bakery and they were able to point us in the right direction, so we made it there without any more hiccups!

 

Punta del Diablo is a very small, sleepy fishing/surfing village. There`s not much to do, but it`s a nice place to hang out and relax for a while (this travelling business is very stressful you know!). Tonight we`re going for a Christmas meal at a local restaurant (Caipirinhas and paella - very Christmassy!) with live music. Tomorrow will probably be a picnic on the beach for lunch and then back to a restaurant in the evening.

 

Okay - we hope everyone has a great Christmas, wherever you all are.

 

Take care.

 

Hi,

We moved into our new flat on Sunday. We`ve got a nice big room with decent sized windows - a nice change after the low ceiling and no windows of the hostel. The main problem with the apartment is that the kitchen is really small (only two hobs, one saucepan, no real surfaces...) and that there seems to be a constant stream of mosquitos bothering us each night! Other than that though, the place is really good. It`s only ten minutes walk to San Telmo and fifteen to our Spanish school. The other people in the flat are really nice as well. Amixture of other students and travellers from all over the world.

 

We`ve been at the school for the past two weeks now and it`s gone pretty well. Xana is being streched more than last time and I`m definitely getting more out of it and enjoying it more this time around. I`ll never be fluent, but it`s nice to feel you`ve got a bit of a base to work on. We had an exam this morning to see how far we`ve got on. We should get our results when I go back to the school later.

 

The other students in our clases are nice as well. We`ve been out a few times with some of them and are going out again tonight. We`ve also caught up with some of the people from the Oasis truck. Last weekend the truck was in BA, so we went out for a few drinks on a couple of different nights. Last night we were out for a really nice meal (I had the best steak I`ve had so far in Argentina) with Rebecca and Stephen from the truck and Kath (who we met in Quito).

 

The night before we went to a bar in Recoleta to watch the play-off final for the Argenitinan first division. The top two teams finished level on points (with Boca being six points clear with two games left, it was a real surprise they were caught) and they needed to play off to decide who would be the champions. It was a good atmosphere in the bar, with most people supporting Boca (the kind of ManU of Argrentina). However, Boca played pretty badly and lost 2-1. The quality of the football was pretty poor, very end-to-end stuff, but exciting.

 

We`ve also managed to book some accommodation for Christmas, New Year and Carnaval. We will be in Puento del Diable (Uruguay), Florianopolis (Brazil) and Paraty (also Brazil) respectively. We get the ferry to Uruguay on Sunday, so it will be goodb ye toBA We`ve really enjoyed staying here. It`s a great city with loads to do, especially at night. However, it`s been really hot and humid the last week, so we`re kind of looking forward to be by the coast and some cooler weather.

 

Hasta luega!

 

Hi,

 

We´re in Buenos Aires at the moment and have been have been here over a week now. We arrived last Friday at around 4am! The flight should have got in around 5 the previous afternoon, but, due to technical difficulties with our plane, was delayed by nearly 12 hours. What with Mum and Xana still suffering from their bad colds, it wasn´t the best time to be delayed. Luckily (for some of us) the airline laid on a coach to take those who wanted to back into Bariloche. Mum and Xana decided to stay at the airport as they didn´t feel like moving around too much. Dad and I headed into town with a few hours to kill. For some strange reason we ended up in a really nice bar called the Maproom. It had a loads of different types of beers, so, in the interests of research, we decided to try a few! After five or six and a nice meal, we jumped back on the coach to the airport. Luckily the Xana and Mum didn´t begrudge us our freetime and, after some more delays, we finally boarded the plane to BA.

 

The next day, Mum, Dad and I (Xana was still too poorly to venture far) had a guided tour of the city. It was a really busyt day, traffic-wise, so I don´t think that my parents saw the best of it, but it gave a brief overview.

 

After a quick nap, we all headed out again into the evening to a tango show. We had expected this to be a bit touristy (and it was, to a degree), but it was a really good show. It included food and as much wine as you could drink and the dancing was really good, very impressive. Better than we had been expecting.

 

The next day was my parent´s last full day, so we headed into BA (from our hotel in San Telmo, a BA suburb, or ´barrio´) and spent the day wandering the city and the regenerated dockland area. That night we had our last meal together at a nice restaurant in Recoleta.

 

The next morning, Mum and Dad said goodbye and were taken off to the airport for their long flight back to the UK. It had been great seeing them again, and it was a real shame that they had to go back home so soon.

 

That day Xana and I wandered into the centre of San Telmo and saw the antique market. We then had to move from our fancy hotel into a grotty (well, not grotty really, but it felt strange after being in nice hotels for the last two weeks!) hostel. The first night we were in a dorm, but would then move into a double room once one became available.

 

The next few days and nights consisted of wandering around a suburb of BA by day (Recoleta, San Telmo and Palermo) and going out for a meal in the evening. We tried to go clubbing a few times, even to the extent of having a siesta in an effort to stay awake long enough! In BA  the clubs don´t get busy until 1 or 2 in the morning, so we knew there was no point in going out to early! Each time, though, we had to admit defeat after a lovely dinner and, finally, last night, we managed to find ourselves in a club. We´d decided to go to Pacha and had a kip and late dinner in preperation. We almost folded again (over thirty now, you see!), but managed to jump in a ataxi to take us out to the airport where the club is based. Unfortunately, when we got there, we found it was a private party and not open to the public!! So, undetered, we took the Pacha bouncer´s advice and went to a nearby club called ´Crobar´. This was a  pretty cool club, with some good music and got really busy around 2am, but it seemed to be full of people who would sooner stand around and pose than dance! And they were doing this on the dancefloor, which was a bit irritating. The DJ did his best to warm everyone up and some people did dance, but the dancing was pretty low-key. And some of the dancing was pretty terrible. We had expected great dancers in the home of tango, but some of the dancing made me, a 6´3" English man look good!!

 

Anyway, after we had dodged the local prostitutes in one of the nearby streets (one of whom was in her birthday suit - in the rain too, she´ll catch a terrible chill...) we managed to catch a taxi and head home after a good night.

 

Today we went to look at the apartment we´re moving into tomorrow. We are spending the next two weeks at a language school, so are moving into one of their student apartments. Looks nice.

 

Tonight, we are meeting up with Scott, one of the guys on the Oasis tour, who has arrived in BA ahead of the truck (he flew up, rather than have to endure lots of 11 hour drives from Ushuia). Will be good to see him again. The rest of the truck arrives on the 6th.