On Our Way to Uruguay

  Montevideo, Uruguay
Tuesday, March 25, 2008

By the end of our time in the falls, the place was somehow our friend.  I know that sounds strange, but that is how it felt.  We were comfortable, we felt supported, and we felt like friends.  Needless to say, leaving comfort is not always easy.  I sat staring at the falls, thinking too much, complicating the process.  Thankfully the taxi driver did arrive to whisk us off to another high speed transport.  The travel energy was again running through my veins.

After much confusion, almost missing our connection flight, and high stress, we arrived in Montevideo, Uruguay.  Our first impressions were very good.  The airport is nice and clean, and not too many hagglers bug you to take their services.  In our mind, that is a great thing.  The sheer exhaustion of one ride to one plane ride, to another trip through customs, to another flight, led us to take a simple taxi verses a confusing bus ride.  I am getting lazy.  Something about me just wants things to be simple.  I am pretty sure the taxi driver went through just a few too many twists and turns to rev up the meter, but at this point, I have no desire to get angry with him.  If he needs our money that bad, we were willing to give him the few extra bucks.  As we paid our overpriced ride, we found our way to our new accommodations.

Something about our current residence does not scream beauty and comfort like that of Iguazu, but it will do.  The architecture is spectacular and the staff is friendly.  I did have to buy some ear plugs to combat the noisy sleeping, but oh well.  It is centrally located and has some nice living space.  It is a nice springboard for our explorations of Montevideo.

Our first venture out was for dinner.  Wow, food has been spectacular on this trip.  We've walked and walked and hiked and hiked, so by the time I sit down for dinner I can't wait.  My ginger steak was simply phenomenal, it was hard to say if it was better than the last steak I had.  Charlie's food was amazing as well.  We wished we could take over this small restaurant with our familyˇthey love good food as well.  We wanted to thank someone for the fine experience our taste buds just underwent.  We wanted to somehow take this meat, and whoever cooked it, home with us.  Instead we just savored the moment and then roamed through the Old City of Montevideo.

The evening was lovely and the place unique.  We can't quite figure it out.  Some things about this place are simply delightful, other things we do not like at all.  That is one of the joys of traveling, you never know what you might see and how you might feel about it.

The city is similar to many mid sized cities, the plazas, statues, churches, and crowded walkways.  Then you turn a corner and find a lovely shopping area or a quaint restaurant.
It feels safe, friendly, and nice.  The next turn might leave us hopping over dog doo, telling the hagglers to please leave us alone.  It's a city of mixed emotions.  I would have to say my feelings have gone up and down in the midst of it.

Tomorrow we continue on our journey.  We think the next stop is Punte del Este, one of the top beaches of South America.  We just want to see what the fuss is all about.  In my mind it seems like it may be like Miami, those of you who truly know me realize I am nowhere near a Miami girl.  We're too close to miss it at this point.  Regardless, it will be nice to see the waves, the sunshine, and the comfort of God's creation.  I'm hoping that just like Iguazu, it will bring a little bit of comfort.