Hola! Or should I say Ola?...Emily and I had a late night on Thursday getting free tango lessons until 3 AM in the hostel. I started to get the steps.... but Emily was having a harder time which Carlitos, our impromtu instructor found to be quite entertaining.
Sleeping in a room with 8 other men and women wasn´t as bad as I thought it would be. It was quieter than an average Macalester dorm room. We got free breakfast consisting of cereal and bread with dulce de leche ( basically caramel sauce) and then headed out around town in the old part of Montevideo (la ciudad vieja).
We walked out to a nice viewpoint and finally saw the Atlantic Ocean, and then went on a tour of the oldest theater in South America. We went with our new travel buddy Warren, and even though the tour was in Spanish, the Teatro Solis spoke for itself in many ways.
For lunch I basically had a plate filled with cholestorol including- french fries, a hamburger with an egg, ham, bacon AND cheese, and potato salad. I did not even finish half of it. Emily had a big piece of chicken with a side of fries. In Uruguay they do not eat their fries with ketchup, either oil or vinegar is added instead.
Montevideo was small but fairly interesting, and so it wasn´t a bad thing that we only spent one night in the city. So at around 6:15 PM we were ready to leave for the bus station - Tres Cruces or Three Crosses, and then on to Porto Alegre. The staff at the hostel tried to call a taxi for us to take to the station; however, they were unable to get a hold of anyone so we quickly made our way to the Plaza de Independencia (pictured in the photo) and waited and waited and waited for a taxi. There was a long line building up of people waiting at this taxi stop, and it was so bizzare because there were either no taxis in sight, or every one that passed by seemed to be full.
After about 45 minutes of waiting, Emily and I got nervous that we wouldn´t make it to the station in time to leave on our bus. Emily then asked someone about how to take the public bus to station and two women were really kind and said they would walk with us to the stop. We asked them why it was taking so long for a taxi and learned that unfortunately a taxi driver had been murdered and most drivers were on strike as a result. The bus stops were, as a result of the death, COMPLETELY packed. Luckily the bus headed to the station stopped right in front of us and we were able to squeeze are way on with out too much pushing or shoving. We arrived at the train station at 7:40 PM... only 10 minutes late. But of course, it really wasn´t a big deal that we were late and Emily and I took a big sigh of relief.
The bus was not too bad, it left Montevideo at around 8:30 PM and we arrived in Porto Alegre at around 9:00 AM. Although it might seem like an incredibly long bus ride, the idea is that you sleep for the majority of the time, and so the time really goes by fast.
We are now at Arno´s apartment. He is such a professor- his rooms are overflowing with books about human geography, geopolitics, etc. He is an excellent tour guide! He took us to a buffet for lunch $5.50 USD for all you can eat- and so many fruits and vegetables!) and for a walk around the old part of the city.
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