Getting from Punta del Este back to Montevideo was another 2 - 2 1/2 hour bus ride. While Uruguay has a population of less than 1.5 million, more than 40 percent of the country's inhabitants live in the city, but it still has a sort of big small-town feel. Our hostel was a less than 10-minute walk from the bus station. We had reserved beds in a 4-room dorm, but when we got there we were told that the room we had originally reserved had been fumigated that morning after a bed-bug incident....soooo they moved us to a 9-bed dorm instead. The good news: we arrived *after* they realized there was a bed bug problem and *didn't* sleep in bug-infested beds. That's a win in my book.
Our first stop was the Mercado del Puerto en Ciudad Vieja. The old building was originally constructed to be a train station but was converted to what is now THE place for visitors to go in Montevideo to eat fresh off the parilla (grill). The market is filled with various parilla "restaurants," -- some with tables but most with just bar stools wrapped around the monstrous grill in the middle. When you spot an open seat, you run to claim it before someone else does, belly up to the grill, and order your choice of grilled meat and vegetables. I do admit that I was REALLY hungry when we got there, but it was REALLY REALLY good. In case I haven't mentioned, back home, I could usually care less about meat, but here it is about a million times better at about a millionth of the price.
Other highlights of Montevideo included strolling through a couple of weekend markets, seeing all the city monuments, and renting a peddle boat at a small lake in the middle of a park -- yesssir, best dollar ever spent!
On Monday morning, we woke up early to catch a bus to the airport (about 45 minutes away). It was a long day of travel to get to Iguazu, but for about the same price, flying from Montevideo - Buenos Aires - Iguazu with a long layover between flights sounded significantly more appealing than an 18-hour bus ride. Big waterfalls to come!
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