Montevideo and another steak

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Having escaped from the mosquitos in Colonia, we arrived in Montevideo. We had heard many contrasting opinions about Montevideo and so didn´t really know what to expect. We were pleasantly surprised by what we found....

The city itself is a mixture (as with a lot of the South American cities) of old and new, rundown and revitalized. It also has a pretty decent city beach. Although the water is a muddy colour due to sediment from the Rio de La Plata, the sea and beach are clean.

We were pleasantly surprised by what we found....

Developed and despair in Montevideo
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We stayed right in the centre, on the Plaza de Independence. The location was perfect. Close to the bars and restaurants of the old city.

We spent a couple of days here chilling on the beach. We found the locals very laid back. They would head to the beach after work around 7 or 8 for a couple hours of swimming and drinking mate - the herbal tea folk drink all the time out here. We find it amusing (typical gringo!) that everyone carries a mate mug and a flask of hot water with them everywhere. Literally everywhere. A bit like us Brits carrying a flask full of tea everywhere, stopping to drink on buses, by the beach, even on the tube... imagine!

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Wandering around the streets during the day we thought it pretty odd that lots of paper was being thrown out of the windows, followed by bucket loads of water. (You had to walk along looking upwards to void getting a soaking!) A lady told us it was traditional on the last working day of the year for the offices to throw out last years papers - obviously no data protection act here! Apparently on New Years Eve it is cider that gets thrown out of the windows, unfortunately we will miss that one...

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The old town really came to life at night. What seemed like a pretty quiet street would be full of chairs and tables, with locals and tourists alike drinking cold beers and glasses of wine. Very relaxed.

Also had another steak here. Very nice restaurant. Bit pricier than Argentina and I must admit, not as tender or tasty as the steaks we had become used to.

All in all a very nice trip.