Montevideo, Uruguay: A Rough Start

It’s that time of the year again: visa renewal time. And you know what that means…a trip to Uruguay!  What better way to cross the Rio del Plata than on a nauseating boat ride to Colonia and a then a 3-hour bus ride in the rain to Montevideo.  I truly wish I could have given more credit to the city but Montevideo was slightly underwhelming.  Just another city, much like Buenos Aires but to a much smaller scale, with fewer sights to see, unsatisfying beaches and a less than helpful hostel staff to guide you through the eerily half abandoned city.  I’m sure it was also a factor of many things working against us.  The first day, it rained on and off and everything shuts down much earlier than in Buenos Aires, which we were not expecting and therefore were confined to our hostel most of the night.  The following day, getting antsy and annoyed, we decided to rent bikes and ride out into the pouring rain with gale force winds along the coast for about an hour until finally the rain let up, spending our last few hours in Montevideo cursing the city but at least soaking up what little sun we could.  The bus and boat ride back tested the limits of our stomachs and enforced our appreciation for solid ground. My sanity was kept intact thanks to the efforts of Erika, Daniel, Greg, Kip and Nick.