Paul and I have decided that we are definitely going to go back to Colonia and spend our time listening to music and drinking loads of red wine in one of the many gorgeous cafes with NO KIDS one day. It really was a stunning little town. As for Montevideo well so far it is grim. We dropped our bags at our hotel and explored the downtown area which lead down to the waterfront. The water was murky and the surrounding buildings were very much like behind the scenes Eastern Europe with oppresive concrete towers and grafitti - Run down. We found a childrens park and were shocked by the amount of broken glass around. I watched two young girls go skipping through to the swings in bare feet in horror. What I think is really sad is that for the kids that live in those imposing concrete towers that is their garden, an expanse of green covered in cigarette buts and glass with couple of rusty swings and seesaws thrown in for good measure. Paul says I should have save judgment until we have visited the northern beaches this morning as this is a more affluent area and this afternoon we are going to a huge market that got a good write up. I think Paul is hoping for another parillo as the meat dishes are supposed to be quite reasonable. Looking forward to getting to Pirapoulis tomorrow and laying our bags down for a whole week. x