Montevideo, Uruguay: 3 days turned to 10

I left Buenos Aires on a massive ferry (possible the biggest catamaran that I have ever seen). I soon arrived in the city on Colonia, Uruguay. My sleeping bag was missing from the baggage train. After talking to the baggage staff it was established that my sleeping bag loved Buenos Aires and decided to stay longer. They assured me they would send it the Montevideo the following day. So I jumped on a bus to Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay.

Uruguay is a country I new very little about except for Australia beating them to qualify for the 2006 world cup, it is expensive and I can take USD from the ATMs (very important for going back to Argentina). The population is 3 million with 2 million in Montevideo.

When the bus arrived in Montevideo 2 guys holding shotguns outside of a bank caught my eye. The guards always work in teams of 4 in Uruguay, 2 with shotguns that stand guard and 2 that get the cash with handguns holstered... Uruguay is actually a very safe country.

And they love statues of dudes on horses.

I walked to my hostel that was recommended to me by a girl from CS, Mar (Sea in Spanish). After checking in having dinner and mingling Mar came to the hostel with her friends to drink out the back. She introduced to a drink Grapper Miel (Miel is honey in Spanish), it is drunk straight and a must try in Uruguay.

Soon we were walking down the street passing around 1 litre bottles of beer before 4 of us squeezed into the back seat of a car that I assume were 2 of Mar's friends in the front. It was a squishy ride and my lap was a seat for a girl I just met.

We soon arrived at a bar. In Uruguay people buy the drinks in the bar but the party is outside on the street and sidewalk. I was soon handed a drink of Fernet (an Argentinean/Italian spirit) by some randoms in another group I got talking to. It's a spirit everyone told me to try in Argentina but it never happened. It was immediately apparent that Uruguyans are incredibly friendly and talkative. I ended up mixing with many people before leaving with Mar and her friends to another bar and then back to the hostel for bed incredibly drunk... This was my introduction to Uruguay.

The next few days involved more parties, meeting many new people, reuniting with my sleeping bag and playing soccer. On the Sunday I also went to the biggest street(s) market I have seen in my life, it literally sold anything you could think of, covering around 10 or so blocks. I also spent one day taking photos.

Somehow I end up spending 2 night in the 2nd top floor of the tower.

Paris?

David?

After 5 days in the hostel I was off to meet my CS host, Hailey, an American girl. She lived in the 21st (3rd top) floor of the building I was snapping photos of the day before. She is an awesome girl that has done a lot of travelling and living in other countries.

The first night involved dinner at Hailey's place with her friends and her boyfriend. We ended up pretty drunk and somehow I ended up with a brand new toothbrush. The next day involved exploring and taking more photos, before inviting a Canadian guy I met through Mar, Brendan, to come play soccer with my hostel friends and I. The night was capped of with an asado (BBQ) and drinks at one of Hailey's friend's places.

The famous port or Star Wars?

From the window of Hailey's place

The next day I was off to Brendan's place for a few days. Brendan had actually lived in Brisbane for a year, small world. He hooked me up with a free ticket to the South American version of UEFA. We had a Canadian taxi driver on the way to the match and an Australian on the way home... we couldn't believe it. The Uruguyan team also beat the Colombian team.

Brendan lived in the beach neighbourhood so the next day I went off exploring the beaches. I saw a group of people slacklining on the beach so I thought I'd better go say hola. One of the girls, Fio, spoke good English so I spent the next couple of hours slacklining and talking to them.

A Capital City on the Beach!

Fio and su amiga

That night Brendan and I started drinking roadies before making our way to Hailey's place (apparently everybody knows everybody in Montevideo). After more drinks we were off to go to watch Mar sing with her band in a bar, all the people from the hostel I stayed at happened to be there as well. Mar has an incredible voice and sings soul music... another big night.

The couple of days just involved chilling out, drinking many mates (kind of like tea) and failing in getting the stoners I  the hostel to play more soccer. I also met a few more people.

After 4 nights at Brendan's and 11 nights in Montevideo it was time to head back to Argentina.

Next stop Buenos Aires!

Lessons Learnt:
Uruguayos are incredible friendly.
You can see Montevideo in a day but the people will make you stay longer.
Couchsurfing is awesome.
Mate is everywhere in Uruguay,  everyone has a furness under their arm.
Restaurants are expensive but street food is cheap and good.

If anyone wants some funny Spanish reading then Mar writes a blog http://antinovia.com (Anti-Novia = Anti-Girlfriend)

Viña Del Mar, Chile: Back to School

Once I sorted out my language school at the last minute, I booked a hostel for 2 nights and jumped on a bus to Viña del Mar. However, my phone must have received one last email before I got out of WiFi range. On the bus I discovered the news that my hostel had double booked. I was going to arrive in a new city at midnight with no accommodation.

Once I arrived I tried unsuccessfully to find a WiFi connection. Luckily for me I walked passed a hostel that had one bed left just for one night... I took it. Then I discovered another email from the hostel I booked saying they could give me a private room for the 1st night for the same price since they double booked but also had absolutely nothing for the 2nd night... too late.

The next day I left my luggage in the hostel, contacted the other hostel to let me know straight away if they have a cancellation, then took off to look at rooms in proper apartments to rent for 2 weeks... This was really going to test my Spanish. The first place I looked at was perfect (gym, swimming pool, BBQ, sauna and modern) except for location. The young Chilean couple in the other room had a 4 year old son, I ate lunch with them and watched Thomas y Sus Amigos (Thomas the Tank Engine)... It was good for my Spanish.

Upon returning to my hostel I received the good news that the other hostel had a cancellation and booked me in. I checked in before going to view 2 more properties, both with the same landlady that speaks no English. These were very close to my school so I chose the one with 5 Chilean housemates and saved about 70 USD compared to the language accommodation. Using the phone to type numbers to negotiate price, due language barriers, reminded me of Thailand

That night was a massive party at the hostel with about 30 people (mainly Chilean and Argentinean). I tried Pisco for the first time, the spirit of Chile and Peru, sometimes straight from the bottle. After drinking at the hostel, and in the street we eventually arrived at a club to dance the night away. I even experienced the very traditional Chilean recipe of Italiano Completo on the way home, a hot dog with avocado, tomato and mayonnaise (think flag, not cuisine).

Here is a video someone made on the way to the club, watching is optional. Facebook Video

After the big night I went to meet my landlady, Patricia, to settle into my new home. She taught me that "caña" means hangover in Chile. In Spain it's your standard glass of tap beer and my most common order. So before and after I guess.

The next day I commenced class, 5 days a week 9-12:40 for 2 weeks. School organised many activities during the week. Including  traditional Chilean cooking, asado (BBQ), touring the beautiful Valparaíso by bike and kayaking in the ocean next to seals.

Boiled Pumpkin and Flour... Sopaipillas

Then fried in oil

During the first week I also got back into running most days and went to Patricia's daughter's 20 birthday.

At the end of the first week 3 housemates moved out and 3 new ones moved in. One was an Australian, Tom, he was on a one year exchange program. I also experienced my first earthquake which became a regular occurrence.

 The next week involved many nights out. One night started off with Tom, a group of US exchange students and I drinking at our place, then led to doing boat races at a bar with some additional new Chilean friends. Then I was at McDonald's ordering a happy meal (caja feliz) and giving the toys to a Chilena, Camila, and saying it was a present for our baby... A quiet drink at home can escalate to parenthood with a stranger.

Before the boat race

The next day I thought it might be a good idea to get to know the mother of my future children (mum, this was a joke if you're reading). So I met up with Camila for beach tour. I found out she was a 21 year old psycho, I mean psychology student, and a genuinely really cool and funny girl.

Camila

The rest of week involved school, the beach and clubbing.

School was complete and my 2 weeks were up! The day before I was due to leave I arranged with Patricia to stay another week then met up with Camila in the near by town of Valparaíso, the town of her birth, where I ended up giving her a tour (the best parts of my bike tour from the week earlier)... Valparaíso might sound familiar,  it is the world heritage city in Chile that recently had a massive devastating fire. It is a really old port city and actually home to the Chilean Congress (I was surprised to hear congress sits here instead of Santiago).

The rest o the final week involved planning my next destination, reading about Chile, running, drinking with Tom and the exchange students and more time with Camila.

At the end of the week I went to Camila's place for dinner, I had already cooked for her twice, so it was her turn to try demonstrate her skills. She succeeded.  The next day it was time to say our goodbyes but not before she cooked lunch and acted as my translator for my first haircut in 7 months... A very awesome girl that is welcome in Australia anytime.

The Last Supper

Next stop the countryside outside the tiny town of Melipeuco.

Lessons Learnt:
Pisco is a dangerous drink.
Chilean Spanish is very different to Spain.
You never know who you will meet.
If you're enjoying somewhere/something then stay longer/do it more.
Time is the world's most valuable resource.

Barcelona, Spain: NYE in Catalana

I arrived in Barcelona just after midnight on what was now technically New Years Eve. Once I was all checked into to the hostel I was informed that Barcelona was going to have it first fireworks NYE celebration since the new millennium celebration 14 years earlier. I was incredibly buggered and wanted to be well rested before NYE in one of the worlds most famous party cities so I was off to bed.

After the hostel finished going through a map of the sights with a group of us I only had one, although very important, question... "Where is the nearest 100 Montaditos?" I ended up at a Basque Pintxo chain for lunch that just happened to have 0.70 Euro beers and 1 Euro pintxos on Tuesdays. I decided to create my own NYE event on Couchsurfing starting at this bar at 8:30pm. My first day in the city and I'm already organising parties... what could possibly go wrong? Before the party commenced I met up with Pau, a Barcelona local that attended one of my CS BBQs while living in Brisbane, for a tour. On this tour I discovered it was a Catalan custom to wear red underpants on NYE for good luck. So once I returned to my hostel I went into the bathroom only holding a red pair of underpants and came out holding a blue pair... now I had a genuine reason to ask everyone "What colour panties are you wearing?"... and I did.

The Party!

About 20 people had confirmed their attendance. I arrived at the bar to discover it was now closed. The first person I messaged the bad news to invited me to hostel to help him drink a bottle of whiskey so I bailed before I met anyone. I managed to recharge my phone, reply to all the messages (well only the ones via spanish SMS and whatsapp) and reorganise to a central location 2 hours later. It turned out to be an awesome night that involved drinking in the street, a bar, pushing people out of a full so the doors could close, running to the fireworks while eating the 12 grapes in 12 seconds (one for each month, Spanish tradition), catching the fireworks, cheap pizza and a club.

That's all I've got

The next couple of days I just chilled out and changed hostels.

I met up with a Barcelona girl that I met in Nice a couple of weeks earlier for a tour and drinks. She has a very interesting and intriguing life. Her weekend "boyfriend" is a pilot  that flies between Dubai and different European cities. She is his weekend "girlfriend". She flies to a different European city every weekend for free with free accommodation... it's one way to travel on a budget.

The next few days I spent exploring Barcelona.

Christopher Columbus pointing the long way to South America

Barcelona is incredibly touristy and expensive compared to the rest of Spain but good if you want to party. Also, as with a lot of Spain the local language isn't Spanish it is Catala/Catalan/Catalunian (in Catalan/English/Spanish).

The bus to Lyon was cheaper than Toulouse so next stop Lyon, France!

Lessons Learnt:
Check a venue will actually be open before organising a party.
Regardless of whether you think something is right or wrong it can still be fun to talk about... in the case above I would probably do the same.
You don't need to be in a city very long to host awesome parties.