Montevideo, Sylvester and so on...

Here I summarize Montevideo, Sylvester, and the one and only world monument of football. You see, the circle is slowly closing, it's about football again and slowly heading towards my starting and ending point.

In Punta del Este, I actually just lazed around and hung out, and when it wasn't thundering, I was collecting pigments on the beach. Now, after waiting in vain at the bus stop in Punta del Este for the bus to the terminal, I started walking, and as always, about 13 buses passed me - no problem, walking is healthier and you see more anyway. So, past the Trump Tower - yes, they have one here too - to buy a ticket at the terminal and go to the capital. I walked the 2km to the hostel and the nice hostelier said in response to my question about the bus to Colonia del Sacramento on New Year's Day, 'you'd better buy it today on holidays, they don't run as often and the 1st of January is a special day.' Okay, I already knew the way, so I walked back to the terminal and checked out the different providers. The first one only had the option of a 3-hour trip at 18:30, the ferry leaves at 20:00 - nope, the second one still had 16:30 on offer - ah no, I wanted to do some sightseeing. The third one had departures at 11:00 and 15:30, okay, Sylvester party, the hostel already offered me that, so it'll be shorter, and I'll take the 11:00 o'clock one. Phew, I probably would have been standing in front of the counter like a loser on the 1st. Furthermore, and this brings me back to the actually quite normal 30th of December, everything here is closed. Of the 10 bars and pubs, only 1 is open!!! The people would rather be at the beach with this weather and over the holidays - great attitude - just a bit stupid for me as a tourist. Well, no problem, I know for next time.

Well, I quickly walked around 25km (no kidding) to the stadium (quickly took a few snapshots through the cracks in the walls and doors), Mole, Rambla, Sarandi, Palacio Salvo, etc. and finally found a bar and something to eat.

Today, on the 31st, I actually wanted to go to the football museum and the Centenario Stadium (Monday = normal day), but no, they're closed too, probably still at the beach, the people. Okay, for $3, the caretaker let me at least into the stadium. It's a nice old-school place, you can really feel the spirit of 1930 and the first World Cup, I don't think much has changed since then, and it's amazing how modern the stadium already was back then with concrete beams and supports, and even more amazing that it was completed in 6 months.

I also took a few snapshots, a bit of the beach, but we also have crappy weather here, I tried (in vain) to find stamps, and now I'll hang out in the hammock until the New Year's Eve barbecue.

Additional notes: 1. Don't party with Argentines and Brazilians, and especially not with an Argentine dance instructor. 2. Never set goals like 'One less today' or 'go to bed earlier', it worked really well 😏.

Oh man, it's hard to get up this morning. It was a great party, but I should have skipped the second part after midnight. 😵🤕

Now I'm about to go to the bus with the hope of getting 2 hours of sleep.

Despite all physical resistance, I dragged myself on foot to Terminal Tres Cruces and I'm ready for the bus, but I don't know if my yet unknown fellow travelers see it the same way.

A small conclusion: All in all, I have to say Montevideo has beautiful old buildings similar to Buenos Aires but much smaller, unfortunately also dirtier (plastic bags everywhere) and bigger visible poverty. Apparently, everything here is very relaxed, as you can see from the opening hours and so on.