Up at 8:30am. Still feeling good.
Courtyard of Posada de la Flor before we checked out. Reminded me of Hershey Hall a bit.
We took a 2.5-hr bus ride to Montevideo. After checking in we had limited time to find lunch. Bob and I broke down and hit McDonalds. It's terrible food, but when you're travelling it has the advantage of being fast and familiar. At least you know what you're getting. The devil you know.
Four of us went for a city tour that took 3.5 hours and went way out into the suburbs. I thought it was just going to be driving around in the central area, so we saw more than I expected. The guide pointed out that the country is called the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, and the official nationality is Oriental. But she calls herself Uruguayan anyway.
The bus circled the central square a few times and we stopped once to enter the cathedral. ABC (Another Bloody Church).
Palacio Salvo. I thought the guide said it was built in 1828 but my book says otherwise.
Congress.
Torre de las Telecomunicaciones, the tallest building in Uruguay.
Estadio Centenario, which hosted the inaugural 1930 World Cup final won by Uruguay.
The city tour took us back along the beach, and we realized the good beaches are too far to walk.
I already noticed at this point that Uruguayan girls are hotter than Argentine, and they do make eye contact. Nice.
Eli, Shaneela and Radha went to a jazz concert while the rest of the group went to dinner. I had curry chicken (not hot at all). The three girls showed up after the concert as we were leaving, so we stopped leaving. But later we left. Six of us went to El Pony Pisador, a bar that sounds gay but isn't. Eli and I split another sangria pitcher and got to singing the Shoop Shoop song. I couldn't remember one of the verses and wrote my own in its stead. But I didn't perform it publicly and the next day remembered the real lyrics. Here's what I was prepared to sing:
(Is it in his dance?) Oh no, he'll do you wrong
(In his underpants?) Oh no, that's just his schlong
If you wanna know if he loves you so, it's in his kiss (that's where it is)
This bar is where Eli first commented on my shoes being tied too tight, which only John Mebrahtu had brought to my attention before. I conceded that sometimes when I'm sitting and my feet get overly hydrated, that big vein on top of the foot starts to hurt.
Me: "I love that vein."
Eli: "Is that your favorite vein?"
Me: "Second."
Eli: "Which is your favorite?"
Me: "Oh--you know which one."
Eli and I left after the pitcher so we could get up early and go to the beach. We went to bed around 2:30-3am. The idea of a roommate realignment came up, solely for matching common bedtimes, but it was rejected several days later by the affected parties.