A quiet Sunday in Montevideo

hh, the joys of a lie-in. Haven't had so many of them on this trip, as it seems a shame to miss out on a free breakfast when it's part of the deal in your accommodation, but occasionally my tiredness wins, especially with the somewhat underwhelming offerings in Argentina and Uruguay on the breakfast front. No real plans for the day, so in the end I decided to indulge my football- and history-loving sides and went out to Parque Jorge Batlle to see the Estadio Centenario (Centenary Stadium), built to celebrate 100 years of Uruguayan independence and host to the first ever World Cup Final (won, incidentally, by the hosts). I couldn't actually get in to see inside, as even the museum was closed, but I had a wander around and admired the monument to the winners, the base of which has carved in the names of all the winning teams from 1930 to 1990, all the while trying to keep to the shade as much as possible as my bandana was in the laundry and I was in dire danger of sunburnt scalp.

On the way back into town, I paid a visit to the giant flea-market which takes place every sunday on and around Calle Tristan Narvaja. Loads of stalls selling clothes, food, books, jewellery, even pets as well as random stuff which could be antique or could simply be junk, running for about 7 blocks. Interesting enough to look around for a bit, but I was getting tired and rather warm by this point, so I wandered back over to the hostel, where I spent some of the afternoon online and a bit more reading. Dinner consisted of my first encounter with a chivito, a Uruguayan speciality which is best described as a steak sandwich with everything bar the kitchen sink added (my Aussie friends would be pleased to know this even sometimes includes beetroot, though I haven't yet seen one with pineapple added to the mix). After this, I headed back to El Viajero, for a bit more conversation and drinks with my friends from the previous night, along with a couple more new arrivals.