Sadly Montevideo was a huge dissapointment - dirty, loud and lacking in any sort of culture or character. Moving on asap, we headed north to the town of Salto which is surrounded by pampas and thermal springs. The town itself is so lovely, with two main plazas filled with flowers and not so ugly statues. It probably helps that the sun has been shining for the 3 days we've been here, although I´d be optimistic in saying it's hot. We found a really cute place to stay and the people here have been so friendly and helpful (probably because they actually get very few tourists!). We´ve been spending our time wandering round taking in the atmosphere, loving all the old cars and crumbling buildings. Yesterday we took a bus over to the thermal pools, which were so much fun, although Jack couldn't go on the slide and was very upset. We went to lunch in a restaurant decked out with jungle plants and stuffed animals, and as I sat there chowing down my steak I tried to avoid looking into the rueful eyes of the cow's head staring back at me.

We've totally enjoyed getting away from everything and were kinda shocked this morning to see a big group of English/American tourists standing around in town. As we were sitting having breakfast in a little cafe, a few of them came in and asked to see a menu. After perusing it they left hastily and I heard the girl mutter in a huff "where can I find a Starbucks?" Thankfully she'll be looking for a hell of a long time round these parts!