I got up at 7ish and tried to take a shower but it was ice cold. I checked-out and walked to the bus station, Bill decided he wanted to leave Colonia today too. We met Katie in the bus terminal and had breakfast together. We got on our bus and left the foggy, cold town of Colonia for the capital of Uruguay; Montevideo! We arrived in Montevideo around 11ish in the morning, it was even foggier than Colonia. Also it was cold and there was a drizzly rain sporadically. Both myself and Katie decided we didñ't want to hang around the city more than a day and we booked an overnight bus to Florianopolis which was to leave at 9.30 tonight. Meanwhile Bill couldn't leave for a few reasons he needs to get a visa for Brazil and he needs to tick a box on his mission. We got a taxi into the city which was very grey and depressing. We reached the vast Plaza Independencia and immediatly noticed a tall building on one of the corners. This used to be the highest building in South America and is impressive. It was shrouded in mist and had an empire state building appearance. We were drawn to the huge statue in the middle of the plaza. This is the statue of Artegas (the heroe of Uruguay) we walked down to the adjacent mausoleum and were amazed. Inside it is completely dark apart from some small yellow uplights. In the dim room you can see the urn containing the ashes of Artegas. On either side of the lit-up urn is a soldier in full military uniform holding bayonets. It's really surreal. We walked out of the mausoleum and saw another of the sights. It's the Puerta del Cuidela, an old stone doorway from hundreds of years ago which is the entrance now to the main shopping and restaurant areas. We walked down the main streets and found some beautiful little plazas like Constitution plaza. Another tourist attraction is the Casa de Garibaldi (the house of the Italian nationalist heroe) where he lived for quite some time. However it was nothing special and you could easily walk by apart from a small plaque. We stumbled into the impoverished and highly dangerous area of ciudad vieja (the old town). Normally the old town of any city is the nice, safe area but not here. The buildings have been subdivided and house people in squalid conditions. The area is rife with crack addicts, prostitutes (good for Bill) and homeless beggars. A strange thing you see is gypsies on horse carts with an assortment of plastic bags attached to their cart. They wander the city streets looking in bins for anything useful. This city is grim, I didn't like it at all. We walked down to the Mercado del Puerto which is an old building resembling a huge railway station. However inside is packed with lots of parilla restaurants. Each restaurant has a grill which makes the air inside the building thick with smoke. We got up on some stools around a parilla grill and ordered meat and lots of it. We had sirloin steaks, hunks of roast beef, chicken breasts, chorizo sausages and some weird shaped sausages. We ate the meat until we were about to burst! We then staggered out of the port market building and into ciudad vieja. We were a little disorientated and walked right into the dodgiest part of the city. We had to briskly walk away from some beggars and guys shouting `hey come back friends`; no chance! We walked along the riverside and were amazed by the fog which was so thick. We were walking back to the city centre when a little Uruguayan with a swagger walks past. He says: 'You guys aren't from Uruguay! Where are you from?`now we should have walked on but we stood and chatted to him. He was a likeable guy & told us about the city. He said he was a dj at a club called New York, New York and had lived in Manhatten for a few years. He also said he had an English girlfriend and was going to visit her parents soon. We had no reason to disbelieve his stories and happily chatted with him. Then Bill piped up: `Do you know where I can buy pot?`. Danny the Uruguayan suddenly smiled and said `yeah come with me`. We followed Bill and Danny to a dodgy high rise. Danny asked Bill for 200 Ur pesos. He then went into the building, myself and Katie had some reservations and told Bill maybe this was a scam. However Bill thought `the guy's legit'. Soon enough he returned but said the dealer wanted another 60 pesos. Bill agreed and Danny scuttled back into the high rise. We waited for 20 minutes and then told Bill we were going for a coffee and we'd meet him later. We found a nice cafe on the main street and drank some cafe cortados (lots of coffee and a little milk). We then walked back to the Puerta del Cuidela and met Bill who told us he waited for a further 30 minutes but Danny never reappeared. He'd been scammed! We found a bar on the main strip called Don Pedrone and had some beers. We watched the first half there and then moved to another place called the Jockey Club which had a better atmosphere and cheaper beer. We watched the Italians deservedly beat Germany with some great goals. I was cheering on Italy along with everyone else in the bar. Myself and Katie chatted to Bill who told us he has a travel site and there is a secret part on his site you can only access with a password. He told us that was because it detailed his encounters with pimps and prostitutes, drugs etc. Myself and Katie said goodbye to Bill and went for a pizza. We were both glad to be leaving Bill as he was a bit weird and spooked us out a little with some of his stories. We got a taxi to the terminal and jumped onboard our bus. We were given a horrible meal of empanadas and cold meats. I didn't eat anything, we watched a cheesy film which sent us off to sleep as we left the dreary, foggy city of Montevideo (god knows what Bill will be getting up to later!). We headed towards the sunnier climes of Florianopolis on the South-Eastern coast of Brazil!! We crossed the border around 2am and were soon travelling towards the large city of Porto Alegre. BEST BITS of Uruguay: The beautiful old town of Colonia; sipping coffees in cafes with views of the River Plata. The tomb of Uruguayan heroe Artegas. Eating steak in the Port Market. Watching Bill get ripped off when he tried to get himself some pot. Leaving the misty, cold, depressing city of Montevideo (and the slightly creepy Bill). WORST BITS Having to endure a sex tourist's disturbing stories. Cold fog everywhere! The new town of Colonia is bleak reminds me of Uyuni in Bolivia. The downtrodden, dirty and dangerous Ciudad Vieja area in Montevideo. Quite expensive compared to Argentina and other countries I've visited.