While we were in Montevideo we received great news from home - Steph's best friend, Allie and her husband Tony, had their first baby girl, Lydia Jasmine Jones. So there was serious celebrating to be done!

Joined by Rem and Ellie, we headed out to "Ciudad Vieja", the city's old town for drinks and food. We found a great bar on one of the main squares with a happy hour - two local beers for UR$65 (£2). We made a toast to the new born baby and also made the most of the happy hour deal, sinking a few of the bargain beers. Just like their Argentine neighbours, the Uruguayans love their beef, so for dinner we all sampled a Uruguayan beef burger. The meat was excellent. As we sat outside enjoying the warm evening the weather turned. It was the first time we had seen rain for 5 weeks! But luckily it was just a shower and didn't last long.

The night was still young, so we went in search of another bar. It was Friday and the streets were busy with locals winding down after their week at work. One of the bars had live music and a great atmosphere and the band were playing a mix of British and local tracks. We settled in with a couple of jugs of Sangria and enjoyed the party vibe. The locals certainly liked to drink, some tables had mini 5 litre beer kegs!

The following morning we dedicated time to organising the remaining two weeks we had left in South America. This time next week it will be Christmas Day and we planned to be on an island just off the Brazilian coast, 1000km away. We still had a lot of ground to cover but before then we wanted to visit the amazing Iguazú waterfalls, as well as spend a couple of days working on a traditional "estancia" (a Uruguayan cattle ranch). Time was tight and the traveling distances were huge and to do both we would need a watertight plan. After several hours on the internet researching our options, we reluctantly decided to drop the plan to work on the cattle ranch. The essential overnight bus (that would save us a precious day) was already fully booked and the alternative flight didn't leave at the right time to suit our limited schedule. Instead, we'd travel up the Uruguayan coast, stopping for a couple of days at a laid-back beach town on the way, then cross the border into Brazil and head to Iguazú Falls. The final two weeks of our twenty week honeymoon adventure now had a fixed itinerary. This felt a little strange, as up until now we'd only ever planned one or two days ahead.

Later that afternoon, we ventured out to explore Montevideo a little more. It was Saturday and we were surprised to find most of the shops, cafes and restaurants were closed and the streets were quiet. But it didn't take long for us to find the crowds. Down at "Mecardo del Puerto" (the old market building) hundreds of locals were drinking and eating at the traditional BBQ steak restaurants. The drink was flowing (again) and they were all in good spirits, as it was the start of their summer holiday.

We'd spent the last week with Rem and Ellie (our friends from home), but now they were to head south and we north. So that night we said our goodbyes and wished them well. They still have 4 months of traveling ahead of them - lucky b*****s!

Check out ‘Uruguay - Montevideo’ at http://gallery.me.com/peterjprice/101942