Day one got off to a great start once the cobwebs of 24 hours of travel finally cleared. I arrived at the hotel around 5 in the morning and after a quick power nap started to walk off all of that airline inactivity.

Montevideo is a beautiful city with interesting architecture, plazas, trees and friendly people. They are pretty laid back and quick with a smile. There are plenty of statues which I saw through the eyes of my late friend Dal, who must have taken a picture of every single statue in Santiago during the time that we lived there. He will be very close to my heart during this whole trip, so what better way to kick it off than by feasting on a lunch of chilean style empanadas and pomelo soda, which was our weekend treat when we lived in Santigo.

The hunt was on for a bicycle next. Thankfully I met Hector at Bicicletes Colon. He got me setup with an inexpensive bike that will take me for a nice ride along the coast this week. Gracias Hector por todo su ayuda! Hopefully that translates well, I didn't even use Google Translate. The bike should suit me just fine for a lazy tour along the beaches of Uruguay. Hopefully the wind will not do me in, the cyclists here are fit as they deal with strong winds and lots of little hills all the time. Luckily the drivers are very courteous and riding on the road was much less stressful than it is in Toronto.

I took the bike out for a test ride along the Rambla. Many towns along the river or ocean have ramblas - large boulevards with huge sidewalks for pedestrians and cyclists. This one also had several workout spots with permanent structures... kind of like a playground for adults.It also had a rollerskating/skateboarding rink, was kind of fun watching. What a beautiful way to get people out and about.

All in all, a very nice first impression of Montevideo.