Across the Rio to Montevideo
Trip Start
Dec 29, 2007
1
15
42
Trip End
Ongoing
Montevideo,
Uruguay
Monday, February 11, 2008
On arrival the company collects you by bus & gives you the lowdown. Plaza Independencia was the first port of call, it being the historical site of Montevideo. You see the statue of the Uruguayan liberator José Gervasio Artigas, El Cabildo (government building), Puerta de la Ciudadela (arch separating old & new city) & Palacio Salvo once the tallest building in South America originally intended to be a hotel but now functions as an office building & private residence
Joining the dots
. First impressions were it's like a mini BA, streets, layout, shops & people very similar. On sundays almost all shops are closed so souvenirs are few & far between. After a glance through the old city, the National Congress & historical area we returned to the nearby port for grub. The Argentine peso is worth 6 Uruguayan pesos so you pay crazy prices which convert to more resaonable sounding figures like a milkshake for $80 which is 2.65 yoyos. The popular drink there is medio-medio (half wine & half champagne) & the desert of choice is MASSINI. After the food break the tour continued with a sleepier crew. We were brought through the urban areas with terraces on the rooves passing plenty of bronze historical monuments & little else of interest. When we were pointed out the meat packing factory I was thinking they were scraping the end of the barrel.
We made our way up a hill through a fairly ran down zone with kids stopping & staring in awe at our bus probably contemplating how easy our alloys could be removed. This eventually lead us to the Museo Militar which overlooks the harbour of Montevideo where we got a chance to take some scenic photos. Carrying on from there we got to see a location I was looking forward to, Estadio Centenario, the home of the first World cup
Palacio Legislativo (National Congress)
. From there we passed some really nice property in the neighbourhood of Carrasco comparable to the castles of Camelot. No surprises when we were informed it was only CEOs, diplomats & secretaries of state living there. A lot of the houses had that same style you see property investors whipping up off the coast of Spain with whitewashed walls & terracotta rooves. Our final stop was Punta Carretas Shopping. It's a big shopping centre with eateries, arcades, shops of all sorts & hundreds of people carrying a flask of water under one arm & MATE in the other. They like it more than Argies. We grabbed a meal in Chivitos which we paid for in Argentine Pesos but got change in Uruguayan pesos. After returning to the bus we were brought down La Rambla, the coastal drive back to the port, where we spotted plenty of surfers, kitesurfers, windsurfers, beautiful beaches & the sunset. And so ended Montevideo, another stamp on the passport & one country less to see. Overall I think if you were making a plan for travelling around South America you could give it a miss if you are going to Argentina.
