Montevideo City Tour

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Montevideo is the capital city and chief commercial center of Uruguay. The city sits on the coast of the Rio de la Plata, a large inlet of the Atlantic Ocean between Uruguay and Argentina. Montevideo is a city of diverse architectural influence with lots of best-preserved buildings and neo-classical Cathedrals from the Spanish colonial period. Italian influence to Montevideo’s architecture is also dominant in several areas around the city. The city is an open-air exhibition of monuments and sculptures, as well as museums displaying the wonderful works of Uruguayan artists. The streets around the old city section of Montevideo are teemed with plenty of old buildings and houses in very impressive architectural designs. Many of these structures house government offices, banks and other commercial establishments. The ship arrived at the port of Montevideo, Uruguay just before 8AM today. The weather forecast seems not favourable - cloudy and chances of rain - but it turned out to be sunny for the entire day. Well, that was one good twist and obviously everyone, especially those who went for the tour were very much happy for the weather. I went ashore by myself after a hearty lunch. I opted walking all the way to the city square in Ciudad Vieja or the Old City area instead of taking the shuttle bus. To be elsewhere for the first time, I considered walking still the best way to totally make out with the place’s interesting spots and I am a living proof of this theory. Haven’t tried it yet? Well, you should.

I noticed that Montevideo has several notably designed old structures that were abandoned. Though it remains standing well but the facade looks as if craving for little maintenance. Like the Palacio Taranco. Palacio Taranco stands just in front of Plaza Zabala around an intersection between Calle 25 de Mayo, Cale Solis and Calle Zabala. I was looking for this structure as sketched on the map I acquired from tourism information office near the pier. I passed exactly right on its front doors but I did not know that it was the one I was probing for almost half hour. Not until I gave up with my search and finally opted to ask a passing woman in her fifties I think. I showed her the map and pointed this tiny figure representing Palacio Taranco and in Portuguese, she told me I was standing right in front of it….LOL… So here it is, the Palacio Taranco, though abandoned as it looks but its architectural design is a prominent sight in this area. If you know how to do the tango, well Montevideo has its own version for this – the Uruguayan Tango - and it originated here in Montevideo way back in the 1800s. I don’t have the slightest hint how the tango in Uruguay differs from the tango as performed in ballroom dance shows I only saw on television. But I think the steps could be in one way or another comparable. Well, I think I should ask my wife then. She loves dancing and she knows a lot of this stuff. Many times I begged her to give me some dancing lessons (especially the “swing”), but many times she told me that dancing is not for me…hahaha… But I am not giving up.

Moving on, I arrived at Calle Sarandi, a slightly busy (but not over crowded) street lined up with restaurants and coffee shops, currency exchange shops, McDonald’s and Burger King (hmmmm….) in addition to make shift souvenir stalls along the sides (and also few at the center) of the street’s dark stone and slightly sort of red stained brick pavement. I checked my wallet and I found out that I still have few Brazilian Reais, 15 Reais to be exact. So, right away I went inside the currency exchange shop and I managed to come out from the shop with 150 Uruguay Peso in my pocket. Guess what happened next? If you say Big Mac, you are right because few steps away is the McDonald’s….LOL… Unlike Rio de Janeiro where waiting time for my burger to arrive was a bit longer, here in Montevideo, it’s in a flash. Most notable souvenir items in Montevideo include high quality leather goods, jewelry, wooden handicrafts and wools to name a few. Several old churches are also a prominent feature in Montevideo, like this inset photo here. I took this photo along Paseo de la Ciudad Vieja in Calle Sarandi. Much of its features are very similar to the old and historic cathedrals in the Philippines like the St. Nazarene Church in Quiapo, the Manila Cathedral and (another one) inside the historic walled-city, Intramuros.

At the end of Calle Sarandi, Plaza Independencia is situated. Plaza Independencia is surrounded with a number of important buildings, business establishments and a hotel - the Radisson Hotel. Plaza Independencia is where the statue of Uruguayan hero Jose Artigas is located and few steps down on both sides of the statue is the hero’s mausoleum. In the south-east corner of Plaza Independencia stands Palacio Salvo . At 100 meters high (including the antenna or spire), Palacio Salvo was once the tallest building in South America and it still dominates the square today. The building was designed by an Italian immigrant and was constructed in 1925. Originally planned as a hotel which did not work out, today Palacio Salvo contains offices and several private residences or apartments as well.
Just before 1:30PM, I decided to start my way back to the ship and in less than 15 minutes, I was back onboard.