One Month in Montevideo

After spending November in Brazil visiting my mother, I moved South to Montevideo, capital city of Uruguay. It was a calm and relaxing time. I rented a very small apartment, just a bedroom and a bathroom, like a hotel suite. In fact, the building was originally a hotel in the 1930s. I chose it because of the outstanding location: eleventh floor, with a view of the Pocitos Beach.

The beach looks like an ocean beach, but technically it's a river beach. The Río de la Plata (The Silver River) is so wide in this area that you cannot see the other margin, which is in Argentina. And the water is a bit brownish because of all the sediments brought by the Uruguay River and the Paraná River. Everyone in Montevideo calls it a river, but to me it feels more like an estuary.

Long walks on the beach, visits to museums, reading on the balcony, that was my life in Montevideo. Ah, there was also some very good food.

Yes, how about the food?

First and foremost, there's the parrilla, meat grilled on coal fire. Asado de tira (ribs), entraña (skirt steak), entrecot (rib eye), lomo (tenderloin), and so many other cuts, all with chimichurri sauce (parsley, garlic, oregano, olive oil, and lemon juice). And I often paired it with a glass of Tannat, the national wine of Uruguay, rich in tannins but still smooth and sometimes a bit fruity.

The other star of the Uruguayan cuisine is the chivito, an enormous sandwich made with a thin slice of grilled meat, mozzarella, ham, tomatoes, mayonnaise, panceta, hard-boiled eggs, and green olives. It's delicious.

And the side trips?

I explored a bit to the west and a bit to the east.

Colonia del Sacramento, 177 kilometers west of Montevideo, is the only Uruguayan town founded by Portuguese colonizers, who in the 17th century were trying to establish a presence in a territory supposed to be under Spanish control. The Spaniards invaded Colonia, then due to diplomatic negotiations gave it back to Portugal, then invaded it again, then returned it again, and kept doing the invade-and-return dance quite a few times. Today the place has old architecture in both Portuguese and Spanish style, and is a tourist attraction.

Punta del Leste, 130 kilometers east of Montevideo, is the most famous Uruguayan beach town, and marks the point where the Río de la Plata ends and the Atlantic Ocean starts. I went there because I wanted to visit Casapueblo in the nearby Punta Ballena (Whale Cape). It's a beautiful complex in the style of those white houses in the Greek islands, built by the artist Carlos Páez Vilaró starting in the late 1950s. Today, one side of the building is a museum for his works and the other side is a hotel.

Colonia del Sacramento

Casapueblo

View from my balcony in Pocitos Beach

What's the next destination?

In the first days of the year, I moved to Buenos Aires, capital city of Argentina. I will live here until the end of March. But that's a story for another time.

Hasta la vista!