Arrived in Montevideo this morning in a light rain and mist but this soon cleared. We walked up through he old town and to the Plaza Matriz where we went into the cathedral which is a fairly typical ornate example. Thence to the Museo Gurvich. Jose Gurvich was an interesting Uruguayan artist who worked in many media including sculpture, wood, fabric, collage and of course, various types of paint. His work is interesting if not altogether so attractive. He paints many women but all of them look profoundly miserable.
We then walked down the street called Sarandi towards Plaza Independencia. On the way we stopped at the Museo Torres Garcia who is another Uruguayan artist who also worked in many types of media. In the museum was also work by another artist who is, I think related to Garcia but all the signs were in Spanish so we had a bit of a hard time being sure what was what.
In the Plaza, which is, effectively, the center of the city there is a large statue of General Gervasio Artigas who is the ‘father of Uruguay’. Underneath the statue is a mausoleum where an urn containing the General's remains lies guarded by two guards who are dressed in uniforms of his time. The guards are completely motionless and the whole area is very impressive and somber.
We then meandered back towards the Mercado del Puerto for lunch… and what a lunch!!! On the way, we passed a restaurant where they was a live tango show and to promote this, the dancers where dancing in the street.
Then on to the market. This consists of some restaurants but the highlights are the round areas where you sit at a bar and in the middle is a huge barbecue.
The barbecue is attended by some large and very active, sweating chefs. The barbecue is loaded with all kinds of meat and I had dined on Chorizo, Black Blood Sausage, and something called Choto which was described as ‘Guts’!! Delicious!!. I then had something which was described as ‘Kidneys with extras’. I washed this down with a couple of glasses of ‘medio y medio, a mixture of white wine and champagne, very refreshing. Some of my fellow passengers nearby ordered “Parilla for 2 or 3” and got an enormous pile of barbecued meat, beef, lamb, chicken, etc. I doubt that they could manage half of it. The place was very lively and the chefs and servers were animated and very busy. The whole atmosphere was really wonderful and the food was terrific.
I then sought to walk along the Ramblas the promenade by the sea but the port seems to have extended out a long way and I walked some way but could not get to the end of the high wire fence surrounding the port area. So, as it was getting progressively hotter, I am afraid I turned back to the ship. Without doubt this was too short a stay in this port and there are more things to see. One thing which Montevideo shares with BA is a rather haphazard planning. There are wonderful and attractive old buildings with awful ugly modern ones right next door. One side of Plaza Independencia is occupied by one of the ugliest buildings in the world, whereas at the other end the tall Palacio Salvo is an ornate Art Deco building. Although perhaps not such a beautiful city as BA it certainly is worth a longer look and there are other things in Uruguay I would like to explore. Oh well!! gotta come back I suppose!
We sail shortly for BA for a similarly short stay.
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