Montevideo
On Christmas night, we flew from Ushuaia to Montevideo, Uruguay connecting in Buenos Aires for the night. The taxi driver who drove us to our hotel was half asleep, his eyelids fluttering. He was swerving between lanes and driving on two lanes at the same time. Albeit it was 1AM and there were not many other cars around, but we were still holding on for dear life and couldn’t hop out of the car fast enough when it arrived at our hotel.
In Montevideo, Lyle booked us an Airbnb at the corner of one of the squares in the old town right next to the historic Cathedral with loud banging bells that rang every 15 minutes throughout the whole day and night. Even with ear plugs, I couldn’t sleep through the bells.
We booked a walking tour the next morning and our guide was a former news anchor who was very knowledgeable about the history and the current political atmosphere of the country. The tour started at Zabala Square, a park featuring the statue of the city’s founder, General Zabala on horseback. Montevideo was founded in 1726 and supposedly named after the little hump of a hill that was visible across the bay.
We walked down to the marketplace and was introduced to stores that sold everything you need for Uruguay’s most popular drink, the mate, and their most beloved dessert, dulce de leche. We had tried the cookies with dulce de leche and found it to be just okay.
Next, we briefly visited a museum and a beautiful bank, then headed over to the Plaza Independencia that featured a prominent monument to the national hero Jose Gervasio Artigas, who is considered the father of Uruguay. His mausoleum lays below the monument. After the tour, we invited our guide, Jorge to lunch. He brought us to his friend’s restaurant, and I tried the steak, the staple of Uruguay meals.
Road to Colonia del Sacramento
We took a bus to the historic town of Colonia.
On the way, the bus stopped at a farm where the owner was a collector of many random things. His biggest collection is of pencils, though there wasn’t any that was noteworthy. This stop was definitely an interesting tourist trap. At least it had clean restrooms.
Colonia del Sacramento
Colonia is a quaint old town next to the water, fortified with a city wall, cannons on the ramparts and a drawbridge. We walked around a bit, found a quiet, shady place for lunch and another spot for coffee and ice cream before having to hop back on the bus for the return to Montevideo.
Punta del Este
Alberto was our tour guide for our last full day in Uruguay. Alberto met us at our place. Then we took a taxi to the central bus station and hopped onto a large, clean, comfortable bus for a couple hours to get to Uruguay’s most popular seaside city of Punta del Este. Traveling by bus in Uruguay is so convenient and cheap. There were buses running every 10-15 minutes with plenty of availablity.
It was a perfect sunny day for the beach with a little bit of a breeze so it was not too hot. From the bus stop, we walked straight to the sculpture of the fingers sticking out of the sand. Alberto explained that the fingers were a caution to beach goers. Beware of drowning. Yikes! How serendipitous that our trip was bookend by these finger sculptures created by the same artist.
We walked along the beachfront where I learned why sea lions are thus named. Males actually have a mane around their heads very similar to lions! They are referred to as sea wolves by Uruguayans. Who knew? Alberto did.
We had lunch at a Japanese restaurant then continued walking to cover the other sections of the city until we were back where we started.
Then we changed into our swimming clothes. By the time we found a spot to on the beach to lay down our towels, the sun was close to the horizon and elongated our shadows. Despite the chill in the air, Lyle decided he had to at least take a dip in the waters of Uruguay since we were there. He sure did but did not stay in for long.
On the way back to the bus stop, we bought some snacks for dinner on the bus and called it a day. What a wonderful way to end our trip in Uruguay with good company, good weather, and good sightseeing.