A capital city on a small scale, Montevideo enjoys a great beach side location, an interesting historical district and a relaxed pace of life – you might stay longer than you ever intended!

Gosh, I like this city! If only the beaches were a little less hemmed in by dodgy development and the waters were blue, this place would give Sydney a run for its money. It is a capital city yet has a lovely relaxed feel to it; the people are friendly, the sidewalks are wide and there are no crowds. 

It is an easy place to explore on foot with a wide range of  eating options from traditional cafes to open air restaurants. There are lots of leafy squares, usually with an grandiose statue of some sort, and some interesting places to see.

Ciudad Vieja

The tip of the peninsula is known as the Ciudad Vieja and remains of the old city gate can be seen at the western end of Plaza Independencia. It has been tidied up in recent years and there is a lot of new development within the quarter: one of the amusing things about the city is how they have inserted modern buildings between older ones quite haphazardly, giving the city a completely uncoordinated appearance but with an eclectic charm.

The architecture is unexpected too. Take the lovely 1881 fountain in Plaza de la Constitucion, which is bedecked by dragons – Simon remarked that it looked like something out of Game of Thrones. The adjacent cathedral has all the gold and marble and pink highlights you could wish for,  Look up to see unexpected Moorish embellishments or towers gone wild as on the Palacio Salvo building (once a hotel) in Plaza Independencia.

We explored some of the museums in the Ciudad Vieja: they are free, not one of them is going to detain you for more than half an hour and they enable you to see what these colonial buildings may once have looked like. Our favourite was the Museo Romantico which dates back to 1728, though it was rebuilt in 1831 by Antonio Montero, the rooms leading off a central atrium. There were some interesting suites of heavily carved furniture within the house, quite a few largely dodgy portraits and a magnificent dressing table set by Asprey of London with silver embellished cut glass and delicate mini corkscrews and button hooks.

Our next stop, the Museo Casa Lavalleja, had the most magnificent banana tree growing in the central courtyard, though the artist held little interest for us. However, there was a neat little gaucho section off to one side on the ground floor that had some interesting things such as intricate mate bowls, whips and even a syringe used in the treatment of venereal disease!

The Museo Casa Rivera was housed in a 19th century mansion with a wonderful spiral staircase, and had various displays about the local history.

 Museo de los Andes

We broke for lunch at the Mercado del Puerto, a 19th century building which once held everything from slaves to tobacco and surprisingly originated in Liverpool, England. Now it is mostly turned over to the hedonistic delights of the parilla and it is one of the places in Montevideo to sample huge cuts of beef, grilled on massive iron grids by a skilled asador – choose a counter seat if you want to watch the show. Chimichurri, a garlic and parsley sauce, is optional – purists like their meat plain.

We were actually more than happy with the budget option here: Carolina’s Empanadas at UP65 each, just as you enter the market – look for the throng of locals. The Quatro Queso (four cheese) option was totally melt in the mouth and they are deep fried as you watch – delicious!

Suitably fortified, we then tried to invade the docks of Uruguay but were beaten back by the navy: I had hoped to check out the remains of the famous German battleship, the Graf Spee, scuttled here in 1939, but the anchor was off limits to visitors!

Instead, we visited one of the more unusual attractions in Montevideo: the Museo de los Andes.  In October 1972, a Uruguayan aircraft carrying 46 people crashed in the Andes – 72 days later, only 16 emerged alive. Many people might have seen the film, a sad tale of death and endurance, of cannibalism and survival. Of course the museum emphasised the leadership and teamwork skills involved in the final partially successful outcome, rather than the cannibalism side, but nevertheless it makes for a harrowing tale. There are bits of aircraft on display, the sleeping bag that was made from the plane’s insulation which enabled the survival of the two men who finally walked out to find help and a large section on the effects of hypothermia on the body – temperatures on the mountain plummeted to -30 degrees centigrade at times. Entry is AP250 – see it if you dare!

We wandered back via the antique dealers in  Plaza de la Constitucion, a square which also has some nice outdoor cafe areas. Stalls line the streets back to the Plaza Independencia and the start of the downtown area. General Artigas, known as the father of the nation for his lifetime struggle against colonial rule, sits his horse in the centre of this rather bizarre square – it is a strange mix of architectural styles. 

When Artigas lost to the Portugese in 1820, he went into a long exile and actually died in Paraguay in 1850 at the age of 86. It is said that when he knew he was dying, he asked for a horse so he could die in the saddle like a gaucho. His bones were bought back to Uruguay in 1855 then reinterred in the Mausoleum in 1977

Underneath the statue, totally unadvertised in any way and with the approach looking for all the world like the stairs to an underpass, is the Mausoleum holding his bones. Two traditional guards, known as blandegues de Artigas, stand silently flanking the large urn and the grey chamber is quite sobering with various epithets and battles inscribed on the walls. We were the only ones there when we visited – either it is not high on most peoples list of priorities or they simply couldn’t find it!

Another day as we walked through the square we came upon a great fanfare: the newly elected President had just arrived to pay his respects at the tomb and then lay a wreath at the base of the statue. There was a great marching and drilling of gaily clad troops and the smattering of tourists drew cameras. The President appeared with a couple of comrades; there appeared to be no security at all – but that’s Montevideo for you: delightfully low key and full of unexpected surprises.

NOTES

We stayed at the London Palace Hotel on Rio Negro, only £30 on booking.com. It included an excellent buffet breakfast and free parking. The latter is particularly useful as it is advisable to not leave vehicles on the street at night, plus parking in the daytime can be hellish and expensive. They were happy for us to leave our car parked there all day following our stay. The hotel is well situated in a buzzy area and also within easy walking distance of the old town. The rooms were large and simple but more than adequate with en suite bathroom and a TV that even had the BBC (definitely not something you find in Argentina!)

Nearby, the El Fogon parilla restaurant is very good and probably better value than those within the old market. There are lots of good bakeries around and Tropical Smoothies, about 2 blocks west on San Jose, have a good range of smoothies (I would advise the non-sugar option) and healthy salads.

Just round the corner from the London Palace, there is the budget option of the El Viajero Hostel – though only if you go for one of the UP480 dorms. A double room at the London Palace is better value when you include the parking.

Exchange Rate (March 2020) 1 pound equals 54 pesos