Uruguay: Colonia y Montevideo (or Mountain Video as Phil Calls It)

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URUGUAY. We took a boat to Uruguay that took an hour or so. It was a huge cruise liner boat, I’ve never been on anything like it but it had a duty free, a full kitchen cafeteria, Wi-Fi and TV’s. It was a pleasant experience for sure but I could have used a little more time to sleep on the old boat. We took the boat to a city called Colonia del Sacramento which is north of the capital of Montevideo and it’s an old city, colonial just as its name suggests, full of old buildings and has a very quaint and tranquil atmosphere about it. We arrived and walked around the city for a while, admiring the buildings and just taking in the peace and quiet since we had a few rough days in BA. We took a bunch of photos, went up this lighthouse which was hilarious because it was so small and as many of you know, Phil is not a small man so getting up to the top was pretty comical for all of us. After that we made our way across the town and ended up at a small restaurant near the water where we had some seafood and some wine in the warm afternoon sun. It was really relaxing and was a great lunch for sure, it wasn’t cheap but hey what can a man do. Brett and Phil were gung ho to rent scooters but I was lacking sleep and we had some wine and I didn’t trust myself on a scooter so Mattcam and I went to this park near where we ate and posted up for a nap. I Skyped with my mom and my dad and checked in to see how everything was. Just after I finished talking to my dad, Brett and Phil pulled up on a golf cart! It was hilarious to see those two on that thing, turns out that the rental place needed two drivers’ licenses to rent a scooter and Phil didn’t have his, which is funny because I lost mine before I left for SA and Matt doesn’t have one clearly. So Matt and I hopped on the back of this thing and we took off around the city. Brett was driving like a maniac and I am pretty sure it wasn’t all that safe for us to be on the back of this thing but it was pretty cool and after about twenty minutes we got off and resumed our slappen on the lawn in the park. We caught a bus to Montevideo that afternoon and that was about a three hour ride from Colonia. We arrived to the bus station and got a cab to our hostel. It was a quiet place, small and welcoming, set in a nice neighborhood in Montevideo. It had a nice backyard with chairs and a table and a parilla that we didn’t use but I wished we had more time so we could use it. We got situated in the hostel and headed out to find some food. We were told to try typical Uruguayan food at a restaurant nearby and it’s called Chivito. It’s basically beef, ham, lettuce, tomatoes, fried egg, and mayonnaise on some crusty bread. It was really delicious, or heart attack on a plate if you will. The place we ate was “an old man whisky bar” as Matt put it so we had our beers and food and got out of there for a better venue. We found a place down the street called El Tigre, Spanish for The Tiger, and it was a really cool place. We didn’t eat but saw tons of good food pass us by as we drank our beers. Not to mention the servers were really cute girls all friendly and welcoming. We vowed to go back there the next night for dinner and drinks. We were all just beat from the day and the previous night so we packed it in and went back to the hostel and headed to bed. I slept eleven hours that night; my body was craving water and sleep. The next morning I had some coffee in the hostel, emailed CHRW trying to get some info about my supposed job. After that we all got showered up and headed out into the city to see what Montevideo was all about. It was a really cool place; the waterfront reminded us of Chicago in a way, lots of people there, a nice boardwalk full of runners, roller skaters, and kids playing soccer. We saw the American embassy as we walked toward the city center, taking lots of photos of all the statues along the way. We got a cab to the Placa de Independencia and it was pretty impressive. There was a huge statue of a man on a horse surrounded by some old buildings and some new buildings as well. We found our way to the Pedestrian walkway and stopped for some food because we were starving. I had some pasta which was awesome and a Fanta because I couldn’t put any alcohol in my body that is for damn sure. After lunch we walked around more and through some market areas and then down to the port where we would catch our boat the next day. I bought a hat that said Uruguay on it and I was pleased because as it turns out I was the only one who has anything that says Uruguay on it haha. After that we headed to the other part of the city, a newer part that was basically like a small Buenos Aires. Mattcam bought a shirt and we walked around and explored the shops and what not and then headed back to our neighborhood to get some food before we took our naps. We had pizza with anchovies and ham it was actually really delicious. We headed back to the hostel and took naps until around ten or so and then went back to El Tigre, this time for dinner. We had a whisky rocks to start and then had some beers and ordered some grilled meats and potatoes. It was really good food and hit the spot for sure. We asked the girl at the hostel what a good club was and we were told that there was a salsa club that was great that night. Phil was ecstatic because all that know Phil know his affinity for salsa. We headed there and this place was just ramming. Tons of people doing some mad salsa so we decided why not get a bottle of vodka. We did just that, twice. I browned out the night but we made it home pretty early, the sun was up I believe, and someone turned off the alarm and we almost missed our boat. I woke up at eleven and our boat left at eleven forty five so I did a mad dash to wake everyone up, packed in a rush and headed the fuck out. Our boat ride was three hours this time and we got back to the hostel in one piece, the old Milhouse again. I slept for a long time, but all in all the trip to Uruguay was a success and extremely worthwhile. I will definitely go back.

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