Blogs from Montevideo, District of Montevideo, Uruguay, South America - page 2

Again we took a cruise ship tour to get a quick and easy overview of the city. I had not read the itinerary in detail but the part that grabbed my eye was the market. First we stopped at the mandatory city square, then drove up the coast appreciating beach views. Next stop was a stand of trees full of squawking parakeets. At last we headed to the market. Yes it was colourful and yes there were stalls of local produce including from farmers. However it was rather clinical with all the goods in very ordered booths and as it took less than 10 minutes to walk around it was also very small. The best thing that can be said is that we were able to exchange US dollars to treat ourselves to ice cream. Our ... read more

Geo: -34.8939, -56.1568Yesterday, we were up in time for breakfast in the hotel. It closes at 10:30 during the week so we needed to make an effort to get up still adjusting to the time change and lack of sleep on the overnight flight. It was slightly better than yesterday, but still nothing special. The waiter today was more interested in providing service than the one yesterday. After breakfast, we walked outside for just a bit and found that the market had been set up in the street in front of the hotel again. I had read that it was only on Sundays, but it was blocking the street again.Philip and I spent the rest of the morning finishing packing and using the hotel's wifi to read and send messages not knowing how easy internet access ... read more

The $80 ferry-bus combo to Montevideo was more expensive than I'd hoped, but it was a fairly comfortable 3-hour trip. It rained nearly the entire time I was there, though it was unseasonably warm, so I still got in some nice walks and runs, especially along the Rambla, the road and trail that follows the coastline and then Rio de la Plata where it mixes with the sea. The miserable weather met my expectations and reminded me of home. There's a nice locally owned hostel called url=https://www.tripadvisor.es/Hotel_Review-g294323-d9787262-Reviews-Buenas_Vibras_Hostel-Montevideo_Montevideo_Department.htmlBuenas Vibras in a residential neighborhood, but still only a half hour walk to the bus station or city center, and only about 5 blocks from the beach. There are small museums with narrow scopes, like the '1972', which is all about the rugby team that crashed in the Andes ... read more

Geo: -34.8939, -56.1568The views from the ship this morning werent particularly thrilling. Just another port, similar in appearance to Beunos Aries. From here, the city looked like a rustic, concrete jungle. How wrong we were to be. We hadnt booked any tours or activities for Uruguay, as both ports were within shuttle or walking distance to the cities and tours going beyond the cities didnt sound exciting enough to justify the costs. We enjoyed breakfast on the ship around 8.30, and an hour later we were disembarking. Nothing whatsoever in the way of customs. We walked straight out the port into the street. The currency here is the Uruguayan Peso. 1AUD = around 25 URU. From the port wed planned to do a walking tour. We noticed a hop on hop off bus here however and ... read more

Thursday January 28th, 2016. Montevideo, Uruguay Montevideo is Uruguay's capital and largest city lying on Montevideo Bay on the east bank of the Río de la Plata (River Plate). Although in English it is translated as River Plate the Río de la Plata actually means River of Silver. It is not a river at all but a wide estuary created by two rivers which empty into it. Montevideo is the southernmost capital city in South America. The river separates the south coast of Uruguay from the north coast of Argentina. The city stretches approximately 20 kilometres (12 miles) from east to west and boasts an industrial port and an exclusive beach-side suburb. The city has a mild humid subtropical climate. During the winter (June to September), the city is cool with hot summers from December to ... read more