Post by Ella Much better weather Saturday, in fact, nearly perfect walking weather. We met Jorge (of GuruWalks) at Plaza Zabala for our delayed historical walk. Uruguay has rich history. Between the Spanish and Portuguese along with the meddling British, they had quite a time until gaining independence. Jorge described Uruguayans as “melancholic “. Argentinians…
The big urn
Post by Grubb. Today (Saturday) our walking tour of historic Montevideo took us to the underground mausoleum in Plaza Independencia where the large urn holding José Gervasio Artigas ashes are guarded by two soldiers. Artigas is the Uruguayan George Washington. He assembled the states that formed Uruguay and declared independence from Spain. As far as…
All in a day
Post by Ella. As mentioned, the day yesterday included torrents of rain and claps of thunder. Our Plan B Museum+Uber strategy yielded an unexpected but interesting tour of the city. Going from one museum to the next through different neighborhoods gave us an idea of the variety and diversity that is Montevideo. When we reached…
Little people poking through
Post by Grubb. Yesterday the second place we stopped during our rainy day Montevideo museum ramble was the Museo des Visual Artes. From the outside it looked like a modernist mid-school painted in bright primary colors with a modest sculpture garden. Inside, it had a large collection of Uruguayan painters whose main purpose was to…
Flight 571
Post by Grubb. It’s fitting that that the first museum we visited in Montevideo on Friday, after having on Tuesday been in the Andes, was the one devoted to the 1972 plane crash of a Uruguayan flight that, leaving Mendoza en route to Santiago, failed to make it over the mountain range. The accident took…
Today in Montevideo will be
Post by Ella Today, April 27, 2024
When you retrofit
Post by Ella. When you update a 1925 building and get the design specs wrong. No where else to run wires
A peek at Montevideo
Post by Ella. This morning we had intended to do a walking tour but torrential rains changed that plan. There is an outfit called guruwalks that provides “free” walking tours all over the world. Not really free. You pay what you want. I had signed us up for a walk with Jorge but as the…
Bus to the big city
Post by Grubb After enduring the economy class plane cramps of flying around Argentina I had been looking forward to any other type of transportation, and the bus ride out of Colonia was, like the ferry excursion from Buenos Aires, very comfortable. Rural Uruguay, swept by. Every lush green pasture seemed to have cattle grazing….
That futböl team on the ferry
Post by Ella. The ferry from Buenos Aires to Colonia del Sacramento carried the San Lorenzo soccer team which randomly broke into chants during the ride. Here we are trying to get off the ferry in Colonia. https://photos.app.goo.gl/pvn8m5MSwnH8AsrN9
Flying domestically in Argentina
Post by Ella. There are several choices. Aerolineas Argentinas, Fly Biondi, Jet Smart, LatAm. Reading reviews, Aerolineas stood out. We now have 5 out of 5 flights completed. One flight had boarding delayed by 40 minutes but still arrived only 10 min late. All the others were on time. We carried on our luggage. One…
Montevideo, yikes
Post by Ella We made the leap. From the historic center of lazy Colonia to the bustling streets of Montevideo where 3/4 of the Uruguayan population call home. A three hour “non-direct” bus (which is the only kind you can get) from Colonia. There was a completely sealed in area between the driver and the…
Colonia photo roundup
Post by Ella
My kind of Michelin restaurant
Post by Grubb This was on the window of a café in Colonia.
Future doctors? Pharmacists
Post by Grubb Passing a schoolyard in Colonia it was interesting to see that the kids were dressed like extras on the set of Grey’s Anatomy. Wardrobe as destiny? Does a dirty lab coat get you a bad grade? What about that poor boy sulking in the corner who wants to be a fisherman when…