Today's itinerary: drive from Colonia to Montevideo, 2 hrs duration. Unfortunately, David and I both had cold symptoms with cough, so we set out after breakfast to find a 'farmacia'. We had checked the words we had to use, with Stella, and primed ourselves to converse in spanish and ask for cough medicine (jarabe) and tablets. The pharmacist understood (thankfully) and then was asking us where we were from and where we were going. Stumbled through that one - kicking ourselves when we walked outside and remembered what we should have said in spanish properly.... it's all experience I guess!The drive to Montevideo was interesting - we stopped at a 'farm' with a cheese factory and it also housed the World Record setting collection of most keyrings and most pencils.
We arrived in Montevideo and checked in to 'Hotel Ermitage' (pictured left) and the view from our 4th floor hotel room (right) - the view of the Rio de la Plata - not the ocean!
Montevideo is the largest city, the capital, and the chief port of Uruguay. Established in 1726 by Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, the settlement was a strategic move amidst a Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region, and as a counter to the Portuguese colony at Colonia del Sacramento. Montevideo has a population of approximately 1.4million people (about half of Uruguay's population).
The city hosted all 1st FIFA World Cup matches in 1930. Montevideo has a rich architectural and cultural heritage, the latter including tango and candombe. A study in 2007 can be quoted as saying that 'Montevideo provided the highest quality of life in Latin America'.
Quote: Described as a "vibrant, eclectic place with a rich cultural life", it is the hub of commerce and higher education in Uruguay: its first university, the Universidad de la República, was founded in 1849. The architecture of Montevideo, considered unrivalled in South America, reflects its history, ranging from colonial to Art Deco, and influenced by Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French and British immigrants.
We went for an afternoon walk along 'the rambler' - a walkway which runs the length of the city and fronts the beach and river. Had to be back and ready for dinner at 8.30pm at Stella's cousin, Marito's "Terracota Steakhouse" for asado. Stella went around the table with the waiter, who was very worried that he wouldn't understand us or our 'spanish' - but guess what? He did and we managed! Food and wine - fantastic and so was the service! Delicioso!
