Tarriance in Montevideo
What a charming city. We spent most of our time in Ciudad Vieja, which is the historic part of Montevideo (and has a little bit of that Lord of the Rings decayed antiquity theme — there are ramparts falling into the sea, gates to the city, towers…)
Ciudad Vieja has a pedestrian walkway that runs through the middle of it that is closed to traffic. From this walkway, if you look to the left or right, you can see water. The old city is pretty impressive in that it’s built on a point that is surrounded by water on three sides. There are many beautifully restored buildings here, a robust police presence due to the large amount of tourists, shops, the inevitable McDonald’s (with the tag line “me encanta”) and a nice street market. Stray but a block or two off of the pedestrian walkway though, and you feel as if you are in a different city; the streets are sparsely populated and the buildings dilapidated.
Being in Montevideo made me come to a realization about Buenos Aires — buses are killing BA. They are ridiculously and unnecessarily loud, the street noise they generate drowns out everything else, even the conversation of the person standing next to you on the sidewalk. And, they spew noxious black exhaust that hangs over the city like a pall. By contrast, Montevideo seemed insanely quiet and and the air was crisp and clear — lovely.
One note, when you are located on a point of land surrounded by water on three sides, it’s freaking windy!!
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