RichAndNancy: Montevideo, Uruguay

Saturday, December 6, 2014

Montevideo, Uruguay

An interesting city with lots of history.

We arrived by high speed ferry, took about 2 hours from Buenos Aires. The boat is new, named Francisco, after the new Pope. It's reported to be the fastest passenger ferry in the world. Cruising speed is about 58 mph.

Huge port.

Sunrise on the Rambla.

A beautiful, old Hotel near the river, recently restored. It originally opened in 1911.

Pictures from the lobby. Love the life-sized horses with the lampshade hats!

Pictures of the hotel's neighborhood.

One day we walked around downtown to Independence Square and walked through some pedestrian-only streets, full of shops, outside vendors and cafes.

We headed to the port área and the famous market filled with barbeques for a feast of a lunch!

Another day, our driver and guide Carlos, took us to Punta del Este. We stopped to see old historic buildings and towns along the way.

Tourism for Uruguay began in the early 1900's in Piriapolis. This hotel must have been a grand place in its day. It is still a working hotel, but needs some restoration.

Punta is where the River Plate joins the Atlantic ocean. The weather that day began windy, cold and rainy, but ended on a clear note. Carlos says that's the weather pattern this time of year.