A Giant Hand in the Sand and the Old City of Montevideo: Visiting Uruguay

Uruguay, where a giant hand sticks out of the sand, every menu is meat and meat on meat, and you can run 12 miles along La Rambla. We visited the old city of Montevideo and the upscale city of Punta Del Este while in Uruguay.

The country of Uruguay has 3 1/2 million people, 1 1/2 million of which live in the capital city of Montevideo.  It is considered one of the safest countries in South America and with one of the best qualities of life. Its main exports are beef, wool, leather, and wine. And another random fact:  Canabis is legal in Uruguay, but only to Uruguayans. According to a shop clerk, it is sold in the pharmacies and you just need a Uruguayan identification card to buy it.

Montevideo 

We spent our time in the Old City (Cuidad Vieja) portion of Montevideo.  This portion has old buildings, fountains, and many statues.  Graffiti covers many common buildings outside of the main square.  Most people were nice, with the exception of one homeless man who yelled profanities and “Go Home” at us when I didn’t give him money.  Aside from him, we enjoyed our time here. 

We had just one full day in Montevideo.  I started the morning off with a run along the water on La Rambla.  La Rambla is a running/cycling path along the coast that stretches 20 km (12 miles). Many locals run and cycle on La Rambla in the late afternoon / early evening.  Only a few were out in the early morning. 

We did a self tour of the historic places of Montevideo using GPSmycity.  We started at Plaza Independencia then followed 18 de Julio Avenue.

We had a late lunch at Mercado Del Puerto.  This market is mostly restaurants and a few gift shops as well as some artists outside, one selling beautiful acrylic paintings of the city. 

The restaurants are very meat heavy.  The menu is pages and pages of meat.  Finding vegetarian food was doable but limited options.  We enjoyed a glass of media y media (half champagne, half white wine) which the waiter said was the popular beverage here.  It is common for restaurants in Uruguay to charge a fee for sitting down. Generally it was about $3 per person and listed as “cubiertos” on the receipt. 

Our day in the city happened to be on a Sunday.  Unknown to me prior, most stores and even restaurants close on Sundays.  However after over a week of travel, we were ready for some down time and relaxed for a couple hours in the late afternoon/early evening before finding dinner. 

Luckily we found a place close by that was open despite it being Sunday.  We ordered a couple slices of pizza and a beer at Patagonia, an Argentinian Brewing Company which has a tasting bar in Montevideo.  We tried the Weisse beer and really enjoyed that.  

Punta Del Este Tour

Our 2nd day, we joined a tour to the upscale city of Punta Del Este. Our first stop was Piriapolis.  This is an oceanside town with shops and hotels.  We drove up the San Antonio’s hill for a panoramic view.  

Casa Pueblo

The next stop was Casa Pueblo, a home which was completely handmade by the artist Carlos Páez Vilaró and took 40 years to create.  Casa Pueblo has three parts: the house, the museum, and the hotel.  The hotel portion is not original or handmade by the artist, it was copied later. 

Punta Del Este

Our third stop was Punta Del Este, about 2 hours from Montevideo. We drove around the town and had fancy homes and buildings pointed out to us. The houses each have names which are displayed in front of them. This tradition started long ago before addresses were used. 

We drove over the La Barra bridge which is unique due to its curvy design. 

Finally we had free time to walk around and see La Mano.  This sculpture was created in 1985 by the artist Mario Irarrázabal who also created “Hand of the Desert” in Chile. 

Extra notes:

The airport is about a 40 minute drive from Montevideo’s Old City.  It cost us about $30 for a taxi to or from the airport.  We were originally quote about $55 leaving the airport but managed to pay $30. 

Cost of food is very high in Uruguay compared to most South American countries.  $20 for a meal was common in Mercado del Puerto and Punta Del Este. 

That’s it for our short stay in Uruguay!