Day 22: Montevideo - Metropolis on the Rio de la Plata

With about 1.4 million inhabitants, the capital Montevideo is by far the largest city in Uruguay. The second smallest South American country after Suriname, which is approximately half the size of Germany, is located on the east coast of South America between Brazil and Argentina. Montevideo is located at the southernmost point of the country. The city extends over 529 square kilometers on the northern bank of the Rio de la Plata, opposite the Argentine capital Buenos Aires.

Entering the port was an art. We had to navigate through a narrow entrance between a ship graveyard and naval ships and moor right next to a container ship from Evergreen. Precision work! However, we were located right next to the market hall and the center of the old town.

The old town is laid out like a square, similar to New York, making it very clear. We strolled along the pedestrian zone past Plaza Zabala and Plaza Constitucion to Plaza Independencia. Here stands the imposing building of Palacio Salvo with its filigree tower, which is reminiscent of an Asian pagoda as well as the Chrysler Building in NYC. On the way back, we visited the market hall. According to the description, an absolute must. However, it has turned into a "gourmet temple". There are only restaurants that offer mainly steaks and other grilled dishes at high prices. We spontaneously decided to postpone our craving for steak to tomorrow in Buenos Aires. Instead, we had a beer in a small street café and watched the painter across the street offer her paintings to the passing "cruisers", which proved to be relatively difficult due to a lack of knowledge of English and German.

With the temperature now sunny at 30 degrees, we strolled back to the port after a while.