Uruguay, the Switzerland of South America

As the headline already says, Uruguay is also called the Switzerland of South America. We noticed this on the first day. We Germans are really very spoiled because it is cheaper in most countries than at home. Well, that's not the case in Uruguay, here the prices are really comparable to those in Switzerland. In the supermarket, a pack of pasta costs at least € 1.50, a scoop of ice cream about € 2.20, vegetables and fruits are relatively cheap. It's a bit cheaper at the market because they don't have to pay security personnel there ;-). When eating out, you hardly find a dish for less than € 15, plus a flat fee for cutlery and a drink. The good thing is that as a tourist in a restaurant, if you pay with a card, you don't have to pay taxes (about 20%).

Food is a good keyword! The cuisine of the Uruguayans knows no spices, at most a little salt, completely according to the saying:

'menos sal, mas vida!' (less salt, more life).

The specialties of the Uruguayan cuisine are meat and Salcicia (sausage). In restaurants, the offering is expanded with sandwiches (with bacon, ham, meat, mayonnaise, and cheese), hamburgers, and pasta. All dishes are very rich, the American influence can really be felt. A traditional dish is called Milanesa and is like schnitzel, but it is also baked with ham and cheese here (like almost everything else). So everything is actually fried and baked.

Without Spanish, you are pretty helpless here, so Jonas and I bridged the two-week waiting period with a Spanish course.

Montevideo is a very beautiful city, care has been taken to ensure that there is enough green space. In every neighborhood, there is a park with a fountain and palm trees, tango is often danced here in the evenings. The promenade on the Atlantic is beautifully laid out, and here too, many beautiful parks are where mate tea is drunk. Pay attention to the Uruguayans with their mate vessel and thermos flask in their arms in the pictures, everyone really walks like that here. Marijuana is legalized here, so that's how it is dealt with. Every Sunday there is a market where there is really EVERYTHING, from animals to shower heads to food.

As planned, we can pick up our car on Friday. We had a few problems with our agency that shipped the car, more on that later. We are now looking forward to exploring the rural areas of the country.