Day 67

This was our last day, and so we did the morning walking tour through Ciudad Vieja, the 'old city'. We started at Plaza Indepedencia, where we got some explanations about the history of Uruguay and Montevideo. Uruguay means river of the bird. The country first belonged to Spain, then to Portugal, and then Brazil. Surrounding Plaza Indepedencia is Salvo Palace, which was the tallest building in Latin America for seven years and is a complete replica of the same building in Buenos Aires. At this square is also the presidential building, the place where the president works, and next to it a museum where each new president is inaugurated. In the middle of the square, there is a big statue of Artigas, their national hero. Right next to it were stairs leading to an underground altar where the ashes of Artigas are stored. The walls had all the important dates of his life engraved, and his ashes were protected by two men of the military which looked the same as the guards outside Buckingham Palace. We then walked through the gate, which is the only part that is still left from the Colonial period. This gate used to be a part of the fort that separated the Spanish from the Portuguese. We walked over a small walk of fame. The most important person engraved is Alcides Ghiggia. He is the one who scored the winning goal against the Brazilians in the worldcup of 1950, which was a big deal for a small country like Uruguay to win from a big country as Brazil. We then arrived at Plaza Constitucion, the first square in Montevideo. Surrounding this square is the old city hall, as well as the Metropolitan Cathedral of Montevideo. In this Cathedral, the first president of Uruguay is buried. We passed café Brasilero, which is a Brazilian coffee place. A lot of famous writers have written their books here. This café was founded in 1877 and still looks the exact same as it did back then. At Plaza Zabala, we had our next stop. At this square, we drank Grappamiel, a mixed alcoholic bevegarage containing grappa and honey. Our last stop was at a market. Here, it was explained that Montevideo is the composition of the words: "MONTE VI De Este a Oeste". It means Mount Sixth from East to West. We walked through the old city for the rest of the day, and in the evening we had to pack our bags.

Montevideo's highlights:

• 2535 Solano Garcia street
• Biking las ramblas
• Ciudad Vieja

Geschreven door Romymatse