Been here a couple of times before – last was about 7 years ago.
Met the walking tour guide at 10am, along with about 30 other people.
He was good and the 2 hour walk was really interesting, covering the sights of the old town. It was quite deserted but the guide said that was because it was Sunday and that the previous night had been a major event in the Carnaval celebrations.
Had not realised the extent of the British influence in the city and that much of the infrastructure was built by U.K. companies in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s.
Uruguay’s colonial history also includes occupations by Brazil, Portugal, Argentina and Britain. Finally, it was the British, who negotiated independence from Argentina and the establishment of the country, in the 1850’s.
The tour ended at the old indoor market. I noticed that several of the group had melted away before “tip time” but most of us stayed and the guide did quite well out of it – I would guess at a few hundred dollars US but well worth it.
From the outside, the market resembled Kirkgate in Leeds but it was packed with restaurants, all selling barbecued meat.
Seems like that is where the population was hiding, as it was crowded. It was also getting livelier outside and the locals must have woken up.
We went into one of the restaurants and fortunately, ordered, what turned out to be, steak and chips, to share. It was very good but quite expensive. Interestingly, rather than taxing tourists, Montevideo gives you a 20% discount, if you pay by foreign debit or credit card – made the price much more reasonable.
Spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the old town.
Lynne’s cold getting worse, so brought some food from the buffet and had an early night.
On our way to Buenos Aires and due to dock tomorrow at 8am.
