Montevideo Favorites

Favorite thing: The Rambla goes all along the Capital City of Uruguay:Montevideo, aproximately from the Port to Carrasco Neighbourhood 20 kms and you can do a Walking Cost Plata River Tour or take a taxi or rent a Car a go along it. People in Uruguay walk, run, make biking, excercises in the beaches all along the Plata River, etc. The most known is Pocitos Rambla because has restaurants and cafes close to the Pocitos Beach and in Summer is very enjoyable swimming and a touch of sun. In front of the Rambla Promenade there are importants and modern Condos, specially in Pocitos and Punta Carretas areas and now started being also in Buceo and Malvin neighbourhoods all in front the beaches. Just come and appreciate it

Favorite thing: Veritable lung of the city, Rodó Park has everything you need for a weekend in family! A boating lake, a fun fair, many restaurant options and on Sunday mornings a street market full of clothes, crafts, book, etc. You can also visit the little castle, which holds a public children's library.

Favorite thing: There are two choices that are always available. Glen R.'s Uruguay Expat lunches every Sunday from noon to satiety at Fellini's Ristobarreto, Benito Blanco and Jose Marti just completed 5 years of uninterrupted meetings in English.
The other certainty is Feligreta (www dot feligreta dot com), a tea/coffee/art gallery combo on Avenida Brasil at Jose Ellauri. We have bilingual service every day we are open (closed Mondays.)
Tuesdays and Thursdays are English Days, on which English is the default language. We normally have a mix of folks from the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia and,of course, Uruguay.
So, you won't be alone in Uruguay. Come see us,
Ken

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Favorite thing: Ciudad Vieja, south of Plaza Independencia, is the oldest part of Montevideo. Until 1829 it was a walled city. All that remains of the wall is the Gateway of Ciudadela. The main north-south thoroughfare through Ciudad Vieja for visitors is Peatonal Sarandi, which has been a pedestrian walkway since 1992.

Ciudad Vieja is still a bit shabby and run-down. There are some poor neighbourhoods and derelict buildings, but it is undergoing major renovation, and streets in the upper part especially are gradually being taken over by fashionable shops, bars and restaurants.

Favorite thing: To answer my own questions in previous posts, I found Montevideo to be very
safe. My first impressions of my neighborhood were skeptical, but I quickly
realized this is a safe area. In fact, I felt quite comfortable wherever I went,
and I walked in almost every area, even in some slum areas. Even late at night I
walked some streets I was warned to avoid, no problem. I guess there is always a
potential for crime as in any area, but non was encountered. I stayed at the
Apart/Hotel Bremen located in the Palermo section of the city close to the
Barrio Sur area. The owner and staff were very accommodating and knowledgeable.
They also run a German style restaurant that is very good and has live
entertainment.

I found a pocket map made by "Eureka". I purchased both the pocket version and
the fold out version. The pocket version has all the bus routes , which turned
out to be a quite useful, although you may need a portable electron microscope
to read some of it, well worth the 99 pesos.

Public phones are okay when using a phone card, but I found it better to just
use an Antel phone store, there was very little delay when calling home ( U.S. )
and there were no wasted minutes as with a calling card. The price was exactly
the same as well.

Overall I found Montevideo to be quite nice. I almost walked the entire City.
The people were friendly, the food was good and plentiful. Although I may be a
bit biased, having been born there. The Ciudad Vieja is very cool. I spent most
of my free nights roaming that area. There are lots of stray dogs walking about, but they
never bother anybody. In fact I saw a German Shepard cross a busy 4 lane highway
like an expert, better than most humans.

I?ll definitely be back
Carlos

Here is photo link http://www.pbase.com/zallakab1/montevideo_uruguay

Fondest memory: My fondest memory of my visit to Montevideo would have to be seeing my Aunt ,Uncles & first cousins for the first time since I was 3 years old. ( I was 45 during my visit. ) Seeing the hospital where I was born, and walking by my parents first house. I should have made this trip 25 years ago!

Favorite thing: If you don't speak spanish don't worry too much. You can speak to most people in italian, portuguese and even french and they will probably understand (see, most of us descend from european immigrants, and also, those languages used to be (and in some cases still are) taught in schools). If you speak italian or french you'll most likely be more successful if you speak to older people. If you speak english you'll probably find someone who understands you as well (in this case, try younger people)
But still, if you have no luck uruguayans are generally really helpful and you'll manage to get around any way.

Favorite thing: If there's one thing I've learnt by living in this city it's that no matter how hot it is you should always have a swater with you. This is cause even if it's over 30 °C the temperatures always drop when the evening comes, specially if you are near the sea.

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Favorite thing: Walking through montevideo, I found a produce store in the old city, which is typical in much of south america. The type of store I wish I had around the corner at home. The second photo is a Canadiense con fritas (Canadian with fries). I never had anything like it at home in Canada but hey it was pretty good, so no complaints. I also tried some food from street vendors, roasted nuts etc.... My stomach had no problems with any of the food here.