We left Punta del Este in a massive downpour and the weather on the journey was not great so we could not see a great deal of the countryside on the way. The bus arrived in at the bus station under the modern and busy Tres Cruces Shopping Mall in the modern centre of Montevideo. The shopping centre had all the latest international stores and many people were carrying shopping bags, which is a very good indication of a high level of economic activity. Uruguay, like Brazil has not yet adopted the plastic bag tax like back home in the UK, so they are distributed freely with every purchase. Clearly there is still some more progress to be made but there are many signs of Uruguay being a modern and progressive society.
Our hotel was in the Punta Carretas area, which is a smart residential area in the South of the City, where there is another big shopping mall, lots of smart restaurants and a big park containing a golf course. Having arrived from Punta del Este to this part of the Capital City it is clear that certain parts of Uruguay are doing pretty well and it has a standard of living comparable with a mid ranking European country.
On our second day we opted to take the local bus into the old part of the city. The busses are pretty basic, but efficient and they have a conductor on board who sits a few seats back on the opposite side to the driver with their ticket machine and open tray of cash. All passengers have to collect a ticket, even if they have a smart card, so the bus conductor can monitor whether they have paid or not. The fact that the bus conductor sits in the midst of the passengers, with they cash tray fully in view of all the passengers, is a very strong indicator that Uruguay is a remarkably safe country by world standards and certainly does not have the undercurrent of violence and deprivation that was under the surface in parts of Brazil.
The old city centre has undergone a fair amount of transformation since we were last here in 2006. The city centre shops were also active with office workers and much of the main thoroughfare in the Ciudad Vieja has been neatly pedestrianised with boutique shops and restaurants beginning to reclaim some of the old colonial buildings. Closer to the port there are still a number of buildings in this area in need of renovation, but the trend since our last visit has been clear and indeed the area feels a lot safer.
Montevideo continues in the great Latin American tradition of having some very fine street art. Not only are there a number of great ad hoc pieces of art in the old town, in the sea front as part of a redevelopment initiative, the Mural del Dique Maua by Artist Ricardo Yates is a massive mural where 300 kids from 8 local schools have painted an interesting sea scene. In particular we enjoyed the yellow submarine next to the smoking fish wearing a tie.
Another little gem in Montevideo’s Ciudad Vieja is the old bookshop, Libreria Mas Puro Verso just by Plaza Independencia. This is in a grand old building with a marble staircase and stained glass windows. Also in the finest traditions of Latin American literature in a glass cabinet it had a number of first editions of some of the giants of Latin American literature.
The Plaza Independencia, which was the old citadel in Montevideo, has a number of grand buildings and some quite unusual ones too. In particular the Palacio Salvo, which was built in 1929, has a weird stumpy tower on a mini 1920s art deco building and has become one of the iconic buildings of Montevideo.
The other standout building is the neo-classical Palacio Legislatavo or Parliament Building. This is made from a variety of different local marbles and in particular has an ornate tower in the middle of is symmetrical structure. Uruguay is rated as one of the best and strongest democracies in the world and, apart from a relapse between 1973 and 1985, has been a democracy pretty much all its history as an independent nation. Also in the grounds of the Palacio Legislatavo are pieces of gym equipment that any members of the public can use. It is hard to imagine such accessibility in Europe or in most other countries in the world.
Uruguay over recent years has been a remarkably progressive country with equal marriage being adopted in 2012, abortion legalised in 2012, cannabis legalised in 2013. The later not without controversy, as the cannabis is sold through the official pharmacies in Uruguay which were then threatened with having their banking facilities removed as the US banks were not permitted to deal with the Uruguayan banks that provided banking facilities to those pharmacies. Not sure exactly where the position on this is today.
Date: 21/02/2018 to 25/02/2018