4:38 am – I realize my alarm is going off and I need to wake up the other member of my party. It was another flight at some awful hour. I slept 3 hours again, and I could feel it. Thankfully I had everything ready to go, and I could pretty much roll out of bed into the Uber. Instead of taking 40 minutes to get to the airport like it took getting into town from the airport, it took a brisk 17 minutes. I was relieved because I didn’t follow the advice of everyone, including Nico our AirBnB host, to arrive at the airport 3 hours early. I was hoping the extra 20 mins to sleep didn’t screw us over. News flash, we were completely fine.
The white girl in me caved and scurried to the nearest Starbucks after security. I ordered an apple crisp macchiato (cause I’m needy like that) while my grandma got a regular coffee with milk. I hate to admit this, but as I was bobbing to Chappell Roan, I saw one of the girls behind the counter doing the same thing. Chappell unites across languages… sigh.
We killed an hour and a half before we flew to Montevideo, Uruguay. I know it’s not typically on peoples travel itinerary, but I wanted to give them a fair shot. I’m so glad we did. Although, I was at the very back of the plane with no window. My grandma had emergency exit with ample space and a window. I was able to snap a photo of the Andes with 15x zoom on my phone. iPhones have gotten crazy good with their quality.
As we were gearing up to land, I had no window. So clue how close to ground we were but we’re going up and down like a rollercoaster. I felt my stomach go up a bit. It felt like we’re landing and yet we keep flying. Coming to the landing, it was so smooth it could’ve just been some turbulence and didn’t notice until we braked. Same as landing in santiago. What are we doing everywhere else guys…
The bus from the airport into town was a bit of a change. It was like a city bus crossed with a coach. There was just something different. The ride over into town was amazing. The houses we passed were so unique compared to home. Their lawns were pristine and cared for. It was so green and lush. These people took pride in their stuff.
In town was a bit rougher, but only in looks. I felt completely safe, even standing out as a clear tourist with backpacks on both sides of me. We walked to our Airbnb and I was in complete shock seeing the building when we turned the corner. I knew what I to expect, but the sheer size of it didn’t come through the photos I’ve seen. Look at this bad boy!! This was actually taken from later in the day at a different angle, but you get the idea.
After some poor Spanish and Google translate, we got our bags dropped off and we meandered to the ocean. I forget that smiling and saying hi in places outside of Canada apparently means youre open to being approached. This small, old man took that opportunity. He started with Spanish but then busted out some perfect English. We had a chat while walking down the street. This is where I got a bit weirded out. He asked me to put my hand out and he took it. He started lining two tendons with both of his hands. “Do you know what this is?” Obviously I did not, so I asked what it was. His response still gets me. To him, he called it a sensory experience. Don’t ask me what he was on about there haha! I made a “ahhh haha right…” type comment and he let go and said his goodbyes. Did he stop me to cop a feel of my hand? Possibly.
The promenade along the ocean was WINDY. And also like 4 kilometers from where we were. We didn’t end up walking the 19 km long promenade at all, but we still visited the coast. We had a walking tour starting soon, so we didn’t need the extra steps. The sun was so nice and warm, the breeze was almost welcomed.
Finding something to eat was the mission before we get started the tour. I took us to a hole in the wall type bread shop. There was supposed to be empanadas, but I guess I didn’t read it properly. We ended up with a very nice guy helping us decide what to eat. I got a potato tort and my grandma got a quiche. It’s been so fun interacting with the locals. They are the nicest, and most patient with a foreigner like me. We both try our best to understand each other. I hope to return but with a much stronger grasp of the language.
It was time for the tour and we got to see various sites. It was a much smaller group this time. There was only 5 of us. The guide was funny and educated. They all seem to study history I’ve found. It makes them very good at these job. One of the sites I loved was this memorial underground. It was very brutalist, and something I would expect to see in Russia or one of its satellite states. If you look closely, you’ll see guards standing on either side. Those are real people, and I had no clue until I started walking closer. They stand there for approximately 6 hour shifts.
I’ll include some other photos from the tour below. There was a modern building we saw and our guide informed us that the president should be working there at that moment. 7th floor. There was no security around the door, and it’s said that sometimes you’ll see him walking around. It felt strange knowing the exact floor he was on. You could say they were a bit more chill about the situation. I asked if he can tell a difference between Uruguayians and other parts of LATAM. Similiar to Canadians, they’re the little brother country. Instead of one, how we have the United States, they’ve got two – Argentina and Brazil. He told us that people in Montevideo aren’t ones for change. There was an instance of one of the plazas getting an upgrade with new outdoor furntiure and such. Did the people go for it? Absolutely not! They were worried about their parking spot. Something I could see Vernon pulling. Another thing we learned was the orgin of the name, Montevideo. When the Spanish sailors were coming here, they told their people to find this place by counting 6 hills from east to west. I explained that poorly, but you get the idea.
We ended the tour in their market. It felt like a very mini version of a land-locked Granville Island. There were some shops we purused but decided to head back and be horizontal for a bit. At some point during our day, there was a busker singing a U2 song. I always find it intersting what songs and artists people will cover when they don’t speak the language. On our way back, we stopped at the market to grab something to drink. I found my new obsession drink for while I’m here. It was pear-flavoured water. It was wonderfully flavoured, not too watered down. You could smell the pear when you opened the cap. It was so good. I tried to do some work while my grandma watched the Crown. I also found out where the water comes out of the bidets here in an unfortunate way. Free power wash to the face, anyone? 🤮
It was maybe 8pm and we realized we didn’t really eat that day. When in Uruguay, the thing to eat is steak. I found a small, hole-in-the-wall place where they had the best deal. Miraculously, it was only a 5 minute walk from our place.
The main reason I chose this place was because of the price. A solid piece of steak with fries, a drink (alcoholic or non alcoholic) and dessert for $21 CAD. You can see the steak and let me know if we got a good deal. What I can say for sure, is that it was probably one of the best steaks I’ve had. It was so tender, I even ate some of the fatty pieces… That’s huge for me. I also tried it medium-well. The steak lovers will curse me, but at least there was some pink, right? We both got a lemonade, and for the dessert I let our server choose. Our server, by the way, was the nicest guy and was very patient with my minimal Spanish. I love when humour can still cross a language barrier. I got a piece of chocolate cake, as per recommendation. It was THE best chocolate cake I’ve ever had. I’ll be thinking about it for the foreseeable future. If anyone can find a recipe based off the photo i’ve taken, PLEASE send it my way.
It was as windy as all heck going there and it ceased to stop when we left. We waddled back to our humble abode. A shower was had by both, some quick change of plans for the next day were made, and a nighty-night was said.
Stay tuned: LATAM 2025 – Day 5: Almost Lost the Bus and My Mind 🙁