After the epic trip to Brazil, the next stop on the road was to Uruguay, a country where they drink even more tea than back home! Check out the quick trip below.
"We hopped on the bus from Porto Alegre in the south of Brazil for a 12 hour bus to arrive in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo and immediately handed over our passports to the bus company for them to handle the immigration to Uruguay. It was by far the easiest border crossing so far this trip. We slept through it! On board, much to our surprise, the food was amazing. It was like a 3 course meal…except microwaved most probably. But it was perfect for the food coma before getting some sleep. Breaking out of the food coma around 7am we first stopped off in Puente Del Este on the east coast of Uruguay, which is famous throughout South America as a very expensive and beautiful beach town. Given the fact that the weather was poor and that the word expensive scared us, we decided to head straight to Montevideo and arrived about 2 hours later in the capital.
Montevideo
We arrived in Montevideo around 11 in the morning and after a quick stop off at the ATM, grabbed a bus and headed downtown to our hostel in the Old City. The hostel was located perfectly in the Old town amongst a mixture of modern buildings and old, almost falling down, European style buildings. After checking in, we headed for a walking tour of the city, along the way visiting the crypt of Artigas, the founding father of Uruguay, and the Plaza de Independencia, where we did our traditional Irish dancing. For lunch we tried some of the famous chivito, which is basically a big steak sandwich and then headed back to the hostel in the evening for a chillax. We were told that nightlife doesn’t kick off in Uruguay until 2am, so we headed to the leaba with the hope of getting up a few hours later, something which never materialised. The night’s sleep was not the best due to an old guy in the room, who was identical to Santa Claus, who was snoring for 12 hours non-stop.
"We hopped on the bus from Porto Alegre in the south of Brazil for a 12 hour bus to arrive in the Uruguayan capital of Montevideo and immediately handed over our passports to the bus company for them to handle the immigration to Uruguay. It was by far the easiest border crossing so far this trip. We slept through it! On board, much to our surprise, the food was amazing. It was like a 3 course meal…except microwaved most probably. But it was perfect for the food coma before getting some sleep. Breaking out of the food coma around 7am we first stopped off in Puente Del Este on the east coast of Uruguay, which is famous throughout South America as a very expensive and beautiful beach town. Given the fact that the weather was poor and that the word expensive scared us, we decided to head straight to Montevideo and arrived about 2 hours later in the capital.
Montevideo
We arrived in Montevideo around 11 in the morning and after a quick stop off at the ATM, grabbed a bus and headed downtown to our hostel in the Old City. The hostel was located perfectly in the Old town amongst a mixture of modern buildings and old, almost falling down, European style buildings. After checking in, we headed for a walking tour of the city, along the way visiting the crypt of Artigas, the founding father of Uruguay, and the Plaza de Independencia, where we did our traditional Irish dancing. For lunch we tried some of the famous chivito, which is basically a big steak sandwich and then headed back to the hostel in the evening for a chillax. We were told that nightlife doesn’t kick off in Uruguay until 2am, so we headed to the leaba with the hope of getting up a few hours later, something which never materialised. The night’s sleep was not the best due to an old guy in the room, who was identical to Santa Claus, who was snoring for 12 hours non-stop.
We awoke early the next day with groggy heads thanks to Santa and after some breakfast headed to Estadio Centenario, the scene of Uruguay’s first World Cup win in 1930. We chose to visit there after reading that the museum tour allowed visitors to walk onto the pitch. Upon arrival we noticed the museum was closed with no signs of opening hours etc. After much effing and blinding, we noticed a gate open on the other side of the stadium, so strolled in, got some snaps by the pitch and legged it once the workers saw us. Success and money saved!
Seconds before legging it
Right after the stadium, we spotted an ATM and began the daily process of taking out dollars in anticipation of our trip to Argentina. Argentina is going down the same route as Venezuela, in terms of limiting peoples’ access to foreign currency, so foreigners are recommended to bring plenty of dollars or euros and then exchange them on the Blue market to get a much better rate.
Dollars in hand, we hopped on a bus back to the Old City and went to the famous Mercado Del Puerto to taste some of the famous Uruguayan steak. After a 10 minute walk around getting free champagne samplers, we found a nice restaurant and went ahead ordering our steak without any knowledge of what we were ordering (principally the size). A few minutes later 3 steaks arrived of varying size and Kev was the unlucky one with the steak the size of a meatball. But ours were lovely…maybe a tad raw!
With our steak baby almost ready for birth, we waddled back to the hostel and after some time spent stroking our bellies, we cracked open a few local beers, which was bloody strong! After 4 or so, we headed to a local bar and threw some serious dance moves before returning to the hostel to listen to Santa snoring once more. Great craic all round!
Slightly raw!
Once breakfast was downed the next morning, we headed back to the bus station and were en route to Colonia de Sacramento, a small colonial town, located just one hour from Argentina on the west coast.
Colonia
We arrived in Colonia in the evening time and after a short walk to the hostel, we went about seeing a bit of the old town before sun set. It was possible to walk around the whole town in about 30 minutes and en route we were treated to some street dancing by the locals, something which occurs every Sunday. Afterwards we tried some Mate for the first time, which is the most popular tea in the country and every citizen can be seen walking around with their flask and cup. Let’s just say it has a unique taste!
We arrived in Colonia in the evening time and after a short walk to the hostel, we went about seeing a bit of the old town before sun set. It was possible to walk around the whole town in about 30 minutes and en route we were treated to some street dancing by the locals, something which occurs every Sunday. Afterwards we tried some Mate for the first time, which is the most popular tea in the country and every citizen can be seen walking around with their flask and cup. Let’s just say it has a unique taste!
We headed back to the hostel with the key ingredients for a massive Spaghetti Bolognese (t deserves capital letters) and happened to stumble across a possibly life changing discovery; Cadburys chocolate. After a few bars were purchased we went back to the hostel and whipped up a meal for a small family and took it nice an easy for the evening with our Daily Milk close at hand.
Arising early, we grabbed brekkie took out some more dollars and went to buy our boat tickets to Buenos Aires. On the way back from the port, we stopped by the lighthouse, from which we could kind of see Buenos Aires in the distance…almost! Afterwards we threw together another quick meal, tested some more mate and headed to the port for the boat. Immigration was easy once again and we were on our way!
Arising early, we grabbed brekkie took out some more dollars and went to buy our boat tickets to Buenos Aires. On the way back from the port, we stopped by the lighthouse, from which we could kind of see Buenos Aires in the distance…almost! Afterwards we threw together another quick meal, tested some more mate and headed to the port for the boat. Immigration was easy once again and we were on our way!
Jack out for the day
Although we only spent 4 days in Uruguay we left with a great impression of the country. Montevideo was beautiful and easy accessible by foot and Colonia was picturesque. A stay is Uruguay is definitely recommended. Thanks to all the Uruguayans for the steak and mate, but I think we will be sticking to Barry’s for the near future.
The Lads
The Lads
