RETURN TO URUGUAY - Montevideo, Uruguay Nov 2017

RETURN TO URUGUAY   

Montevideo, Uruguay  Nov. 2017

This was not our first trip to Montevideo, Uruguay. That was with Briana and Simone back in December 2011 as part of a larger trip that include Argentina and Peru. 

Locks of love

Part of our interest was the country's progressiveness--the last president was Jose Mujica, a former guerrilla who spent 15 years in jail, drove an old VW Beetle, gave away 90% of his salary to charity, eschewed the presidential quarters, and was known as the "poorest president in the world." 

The Teatro Solis

But because it was not a place oriented toward tourists, we were a little hard-pressed to find things to do. However, we decided the city was worth a second look.

During our two weeks there, we tried to do as much as possible to get to know the city and enjoy the relaxed feel of people going about their day-to-day lives. What was lacking was an opportunity to meet the locals.

We went to a (weird!) live performance at the Teatro Solis, one of the best known cultural institutions in Montevideo. We also enjoyed the Museo Gurvich and the Museo Nacional de Artes Visuales, as well as the prolific graffiti art.

Lively street art

Lively streets

It was nice being in a city where we could wander along the shoreline every day. We even went to the beach one day in an outlying suburb--very pretty, but too cold for our blood for swimming.


One of the unexpected delights of our stay was the Farmer's Market the took place right on our street weekly. We dined out several times, but, in general, were disappointed by both the quality and variety of food served. Mike had the mandatory

Empanadas extraordinaire

steak (good) and Eileen the paella (subpar).

One notable exception was Carolina's empanadas in the marketplace. Yum!

Life is a beach there

An interesting/disconcerting experience was our visit to Shabbat services on two consecutive Fridays.

At the first, a Conservadox synagogue, we were subjected to more scrutiny than at the Ben Gurion Airport in Israel. 
Apparently, memories from the Buenos Aires JCC bombing in the 90's demanded intense security.

UN Sustainable Goals

Nevertheless, although separated by gender, we were part of a lively service that had the men joyfully singing and energetically dancing. With the second synagogue most of the service (which was in Hebrew with Spanishized transliteration) was unfamiliar, the Debbie Friedman version of the Mi Shebeirach elicited a few tears.

One final disclaimer: Our visit was tainted somewhat by the strange and horrific skin disease, scabies. We figured we picked it up either in Bolivia or from the sweet little kids at the after school program in Cusco, Peru. No photos could possibly convey the level of itching agony we experienced--but, fortunately, the curative cream was available over-the-counter at a pharmacy in Montevideo.