After a great night in the A.C., we woke up late and lazy. We didn’t have big plans for the day so we figured we’d take it easy and not rush. After a meager breakfast and a nap (we were catching up on sleep we lost in Patagonia hehe), we left the hostel at 12:30pm to go to the Pocitos neighborhood. Our friend, who used to live in Montevideo, recommended a Chinese place that I was really excited for because I hadn’t had Chinese food since I left the States in July. The girl at the front desk of our hostel also said it was a nice neighborhood to walk around and go to the beach and then we could walk back on the rambla (coastal road).
So we figured we’d take the bus, grab lunch, and take our time walking back and hit a few points of interest along the way. Well none of that happened. The bus, which costs UY$21 per person per trip, took us to where we needed to go, which was good, but then we got off and tried to find the place…We wandered around for a couple of hours and got lost and it turns out that the place closed. So we weren’t very happy and it was extremely hot outside so we ended up back at the hostel. By that time it was 4pm and we were hot and quite cranky. We tried to find another Chinese place but nothing opened until 8pm so we just grabbed fast food to satisfy our needs until we got what we wanted.
By that point we had missed the last tour at Teatro Solis which was at 5pm but we decided to head to Mercado del Puerto to get some souvenirs. The day before we asked the woman about a trinket they would be getting the next day and she said it would arrive “late afternoon” so we figured it would be open until around 8pm. We even asked a couple of cops that were at the gate of the old city and they said that Mercado del Puerto didn’t close until 7 or 8pm. So we walked fast just to make sure and arrived around 6pm only to find that everything was closed. No bar, restaurant, or shop was open. We don’t know if it’s because it’s too dangerous or for some other reason but we were very irritated because AGAIN we were told the wrong information.
On the way back, however, we stopped at La Cigale, the famous ice cream place from Montevideo and Uruguay. Our friend told us that it was much better than Freddo (the famous ice cream from Argentina) so we had to try it out to compare. Well I’ve got to say it was pretty damn good! They also had a big selection of flavors which was nice. She advised us to try dulce de leche granizado (caramel with chocolate chips) and chocolate holandes, and it was so, so good! It was very sweet and rich, but that’s how I like my ice cream anyways :)
After ice cream we walked back towards our hostel, stopping to look in a few stores because there were big sales going on and we had nothing else to do. We bought some La Pataia dulce de leche, which is supposedly the best in the world so we figured why not?
After a long day of sweating, walking, and disappointments, we were very happy for good showers and A.C. We relaxed a bit and waited for our favorite Aussie’s, Sin and Colm, to arrive in the city to hit the town. At about 10pm we split a cab down to Baar Fun Fun, located right behind Teatro Solis, which is the most famous and oldest bar in Montevideo. We were all very excited to go and hear some music and relax. Well when we arrived many tables were reserved (which I thought was strange for a bar) and the place was very small. We got a table and a menu and saw that the cover charge alone was UY$150 per person and the drinks were really overpriced. We realized that it’s a big tourist trap and decided to leave and find another bar. Just down the street was a cool and relaxed place called Bluzz Bar, where we enjoyed good, and decently priced, drinks and talked the whole night. It was great!
###Numbers:
- UY$42 = Bus (UY$21/person)
- UY$30 = Coke
- UY$21 = Bus
- UY$195 = Burger King meal
- UY$181 = McDonald’s meal
- UY$220 = Ice cream @ La Cigale
- UY$444 = Market
- UY$299 = Shirt
- UY$200 = Drinks @ Bluzz Bar
- UY$73 = Cab
- Total = UY$1705