Blog Six: Montevideo
[23rd November 2025]
Arriving by sea in Montevideo is definitely not quite the same as arriving in Rio. The view of the city from the port is unspectacular, but we know that the Old Town is within walking distance, on our way back to the ship later.
We’ve decided unusually to book on an MSC tour of the city, largely because it visits the Estadio Centenario, Uruguay’s national stadium and the venue for the first ever World Cup Final in 1930. We are also not sure what to expect of Montevideo safety and security wise, so being in a group seems like it might be wise.
The trip along the waterfront from the cruise terminal passes grim concrete flats festooned with spray paint, and equally grim looking people, together with some rough sleeping shelters. Few cities’ docklands are their most attractive feature, and Montevideo is no exception.
First stop is the spectacularly odd Plaza de la Independencia. The mixture of architectures is mind-boggling, running from the neo-classical former offices of the President, to the new metal and glass version, from the massive Palacio Salvo to a block reminiscent of Soviet brutalist buildings before the Berlin Wall came down. With a very nice modernista/art deco block added for good measure.
Our first impression is that Montevideo makes Falkirk look like Paris. There is a general air of grimness and a feeling of a place stuck somewhere around the 1970s. This is not helped when Fi says she’s going to go to one side of the square to take photos, while I stroll over to the opposite side to do likewise.
After about twenty yards or so, the thought belatedly occurs to me that this possibly isn’t that great an idea. I retrace my steps and walk as fast as my legs will carry me towards the Triumphal Arch, which Fi has disappeared behind. Almost immediately, she appears, moving back into the square at a fast clip. An unpleasant looking youth is following a few yards behind her.
I’m sure he doesn’t view me as any kind of threat to him, but the fact that he has been clocked happily discourages him, and he veers away. She tells me that as soon as she got beyond the edge of the square, the atmosphere changed. Groups of young men were hanging about in doorways and the place stank of urine. They immediately took an interest in her presence, hence her speedy exit.
Once back in the body of the group, we make the most of the photo opportunities afforded by the Plaza. The bus then sets off through streets of very modest-looking shops and dwellings. It is a Sunday, so all the businesses are closed and shuttered. Every shutter is covered with graffiti, lending a run-down air to the place.
The bus stops at the spectacular Legislative Palace of Uruguay, a monumental building in French style, which is the meeting place of the General Assembly of Uruguay and the seat of the legislative branch of the government. Unfortunately, we don’t get to alight and take photos of this spectacular wedding cake of a palace, whose external walls are faced with local marble.
Next up, we move on to a park which contains the famous Monumento a la Carreta, created by José Belloni in Italy, nicked by Mussolini for a bit, then inaugurated in the Parque José Batlle y Ordóñez in 1934. It is a lovely bronze sculpture of a goucho on horseback, with oxen pulling a wagon, set on a small hill above an unkempt pool. The park affords a first view of the outside of the Estadio Centenario, Uruguay’s national football stadium and museum, which is our next stop.
Uruguay won the 1924 and 1928 Olympic Football Gold Medals. FIFA rewarded them by asking the country to host the first ever World Cup in 1930. The national stadium had to be built very hurriedly to be ready on time. The interior definitely bears that out, and it doesn’t look like much has been done to the Centenario since.
From the evidence of the museum – Fi remarked that the exhibitions looked like they had been compiled as part of a P7 project – Uruguay’s glory days, like Scotland’s, are long behind them. At least Uruguay achieved some real glory, winning the World Cup twice. The museum features statues of past players, who all look fearsome. That’s how we remember them when they played Scotland in the 1986 World Cup.
The Centenario kind of reflects the feeling around a lot of Montevideo, that it is somewhat of the past, with a real retro feel of the mid 20th century in places.
To counter that, we are then whisked off on a tour of the more expensive housing areas on the outskirts of the city. The guide, as is so often the case, is speaking French and English. Because the former nationality has far more tour members than the latter, she tends to do long explanations in French and short ones in English. Half the time, we have little clue what she’s on about.
If there is nothing much to say at any particular point, she tends to waffle on at great length about the trees, and the drink which almost everyone seems to carry about with them, and share, all day long. It’s an infusion called Mate, and it seems almost compulsory to drink it. OK, we get it: (a) Uruguay has a national drink, (b) almost everyone drinks it constantly, (c) it looks like my poo when I had food poisoning in Greece last year, (d) it probably tastes much the same.
We come back along the coast road, past some more expensive areas of apartment blocks and hotels, and we get dropped off at the Mercado del Puerto, the seething market for the Old Town of Montevideo. It looks like a great place to eat, unless you are vegan, but we settle for a more modest lunch in a nice café on the main thoroughfare. Before long, an Afro/Caribbean/Latin group of musicians and dancers appears, and our waitress pops out of the café to have a wee dance to herself, not to attract attention, but just because she really can’t resist that rhythm.
We walk down the road back to the cruise terminal behind the performers. The atmosphere is festive and safe, but a glance down adjoining blocks shows them to be apparently empty of all but a few individuals, who are clearly off their faces, freaking around. It pays to stay where the crowds are in Montevideo, but always keep your hands on your holiday money.
My dozen favourite images from our day in Montevideo are included in the gallery below. Click on a thumbnail to see a bigger image. If you’re using a mobile phone, turn your screen sideways to see the bigger image to best effect.
Image Gallery
