I See a Mountain In Montevideo, Uruguay

The name Montevideo comes from the Portuguese words monte vide eu, which means I see a mountain. It's the largest city and the capital of Uruguay.  The population is about 1.5 million.  It's the southernmost capital city in the Americas and was established by the Spanish in the early 1700's.  It is rated consistently highest in quality of life in Latin America, and is also very gay friendly, if anyone is interested.

We arrived on a Sunday, early in the morning.  It's an easy walk off the ship and right across the street into the downtown city center area and the pedestrian promenade.

I left the ship early to walk in the relative quiet and peacefulness of the morning, and to try to beat the heat.  I mostly succeeded in both.  This was my second visit to Montevideo, the first being in 2016 when I went out of town with two friends to do some wine taste hopping, and missed seeing the city then, so today I wanted to rectify that.  I went alone - Patty had a city tour, and Andrea had a wine tasting tour.  My other friends Pat and Kathi were not as eager to get up and about as early as me.  No matter, I could set my own pace this way.

I wanted to see Independence Square, and I had a mind to visit the Tango Museum.  Not sure why, I don't dance and the tango is just another interesting dance to me, but for whatever reason, I thought it might be interesting.  It didn't take me long to wander the quiet streets to the Square.  And the tango museum was at the far end of the square.

The building it is in is also an historic place, and they were offering dual tours - the building and the museum for about $7 USD.  The tour took 90 minutes.  I said sure.  The building is called Palacio Salvo.  It was designed by an architect named Mario Palanti; he also designed the famous Palacio Barolo in Buenos Aires.  Inside this building is where Gerardo Matos Rodriguez wrote the very famous tango song La Cumparsita.

The Salvo brothers were well-known clothiers, wealthy, and they bought the sit and built the building, finished in 1928.  It was a hotel with offices and the cafe on the street level.  After a period of time, the hotel wasn't doing well financially, so it was turned into apartments for people to purchase.  It's still that way today.  The cafe site is now the tango museum.

I had a great time visiting the building, the museum, and the city itself.


The streets were quiet early in the morning.  This is near the start of the pedestrian walkway, with the cathedral in the background.

Inside the cathedral.

The welcome sign and Uruguayan flag at the port

Very cool sculptures artwork in the portico of the Salvo building

A view from the center of the Plaza Independencia of the Salvo building

Part of the original wall that surrounded the city during the time of Spanish rule

On one part of the pedestrian walkway, there are a number of these suns, each with a famous person's name

Like street art and doors, I have a penchant for finding and photographing old VW bugs

A long view of Independencia Square and the Salvo building in the background

Views from on top of the Salvo building.  That's our little ship back there!

Carrera marble staircase inside the building

The original "porthole" windows remain, and open!

The Tango museum

Here's the man who wrote La Cumparsita

This is a picture from the original cafe where men gathered to learn the tango and where La Cumparsita was first played

Some street art

Marijuana is legal now in Uruguay -- for personal use only

Colorful recycle bins

Travel Quote:  "Keep your eyes on the horizon and your nose to the wind"  -- Clint Eastwood

Stay tuned for more Pig Tales!!