Phot-o' the Day: Meat on the Grill, Mercado Del Puerto; Montevideo, Uruguay

When you think of Uruguay, what do you think of?

The two World Cups in soccer and the fact that Uruguay is the smallest nation (by far) to have ever won that international soccer championship? Yes, probably, but what else?

Soccer hero Luis Suarez and how he likes to take a bite out of the competition? That is distinctive, but not really representative of the whole country.

Zooilogico Del Futuro? Well, I do. But I think that's only me.

The answer? Meat! Lots and lots of meat, grilled to perfection. This photo is from inside Montevideo's famous Mercado Del Puerto, the historic marketplace filled with lunch restaurants serving grilled meat (steak especially). Visited November 2013.

Lunes en Montevideo

Monumento a Maua en Plazuela Irinio Evangelista

Lunes/Monday in a whole lot of major cities in the world is dead dead dead.  Especially in Latin America.  And Montevideo is no exception!  A lot of museums and restaurants are closed, so it's a good day to rest up for the vacationing to happen the rest of the week.

The major priority of the day was to eat at a parrilla in the Mercado Del Puerto

The gates of Carnivore Heaven

Yes, the Mercardo Del Puerto has something of a reputation of a tourist trap.  So, yes, bait that trap with a tender juicy steak and I'm caught.  It's near the port, so it gets plenty of day tourists from the cruise ships.  For that reason -- and the fact that the port area and Ciudad Vieja are a no-go zone after dark -- the Mercado is only open for lunch.  So a beefy lunch it shall be.


My chosen parrilla

The toughest thing about eating at the Mercado Del Puerto is that they cannot all be of equal quality.  So I chose one at random.  Sat down at the counter.  I chose wisely because the waiter/order-taker spoke perfect English, seeing as he lives part of the year in the State of New Jersey.  I ordered a half order of the "pulpa" and a chorizo sausage.  The pulpa was good.  It was a "rump steak," basically well cooked pot roast meat.  The chorizo was incredible.  It was like a pork kielbasa with just the right amount of heat and spice.  And it was grilled, which every true carnivore knows is the best way to eat kielbasa.

Walking through Ciudad Vieja

I decided to walk through the Ciudad Vieja again, which was a little livelier than it has been on Saturday, where only the flea market areas had pedestrian traffic.  I wasn't quite as obsessed with the idea that I was about to be hit over the head with a lead pipe, so I appreciated the architecture a little more.

The view up Sarandi to the Catedral Metropolitana

I got back to the Plaza Independencia and tried to get a decent shot of the signature building of Montevideo, the art deco masterpiece that is the Palacio Salvo.  There was a little more sun today, relatively speaking, which is sort of like comparing the nutritional value of potato chips to Wheat Thins.  Yes one has more, but neither really has much.  Yes, today had a little more sun, but still, neither day had much.

Palacio Salvo viewed from Plaza Independencia

So I will need a sunny day in Montevideo to get my definitive picture of Palacio Salvo.  Or I can score one from the internet.

In walking to Plaza Independencia, I did stumble on Montevideo's famous "Espacio Libre de Sexual Diversidad," or "Free Space for Sexual Diversiy."  I thought there was supposed to be some sort of  monument to sexual "diversity" somewhere in the city, but it's not a monument.  It's not even a plaza or parque.  Just a graffitti covered mini-plaza with some murals about sexual freedom.  But it is the first such space in Latin America dedicated specifically to sexual minorities.  Not including Carnaval in Rio.

Espacio Libre de Sexual Diversity

I then decided to continue my stumbling on the edge of Montevideo's Centro by walking down the hill to the Rambla in the downtown area.

The view of the Rio De La Plata down Cuidadela

So I walked down Cuidadela to the Rio De La Plata, with this vaguely socialist-looking monument with a naked guy looking out to the sea.

El Monumento a Maua

The statue looks "vaguely socialist" because the whole muscular guy with a gear thing:  very much in the Socialist Realism school of monument-building (although true "Socialist Realism" would have him standing rigid holding the gear).

See the Palacio Salvo lurking in the background at the left (izquierda)

This will conclude the Montevideo portion of our vacationing.  Tomorrow, it's off to the beaches on Uruguay's Atlantic Coast.

Mercado Del Puerto

Entre Mercado del Puerto

This is Montevideo!

Mercado Del Puerto is about one thing:  beef.  Great big slabs of beef steak grilling over an open fire.  Pictures do not do this place justice.  You have to smell the aroma of grilling steaks.  Dozens of steaks at a time.  In over a dozen restaurants.  Feeding masses of people.  This is truly carnivore heaven.

Steaks on the grill!

I don't know if there are any variations among the restaurants.  Some are eat-at-the-counter only.  Some are sitdown.  Some are a mix of both.  But every restaurant is a parrilla (pronounced "paRR-EE-zha" with the Uruguayan accent).

An Uruguayan parrilla is a steakhouse.  It is not a churrascaria.  Steakhouse rules apply.  You order your steak.  And that's all you get.  Side dishes are separate.  But, judging from aroma and reputation, oh what steaks!

Steaks, sausages and birds cooking on the girll

Unfortunately/stupidly, I had eaten a big breakfast before coming here.  I didn't realize this place would be so awsome.  It's recommended in all the tourist books.  And it does get tourists.  So I was expecting something touristy.

Another restaurant, counter service only

I was not expecting carnivore heaven.


Before the carnivore hordes arrive

It was too early in the day.  And the place is only open for lunch business.  It's also in a part of town that is perfectly safe when the sun is up, but is not a good place to be at the South American supper hour (which is about 9:00PM in Montevideo) (not quite as late as Buenos Aires).  So it will be my lunch destination Monday.

I will eat a light breakfast.

A Walk Through Cuidad Vieja

Viewing Palacio Salvo from Plaza Independencia

Another day.  Another "vieja."

My first day in Montevideo.  I had arranged several weeks ago to do a "walking tour" of the Cuidad Vieja in Montevideo.  I was to meet my tour guide at the Puerta de la Cuidadela on Plaza Independencia.  Plaza Independencia is the point that separates the old colonial era town from modern bustling Montevideo.  And right at the edge of Plaza Independencia is the signature building of the Montevideo skyline:  Palacio Salvo.  It's an art deco masterpiece from the 1920s.  There's an identical one in Buenos Aires.  The two were supposed to be "connected" in the 1920s sense by radio beam.  Unfortunately, that dang "curvature of the earth" intervened and the two could not be so linked.

While the Palacio Salvo is the signature building of Montevideo, its identical twin the Palacio Barolo does not fill that role in Buenos Aires at all.  If one were so inclined, one could comment on how this reflects upon each of those cities, with either city in the more favorable of the two comparisons.  It was a cool and foggy in old Montevideo Town, so my photos of Palacio Salvo do it no justice:

Palacio Salvo

I got to the Puerta de la Cuidadela at 9:45AM, surprisingly well before the 10:00AM scheduled "meet up" time for me who is not a morning person especially when I don't get to my hotel room until 3:00AM.  There was no one there who looked like he was a tour guide for Cuidad Vieja Tours.  So I waited.

Puerta de la Cuidadela, on the opposite end of Plaza Independencia from Palacio Salvo

 And I waited.

Someone muy importante en la historia de Uruguay astride a horse in Plaza Independencia

And I waited.  I've been in Montevideo for about eight hours and this is the second time someone who was supposed to meet me was a "no call no show."  The tour was supposed to cost $25 U.S.  Glad I didn't pay in advance!  Of course, if I had, then maybe my tour guide wouldn't have been NCNS.  So, armed with my trusty tourist map, I decide to take my own-guided walking tour of Cuidad Vieja.

Plaza de la Constitucion

One block into the Cuidad Vieja, I see that a flea market has broken out in Plaza de la Constitucion, which is only two short blocks from Plaza Independencia.  And I'm all about the fleas, so I decide that this would be a good place to shop for a souvenir mate gourd.  (Yes, someone on my souvenir-shopping list wanted an authentic Uruguayan mate gourd.  And, this surprised me, you see people walking the streets of Montevideo with a mate gourd in hand and a stainless steel thermos, presumably keeping the mate hot.  I would like to get a picture, but it's tough to stop people on the street and asked them to pose so you can get a picture of them looking all Uruguayan with their mate gourd.)

Catedral Metropolitana de Montevideo

The Catedral Metropolitana is right on the edge of Plaza de la Constitucion.  Meanwhile, on the opposite side of Plaza de la Constitucion, some sort of road race has broken out.

At the Plaza de la Constitucion

A second after I shot this, the white Mercedes peeled out and roared down the street.  It appears to be a charity event time trial thing.  What sort of charity I haven't a clue.  The sign "Mujeres al Volante" translates to "Women Drivers," so that's not really a clue.  I guess I could ask, but I'd probably get an answer in Spanish that I couldn't "entiendo," so por qué bother?  I did like that old red Saab parked by the starting gate.

A Mini.  A real one.  Trez British from the 60s.

I did see a real Mini waiting in the queue.  But I didn't wait around to see it sputter out of the starting gate.

Plaza Zabala

I continue walking in the general direction of the harbor.  The neighborhood starts getting dicier at this point.  I had read that Cuidad Vieja is a "no va" zone once the sun goes down and some people on tripadvisor.com were even saying it was "not so safe" in the daylight.  So, in orders to not stand out, I decide to wander around aimlessly snapping pictures with my camera, so that I don't stand out as a turista.

Attractive older building somewhat in a state of decay

The reason this is a "no go" zone at night may be that it is a pedestrian only walkway.  You don't get traffic going through these streets at night.  And "no traffic" tends to equal "breeding ground for crime."

Upward slope.  Could this be the "mountain" that resulted in the town name of "I see a mountain"?

The gates of the Mercado del Puerto

I finally arrive at the Mercado del Puerto, with its famous wrought iron gates.  Inside, there are more than a dozen restaurants, sit-down and counter-service, all grilling delicious cuts of meat.  And by meat I generally mean "steak," although sausages and some chickens were roasting.  The aroma is incredible.  This is carnivore heaven.  This is why we visit Monevideo.  Shall we take a look inside?

Yes.  We shall.  But I will save that for its own post.  It's worth it.

Walking up Perez Castellano

I decide to hoof it back to Plaza Independencia to catch a cab back to my hotel.

Sarandi street scene

Up Sarandi street.

Puerta de la Cuidadela with Palacio Salvo in the background

And I see la Puerta de la Cuidadela, which means I'm about to emerge from the Cuidad Vieja and into the real city.

Neoclassical(ish) style building on the south side of Plaza Independencia

I wander around Plaza Independencia looking for the best place to catch a cab.

Teatro Solis

This is the reknowned Teatro Solis, sitting on the southwest corner of Plaza Independencia.  This is where you go to see the "high art" performing arts in Uruguay.

Palacio Salvo

Then one last look at Palacio Salvo and it's time to cab it back to the hotel.