Uruguay… Who’d've Thought?

Montevideo, Uruguay is… nearly perfect. If Paris was a California Beach town, then possibly– POSSIBLY, it might be Montevideo. This was an interesting week. I operated as a courier for a Uruguayan production company in exchange for one week in a hotel in Uruguay and a round trip plane ticket.

To be honest, I spent most of the week holed up in my hotel room working slavishly, hacking away at my to-do list and battling a bad cold. But I did head out to the beach about once a day– enough to get myself a decent sunburn (you may or may not know that I notoriously hate sunscreen). Sunday I decided to get out of my hotel for the day and shut my computer. I rented a motorbike and used up my 100 kilometer limit zipping around the beautiful Uruguayan coast before heading inland through beautiful sprawling countryside.

Uruguay is a hidden gem. It’s statistically the most developed, least corrupt, best economy in all of Latin America, with the highest quality of life south of the United States. It is Spain+Italy with hints of neighboring Brazil and Argentina and a dash of southern coastal France. Go there! (But be prepared to spend money).

I will say I wasn’t the biggest fan of Punta del Este, the West Palm Beach-like resort town that was filled with Argentine tourists and high-end restaurants and shops, and devoid of much authentic Uruguayan culture. But I was fortunate to get out of Punta del Este for my last two nights and I absolutely fell in love with Montevideo. I must go back. As my friend Ellen put it, it’s “Paris, meets Southern Spain, meets Savana meets San Jose.” I spent a warm evening last night walking the streets, listening to music that made me think of Oviedo, Spain, watching kids playing in the streets and seeing the humorous level of PDT (that’s the Paris part talking). It’s summer in Uruguay and it showed. Walking around in the evening light felt like a lazy summer Saturday afternoon. And the Uruguayans have it right: Work in the morning, siesta in the evening, and a long delicious dinner with family/friends starting at midnight. Oh– and the national dishes? Steak and Pasta, thanks to their Italian/Spanish ancestry. I think I gained 5 pounds.

These pictures aren’t anything special– they were all shot off the hip and on the go. But hopefully they give you a little taste.