Camacho Watcho

Today was a day for exploring La Ciudad Vieja (the old city) or what they call el Centro (the center). Years ago, the old city was surrounded by a stone wall that held protection for its residents. This wall was destroyed in the early 1800s and the only remaining part is the Gateway. This gateway is a tribute to the history of Montevideo and is located at one end of the Plaza Independencia.

Many of the streets in la ciudad vieja are now pedestrian streets that meander from plaza to plaza, with restaurants, craft booths and street artists lining the way. They are eternally busy both during the work day and on the weekends. Some typical streets and other plaza sites are pictured below.

Also lining the streets of la ciudad vieja are buildings with so much history and beauty that is just beyond a recent memory. The facades are rich in decor, but are slowly fading. This area was once very rich, but that was many years ago. It is recent that this area has seen some improvement, as there has been an effort to restore the buildings and to bring commerce back into the area. Storefronts are housed in what were once grand mansions and some buildings have been preserved on the historical registar and remain public buildings and in good upkeep. I plan to do more exploring in this area and will share as I see and learn more, but below are representative examples of this description.

Continuing through the streets of la ciudad vieja, you come upon el Mercado del Puerto. When someone tried to explain this to me, the first translation they gave was that it is a “meat market”. Now, upon visiting it, this is ironic due to its dual meanings, which I will get to shortly. The market is located at an important port in Montevideo. Ships coming from Europe contained the materials that were to build a structure in Santiago, Chile however they stopped in Montevideo and stayed. Later, they did go to Santiago and created a second structure that is a “sister” to this one, only it is a “fish market” instead. Hopefully, I will get to visit that one as well.

I can best compare this to a cross between Faniuel Hall in Boston and Pike’s Market in Seattle….but with meat. Outside, there are bands, people dancing, vendors, and then you enter the building. Grill after grill after grill of meat, meat and more meat. Therefore, the first definition of “meat market” is attributed to the food. Basically everywhere there are grills with a bar and you just sit down and order some meat off the grill (parrilla) - a restaurant down here that serves grilled meat is called a “parrillada.” There are also restaurants here that you can sit down and order a full meal. This is what we did and you can see some pictures below. We started with provolone (warm cheese with herbs…yum!), a very typical tapa here, and some sausages (the light red are chorizo and the dark red are translated to “blood sausage”). That’s right, blood sausage. It doesn’t sounds good, but it is very good. Essentially these are sweet sausages with almonds, raisins and cinnamon (and blood). I couldn’t look at them or think about them, I just ate them, which is definitely the way to do it. They are delicious. After the tapas, of course, is the steak. I had un broquete de lomo (steak kabob), which was fantastic. So that was lunch, which started at about 3:00pm and went until 4:30pm…also very typical here.

The second description of “meat market” goes hand in hand with another discovery at el mercado del puerto….medio y medio. The translation is basically “half and half”, but that is not very descriptive. Before coming here, I asked a coworker what both halves were and this led to a 20 minute debate amongst several coworkers. One said it was wine and sprite, another said wine and sparkling water, another said wine and vermouth. Regardless, it is wine and something. My best description is that it is a sweet sparkling wine. This is the most common beverage besides beer that is drank at the market and the bottles disappear fast. Hence, the second definition of “meat market”…This medio y medio is very good and they bottle their own there at the market.

In closing, you might wonder how a day like this will end since I finished lunch at 4:30pm. This is typical, we will eat dinner around 10:30pm and then go out after. The nightlife here starts at 2:00am, which is when many of the discos and nightclubs open. It is probably not a surprise that a nap is required in the early evening to prepare for the night….Chau!