Note: I’ve added video to my previous post. If you read that before I did so, go back and watch some tango.

Montevideo, Uruguay is just across the River Plate from Buenos Aires. You can cross by ferry in less than an hour. Therefore, we were here bright and early in the morning. This time I took the “Highlights of the Town” bus tour. We started by a drive-by of the visually impressive parliament building.

Like several port tours in the recent past, we were taken to the Mercado. We were there early in the morning, so many non-food shops were still closed. I was amused by the name of a chicken butcher, “Pollo Boutique”. I don’t normally associate the term “boutique” with “purchase body parts”. I was impressed with the engineering of the ceiling.

From there we visited a carnival costume museum. Seems Uruguay celebrates carnival for 45 days, which our guide said was the longest in the world. While fun to look at, I don’t care how light the material is those costumes must be hot to wear.

We then stopped at a downtown deli for chivito, the national steak sandwich. Those Cruiseboysians that speak Spanish may be a little confused, as that is the term for goat. Our guide explained that years ago a tourist was hungry and in a hurry, and asked a deli for a goat sandwich (which they ate in their home country). The deli did not have goat, so he put together a steak sandwich and tried to hide the taste with lots of toppings. It seems to have caught on.

Next to the deli was a fountain surrounded by locks. Folklore is if a couple leaves a lock, they will stay in love.

Near the end of our tour we walked around Independence Plaza, which hosts the statue and mausoleum of national hero General Jose Artigas.

We finished in the Constitution Square and entered the Cabildo, the old government house. Here there is a painting of the old city. The same Cabildo is the large brick building in the center, with the cathedral behind it. The military veteran in me found the design of the star fort well done.