In the center of Independence Plaza is a very large monument to General Artigas (seen below). Below that monument is a crypt which houses the urn containing his ashes (seen above). The urn is guarded by a special honor guard who you can see stationed to either side in the picture above.
The Port Market is the “tourist” visit in Montevideo. Within the old port market is a collection of Asado restaurants severing traditional Uruguayan food. Between the restaurants are some souvenir shops selling a variety of local crafts and tourist trinkets.
Plaza Zabala is the only fenced park in Montevideo… It has an interesting statue in the center. The relief at the top depicts the town settlers gaining self governance from the Spanish army.
The buildings in old town have a variety of interesting architectural details. This one had a series of face gargoyles set in it’s side.
Constitution Plaza (Plaza Constitucion) is another plaza in old town that is surrounded by historic buildings. In the center is the fountain shown above. On opposite ends of the plaza are the Cathedral (1790) pictured below and the Cabildo (old city hall) which is not pictured. Somehow I ended up without a picture of it.
Independence Plaza (Plaza Independencia) houses a number of significant architectural items. Above is the office of the President (of Uruguay) and the statue/tribute to Artigas (an Uruguayan historical hero). Below (after the jump) are the Old City Gate, the Solis Theater (Teatro Solis) and Salvo Palace (Palacio Salvo). The city gate marks the entrance to the “Old Town” (original town behind the long gone protective walls) of Montevideo.
Montevideo, much like Kosovo, has a…collective…fireworks display. Buy what you can afford (at any size) and set it off. It leads to some interesting displays overall.
For a city of millions, Montevideo has a surprisingly dark night sky. For the most part, I have only shot the moon from Montevideo. However, the surrounds offer some neat foregrounds (see the pictures below) sometimes.
Montevideo, of course, has a lot of beaches. It has a massive coastline, most of which is actually along a river (Rio de la Plata) rather than the ocean. The further east you go, the better the water is.
Montevideo has a wide variety of native birds. As you might expect for South America, they seem exotic to “outsiders.” I’m still not used to having flocks of parakeets flying around the back yard, myself. The most common birds here are a Hornero (not pictured), the Tero (top picture), and the Monk Parakeet (the green birds with blue wings). I don’t know what the other pictured below is yet.
