am not much of lie on the beach and fry type, i guess i prefer air conditioning to being hot... but just took my first trip to montevideo via buquebus.
first of all being a longtime student of havana, cuba as a city, i found montevideo - the ciudad vieja - very much similar to havana vieja, though sadly a lot of this was due to the decay of a district of spectacular and historic buildings. truly worth a visit - even if partly for the beaches which montevideo has at pocitos and carrasco, its got a sea breeze thats missing in buenos aires so is often cooler.
i found montevideo unbelieveably inexpensive. i stayed at the very severe and sterile nh columbia on the water in the old city and convenient to all. it was 82 a night for a good hotel room on the water. not a super bargain but there are many hostels and cheaper places too. what was the bargain? s? food, at the hotel, french style rack of lamb, cooked nicely pink in a dijon mustard crust with roasted veggies, only 12 dollars. breakfast in bed, a ham and egg omelet, scrambled eggs, coffee, jam, toast, medialunas all delivered for 5.60 cent usa
beautiful sheepskin rugs with intricate patterns less than 30 dollars. friendly people, good prices for beer and pizza and chivitos - not goat but some sort of colloquilsm for a type of sandwich that seems to include almost everything
and a free architectural museum to walk around - la ciudad vieja
why go to punta del este to see a thousand ugly apt building strewn along the coast ?
