Montevideo feels like an optimistic place. It has repeatedly topped the chart of best quality of life for South American cities, and you can see why. The Uruguayans seem in good spirits, relaxing in the sun with a coffee or jogging down the seafront along La Rambla Francia, a wide paved promenade that lines the city’s coast for several kilometres.
The first thing you notice about Montevideo is its sky, whether the brightest blue in the day or its dramatic and glorious sunset through the evening. South America’s southernmost capital city juts into the sea so that when you turn a corner a flash of blue is often visible at the end of the road. Walking along La Rambla Francia, you pass fishermen, palm trees, fluttering green parrots, miniature beaches where waves lap against the rocks protruding from the sand. Looking out to sea, the silky blue water undulates gently beneath streaked clouds, whilst above it flocks of birds shapeshift in perfect murmurations.
The second thing you notice about Montevideo is the tree-lined avenues: tall plane trees array every street, branches joining in the middle, with their canopies shining golden as their leaves catch the sunlight. In the green tunnel beneath them, cars and buses whizz along the blocks of the city’s grid formation. On the quieter cobbled streets and squares, coloured bunting hangs above cafes and bars whose chalkboards advertise wine by the glass, or three empanadas for the price of two.
When you’re walking around Montevideo, look up. Evidence of Montevideo’s rich past is everywhere but not in the way you might expect. At street level might be the most mundane of establishments – say a Starbucks or a McDonalds or even abandoned premises, graffiti on the walls and rust accumulating on the metal bars across the windows. But look up and you will recognise the Spanish influence on the architecture: skilfully stuccoed neo-classical frontages and intricately carved columns, wrought-iron balconies and even domed roofs capped with bright, shining tiles. Along the city’s main strip, the Avenue 18 de Julio, you can see faded evidence of the success the city saw in the 1920s and 30s, its interjecting squares lined with some of the most sophisticated Art Deco architecture.
The city’s growing wealth is now more evident to the east of the city, with shining new apartment blocks fronting the Playa de los Pocitos in myriad styles, and high-end modern developments dotted throughout the pine forests around the futuristic new airport terminal, all the way out to the cash-flashing Punta del Este.
Taking a step backwards in time, venture into the Café Farmacia, its décor unchanged from a century ago but its distinctive pointed cabinets now containing not medicines but jars of coffee and tea. Another day, dine at the Café Brasilero, established in 1877, its panelled walls decorated with photographs and posters from throughout its years of existence. Soft samba music accompanies the coffee, universally first-rate in Montevideo.
Heading to the Mercado del Puerto, established in 1868, the delicious scent of steak grilled over charcoal pervades the timbered structure. Men catch up over a beer, sitting at wooden tables and chairs beside the grill, the barbecue chefs cheerfully managing their leaping flames. Waiters emerge balancing plates containing enormous steaks and set them down before hungry customers. A few glasses of Uruguayan Sauvignon Blanc go down a treat.
In the evening, head to the seafront and sit on the low wall watching the setting sun illuminate the sky a brilliant orange, tinting the clouds’ edges with fiery light.
