September 23,

Well, we were in bed before three, but I could not settle into slumber for quite awhile – just restless. I finally awoke at 1008. Jeff said he’d been awake since 0830. Yesterday was a crazy, travel (“non-travel”) day. Anyway, we readied and sorted stuff. We will be in this suite for four nights. We are on the fifth floor, but have views of another hotel on one side and roofs with buildings on the other.

We finally went out around noon. I needed coffee and we wanted to explore Montevideo, Uruguay. As we set out to a main plaza, Plaza Independencia, we were both taken by the biting coldness of the wind…being in the sun helped some. When we traversed the short distance to the plaza, we caught the tail end of a changing of guard. It seems this plaza is the Mausoleo de Jose Gervasio Artigas, who is a Uruguayan national hero and revered as the “Father of the Nation.” We did not know this to be his mausoleum while we were here, and did not go under the Horseman Statue of Artigas. But it was great to see a changing of the guard. The ceremony had started at noon (it was now 1230), and supposedly happens on Fridays, holidays, and special days. Today was not Friday or a holiday, so it must be a special day(?) Anyway, there was a uniformed band and the soldiers. We will have to come back on Friday. Anyway, it ended and we were ready to leave when an older lady approached us to offer a two hour guided tour of the city. We almost took her up but we were hungry and I still needed coffee.

We walked through another plaza, Plaza de la Constitucion, created in 1726 per a placard. It also stated this square served as a civil & military celebrations, bullfights, and also a market. In the mid-19th Cen., it changed to a more green space with a lovely fountain in the center, as it remains now. A guy was working on the fountain so it was going. Nice – so many times the fountains are not going! There was a big church along one side of this square, which was open but…still hungry!

We found Comidas Olisca. A number of people seemed to come in for take away, but we took a table, and ordered a wedge of a veggie tart, and a menu of the day – which was grilled chicken with a (leek?) gravy and mashed potatoes. We loved both dishes and shared a grapefruit drink. The bill came to 485 UYU (Uruguayan Peso) or $12.10. Then we went to Mapi Cafe by The Lab – it’s a coffee shop. Yeah! They had two kinds of coffee beans: one a Brazilian/Tanzanian; the other a Brazilian/Colombian blend. I tried the latter one, called Blend Mapi, and I liked it. We found out they don’t have a coffee grinder here for French Press coarseness, but The Lab has two other locations in Montevideo that would be able to grind it. The guy who helped us even pinned the two places. So Jeff bought me a bag.

Now we walked to a grocery store and bought a salad, wine, and cheese/salami tray for supper. We went back to our suite and settled in. Later we had our supper and watched some YouTube videos. Both of us had “good vibes” feelings – first impression – from the city today. Many buildings – around this part of the city, anyway – have colonial European and/or Art Deco facades, which we love. We turned in by 2100.