Montevideo Street Scenes

A miscellany of things, old and new, seen while walking the streets of Montevideo. The first picture is of people waiting in line to purchase marijuana at a pharmacy. The last seems to bless and protect the plant. 

Overall, the colors, mix of old and new, and relaxed feeling made Montevideo a surprisingly attractive city. We were there only two days, and would have liked it to be longer.

Montevideo Museum of Decorative Arts

The Decorative Arts Museum, or Palacio Taranco, is an attractive museum in the heart of the Old City, in a building built in the French style for the Taranco Ortiz family at the beginning of the 20th C. A very pleasant place to spend an hour or two.

Montevideo: Museo Andes 1972

Here are some photos from a fascinating, moving, and important museum in Montevideo, Uruguay. The Museo Andes 1972 commemorates the 1972 crash of a plane carrying a Uruguayan rugby team over the Andes to Chile. 29 died and 16 survived after 72 days in freezing temperatures and with no food.

Jörg P.A. Thomsen, Curator and co-Director, who knew many of the survivors and their families, and who spearheaded the development of the museum. He gave us an enlightening and moving tour.

Impressionistic painting of the interior of the plane after the crash.

 A window of the plane, suspended against an image of the Andes near the crash site.

Sculpture bust of the sheep herder who encountered a couple of survivors after many days, and brought rescuers to the site.

More Montevideo Scenes

A variety of Montevideo scenes that we encountered on our guided tour, starting with the canonical meeting of the Rio de la Plata (brown) and the Atlantic Ocean (blue).

Montevideo Neighborhood

A formerly Jewish neighborhood, now rundown but still active, was decorated with beautiful tilework.

Montevideo Markets

Montevideo has large and colorful markets, which seem to take the place of the relatively sterile supermarkets that we in the United States are accustomed to. They also provide places for tasty eats and drinks.

Montevideo Sculptures

On our first full day in Montevideo (December 17), we hired a guide and driver to show us around the city. It was a rich experience, which I'll depict in its various aspects over the next few days, starting with some impressive public sculpture in parks and the cathedral.