Montevideo, our final stop...this year.

Montevideo Feb 26 – Mar 4th

It feels like the end, we are emotionally and physically drained. We can now let ourselves feel what we have been ignoring for a while, and we sleep in until 8am. I know...what radical behavior. Truth is we were just plain tired and needed a couple extra hours of sleep. Our hotel is across the street from the Supreme and Judicial Court buildings which allows us some early morning people watching from the restaurant. After a few days we start to recognize people and their patterns, there is the “smoker guy”, the “smoking cop”, the old guy with the chocolate lab that leaves a large present on the tree in front of the courthouse (the dog not the old guy), the cool chauffeur who wears Terminator sunglasses, etc etc. They are all just going about their everyday routine and we are catching a glimpse into everyday life in the city.

As mentioned I perform a little maintenance on the bikes in preparation for storage, first we visit a car wash to get the bikes cleaned. 

This guy spends about 45 minutes on each bike cleaning them with what smells like nafta, whatever it is the bikes look cleaner than new when done. Unfortunately all that pressure washing caused a short somewhere and my bike would not start. After using the air hose on the gauges and hand controls the thumper fires up and we make our way to the shop. For the first time in two weeks my dash is working, damn electrical ghosts. At the shop I change the motor oil and the brake fluids, make a list of parts to bring back with me next time, but forget to clean the air filters. I will have to do that when we return. This all takes a few hours and Willi is kind enough to only charge me for the oil, he said something in Castellano that I could not understand, sorry Willi.

So now the bikes are ready for storage on Saturday, well almost, I must have got an air bubble in the brake line as Brenda’s bike has no front brakes, this gets fixed at the parking garage, much to the amusement of the attendants.

Montevideo is a great city to walk around in, every block has at least one old building so there is always something to look at. They even a have a few streets blocked off to traffic which is always a nice feature. These streets are lined with shops, restaurants, bars, buskers, you name it they have it. 

Canadian Embassy

 

One of the best parts of Uruguay is their love of BBQ’d meat, they call it Asado and it looks like this

This market restaurant is close to the waterfront and is set up to catch the tourists as they come off of the cruise ships. It also works as a great evening hangout with live music, lively bars and of course the “we don’t close until you leave” policy. We were introduced to this market by Henri, a rider from Quebec who we met the day before. He rides a BMW 1200GS so we were drawn to it like moths to light. He was parked on the Municipal Square and as we walked by we said hello and that started a conversation that ended with us agreeing to meet for lunch the next day and getting a bit of a tour of the city. Henri lives part time in MV and he keeps his bike down there full time. He took us on riding tour of the old town and then along the rambla to the ritzy area of the city which included a stop at a German bakery. When it was time for lunch we went to the “meat market” where Brenda and I shared a plate of steak and mashed potatoes. We have learned to order one entre and see how big it is, then decide if a second one is required, usually it is not.

The rest of our days in MV are spent walking the city and enjoying the old buildings, we found a Automovil Museo that has a nice collection of old cars and a few newer ones on display. The museum was on the sixth floor of a building above a gas station so it may belong to the station owner but there was no admission charged in any event. The weather was perfect for our walking tours, 25C all day every day.

Then it was time to pack up our stuff and make our way to the airport for the long flight home. We got on the plane at 3am and landed in Calgary at 10pm, with 5 hours lost due to timechanges. March 4^th, 25C to -32C, welcome home! Now get back to work. Brrr