Plaza Independencia with Great Friends

Friday, January 2, 2015

Baked cinnamon rolls for office elders because they well deserved them after cambio week.
Mike took them to the office for me.  A few minutes later I get a phone call and they all
said together: Thank you or Gracias!
I did some office work in the apartment and then we went to Plaza Independicia with the Anderson's.
From wikipedia:

Plaza Independencia (Spanish for Independence Square) is the name of Montevideo's most important plaza. It separates Ciudad Vieja (Old City) from downtown Montevideo, with the Gateway of The Citadel on one side and the beginning of 18 de Julio avenue on the other.

In the center, the Artigas Mausoleum dominates the perspective.

Many important buildings, such as the Solís Theatre and the workplaces of the President of Uruguay (both the Estévez Palace and the Executive Tower) are located by this square.

One of the characteristic buildings located by the square is Palacio Salvo.This square was designed in the 1830s by Carlo Zucchi, inspired in the Rue de Rivoli, Paris. Three decades later it was redesigned by Bernardo Poncini.

Artigas' Tomb

The soldiers are real. You walk down some stairs and
then into this darkened room.
It takes some time for the eyes to adjust.

Coming out of the tomb and back up the stairs.

Netting was above us I guess to protect us
from people throwing things down the stairs.

Artigas and his horse.

The intent of this trip was to try out the buffet at the Radisson Hotel which is in this square. The Anderson's wanted to treat us and despite their best efforts to make sure it would be open, they were not.  So two weeks later, we tried again and this time we brought the Harris' and the new couple, the Ness'.  We had more time so we wandered the streets a bit and then had  THE BEST restaurant food ever for Uruguay.

Dogs have full reign here in Uruguay. It is a bit annoying because you would like to look UP and see the sights, but if you do you probably will end up with a dog mess on the bottom of you shoes!

Sister Ness is working in the temple.
She has no spanish skills either.

The streets remind me of New Orleans Square.

In the foreground you see the last original gate to the city. It is the tan arch and right behind it is a wall that was built to protect it and support it. It is called Gateway of The Citadel. In the background is the unique looking building on the left.  That is the Palacio Salvo referred to in wikipedia.

No automation for yard maintenance here.
At least people have jobs!

The plaza was kind of quiet today for street vendors.  I think they knew it was going to rain.

We visited the Catholic Church. This is the most

ornate church I have seen in Uruguay.

As always, the poor are out front asking for help.

And of course, we all gave. 

The baptismal "font".

This was my favorite. This church was pretty good for

portraying the good and not focusing too much on the gory. 

A beautiful manger scene.

The outside of the church.

Mike's favorite drink is Pomelo

Inside these buildings are plenty of open grills. It is very smoky

in there and I came out smelling like a campfire!

These stores are close to the port where the cruise ships dock.

Typical tourist type items.

This was the VERY nice all you can eat buffet that we went to in the Radisson Hotel. We arrived just as the rain storm hit. Our timing was perfect.  Great food, great views (25th floor), and great friends, old and new. 

The building we are looking at is the Antel Building. They are the phone company in Uruguay.

There is a small window of opportunity to go to the top floor and we happen to be in that window, 

so off we went.

A selfie using a mirrored wall in the Antel building.

Looking at Plaza Independencia.

I am standing in the "V" of the Antel building.

We are viewing the port and these are imported vehicles waiting to get out of customs.

Graveyard for vehicles, but mostly motorcyles.

HUGE church on the horizon. We will have to put this on our visit list.

My zoom is pretty good!

We live out there somewhere!

Small cruise ship, can hardly see it!

Graveyard for boats it seems.

And that is where we were at the tippy top.

Everyone wants to get their picture taken by this sign. It was painted blue during the World Cup.

The Ness'

The Harris'

And then a bus load of people came, so we have

The Burnett's with random people.

It was a great P-Day and we thoroughly enjoyed the day.