Montevideo. Uruguay

To explore new lands the Captain and Admiral decided to make a quick getaway from the enormous Argentine city of Buenos Aires and head on a day trip to Uruguay.

Uruguay is the second-smallest nation in South America, after Suriname. They decided to visit the Capital city of Uruguay – Montevideo.  A three and a half hour ferry from Buenos Aires they set off very early, nursing a hangover from the night before.
They arrived to the city docks at about 10 am on Sunday morning and started walking around the city towards the centre. What they saw was a ghost town.

Covered in fog and extremely empty and quiet the Captain and Admiral brainstormed adjectives to describe the city as they walked. They came up with dark, grey, cold, windy, delapitated, the city reminded the Captain of Gotham City, with several buildings resembling the Arkham Asylum. All the shops in the city were closed, they figured this being the case because it was Sunday. There was hardly any people on the street, and the people that they did encounter were all homeless and pretty frightening, often carrying a heavy stench of Marijuana.  Additionally since they had arrived in another country their Sim cards did not work, they had no data, no maps, they were just walking around aimlessly. They searched for an ATM, as the currency was different to that of Argentina, but with all the shady characters and the absence of normal people they kept walking along the main roads.

At one point the Admiral freaked out as a homeless lady started yelling and following them down the street luckily they turned the corner and she was gone.
The first signs of positivity glistened when they found a sign on the street that detailed free wifi. They both connected and downloaded the maps and information about where they were and what to do.

Turns out they were in the old town and the new city was about 20 minutes walk from where they had sat. They started walking up and noticed that the wifi was still connected, it turned out that the whole city was a free wifi zone, both the old town and the new town.
With the help of some internet they were able to find an open and secure ATM that they could withdraw from.

At the edge/ gate of the new city centre they came across a crew that was filming a movie. Intrigued by the film crew and the set, the Captain much to the Admiral’s dissatisfaction sat on a bench near the filming. On the bench next to them but facing away sat a tall man, warpped up in a green Scarfe and hoodie. A crew member  then took a photo of the man, and turned to the Captain and Admiral and said  ‘he thinks he’s Keanu Reeves’ they all laughed. A moment later the tall man whose face was mostly covered with the scarfe turned towards them and spoke a few words in spanish thinking he was speaking to locals. The Captain and Admiral stared back blankly (because they can’t understand Spanish but also because from what they could see the man had an uncanny resemblance to Keanu Reeves) but were rescued by the crew member who explained that  if they wanted to sit there they could, they would be in the movie and that they shouldn’t look at the camera. The Admiral not wanting to ruin the scene quickly stood up to walk away with the Captain reluctantly in tow.

They continued to explore the city, now the landscape had changed, the city was more modern with shops, cafes, cars and most importantly people, although nothing compared to the volumes of people they had seen in other countries. There wre many large open spaces with statutes and tons of homeless people. They strolled up and down the city checking it all out before grabbing lunch at a very nice cafe.
Like ducks in a public park lake,  their bellies were full of bread as they headed out looking for more hustle and bustle. Unfortunately although it was lunch time there were still minimal people on the streets. They headed back to the main square to meeting spot where they would start the city walking tour.

The tour started with an overview of the city and despite their paranoia they were informed that Uruguay is ranked first in Latin America in democracy, peace, low perception of corruption, e-government, and is first in South America when it comes to press freedom, size of the middle class and prosperity. It also is the safest country in Latin America. Gosh the Captain and Admiral felt pretty noob at this moment.

Additionally on a per-capita basis, Uruguay contributes more troops to United Nations peacekeeping missions than any other country. It tops the rank of absence of terrorism and nearly 95% of Uruguay’s electricity comes from renewable energy, mostly hydroelectric facilities and wind parks.  Uruguay Uragoodguy.

As they walked around they discovered that Uruguay was a fortress city with walls all around it. It was a very strategic city to stop the Portuguese moving from Brazil into the Spanish occupied South American territories. We also heard how the South American countries were split, with the kings of Spain and Portugal going to the pope with a map and asking him to allocate the rule amongst the countries. Coincidentally the Pope was Spanish at the time and allocated most of Latin America to the Spanish with only Brazil going to Portugal.

The Independence of Uruguay, was given by agreement between Brazil, Argentina and Britain rather than any revolution or war.

As they walked they learnt something controversial which was  that although Argentina claims to have created the Tango, they believe that the rythm came from Argentina but that Uruguay created the dance.
They learnt about the president and how he is able to walk around the city, often having coffee at local cafes, without any security detail or getting hassled. The country has a small population of only 3 million people and everything is pretty relaxed compared to other South American cities.

They walked around learning more about the liberal and progressive laws of the country. In 2012 they legalised abortion, making it the only country in South America to be Pro choice. Since then there has been 0 abortion  related deaths.

To reduce crime and cripple the black market they also legalised Marijuana.  Locals in the country are allowed 6 plants per family, the Pharmacy also sells state produced marijuana limited to 10 grams per week per person.
They also have legalised gay marriages. Being the second country in South America to do so.

All of the above only being applicable for local citizens of the country.
Other interesting facts included that Uruguay was one of the first countries to allow  women to vote in  1913 and one of the first countries to allow divorce.
With all that information the tour was just about to end. This is when they found out something that shocked them to the point that the Admiral stopped paying any attention to the tour, her surroundings and even breathing. The guide casually mentioned that  Keanu Reeves was going to be in town next week shooting a Netflix show called ‘Conquest’.

The Admiral started spasming. Was the tall man they had seen earlier Keanu? His face was covered and he spoke Spanish. Had they just seen John Wick  made a fool of themselves laughing at him.
The Admiral started googling ‘Does Keanu speak Spanish?’ – Yes, ‘how tall is Keanu?’ 1.85 cm.

Everything checked out. They were convinced it was him. They started freaking out. They said goodbye to the tour and headed back to where the film was being shot. Heart rates higher than they had ever been this trip, rushing to see Keanu. They got to the area to find that the set had been packed up. They were heartbroken and part of them was still freaking out. They decided to walk towards the Raddison hotel where the Captain assumed he would be staying. Just as they turned the corner they were able to see the set in the distance and as if all their wishes had come true they rushed to the set. The filming was being done so they couldn’t get a proper look at the actor, they did however make friends with two of the extras standing on the side. After having a chat with them their hearts sank as they found out that the filming is not for a Netflix series but rather a local film and that Keanu would I’m fact be coming next week.

Slightly devastated they walked towards the set to confirm. Once again he had his hoodie on, but his face was exposed enough for the captain to confirm, it was not Keanu. It in fact looked nothing like him. They had been noobed yet again.
After a rollercoaster of emotion, with lows and highs they could now put this all to rest, much like John Wick had to for his little puppy.
They had one last landmark to see before they headed back to Argentina, it was a tourist novelty but no trip is complete without it. A photograph with a giant sign of Montevideo.
They ventured out of the city without realising that the sign was 10 km away from the city centre, there was no way they could make that hike and return in time by foot. They quickly jumped into a taxi and headed down the beach front promenade towards the sign, following the ocean as they drove.

Quickly they took an obligatory selfie, grabbed some food and headed back to catch the 7pm ferry. On the drive back the fog covered the city once again, leaving a backdrop of white and the same eery feeling that they felt when they had arrived.
An adventurous day came to an end as the Captain and Admiral boarded the vessel, marking Montevideo and Uruguay as another completed city.