A Pepe Mujica T-shirt. He was quite well-known internationally. So it is here in Uruguay, singing, laughing, and having a good time. Hello, how are you, friends? Welcome to a new video. For those who don't know me, my name is Gabriel Herrera, and welcome back to Montevideo, Uruguay. This time, we are going to see what life is like in this country. Some say it's a province of Argentina. I don't know. that's what I've heard. We're going to check if that's true or not, or if they are totally independent, very different things, a different life. We were recently in Argentina, and we got a pretty clear idea of what life is like there. Now we're going to see what differences exist across the Rio de la Plata, and learn more about the culture of this place and its inhabitants. I am at the Legislative Palace, an icon of the city of Montevideo, capital of Uruguay, and from here we will start this video. Our taxi left us at the Tristan Fair, this fair that many Uruguayans come to on a Sunday. We are arriving at two-thirty in the afternoon, apparently it's until four. Let's see what we find. I wanted to highlight something that caught my attention about the taxi we took. The taxis are like all closed off. I don't know if it's been since the pandemic or if they've always been like that. You Uruguayans watching me can clarify that in the comments. But they have this barrier and it seems like a structure set up with glass, similar to taxis in the United States, in New York, which always have that barrier. To pay, there is a small drawer that goes to the passenger side, in this case, the passengers, and through there you can make the payment. I like that they have a rate depending on the kilometers traveled, so there's the taximeter telling you the kilometers, and then they have a table there that tells you, depending on the amount of kilometers, how much they are going to charge you, so they are never going to charge you more or beyond the legal rate. So it is here in Uruguay, singing, laughing, and having a good time. We begin the tour of that fair here on 18th of July Avenue. We are interested in going down there, but look how beautiful this place is. You just have to look for Doctor Tristan Narvaja, if you want to come and spend a Sunday here. This beautiful building is the Faculty of Law. How beautiful it is. Look at how wide the pedestrian crossing of this street is. They welcome us with flowers. People buying their carton of eggs. Let's see what we can find around here. Fruits, vegetables. Here we have pasta, ravioli. Look how they sell them here, ready to prepare. There is everything. Look, 30 eggs for 200 Uruguayan pesos. There are the prices, if you wanted to know how much a carton of eggs costs here at the most popular fair in Uruguay. I saw bananas at 75 Uruguayan pesos per kilo. Remember that the dollar is at approximately 38 pesos per dollar, so it's practically two dollars, almost. Something that has already become part of the gastronomic culture of Uruguay: Venezuelan food. They have arepas, empanadas, french fries, churros, pepitos, hamburgers, and with their respective sauce. And look, it has a queue, look, there are people. I must mention that Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, specifically the place where we are at the moment, is ranked as the Latin American city with the best quality of life. This according to the Mercer index. This city has the best quality in Latin America, as it has one of the lowest inequality rates in the region, along with one of the highest GDPs per capita. Although I must highlight the fact that life here in Uruguay is very expensive, and we will be talking about that, when I tell you about how much rent costs, how much a market costs, how much people earn here. Look at this butcher shop. Look, two kilos for 439 pesos. Over here we have boneless thigh for 279, the breast is at 349 per kilo, the thigh at 359, three kilos of thigh. And here we have these breaded milanesas, two kilos for 589. And more typical than a Sunday here at this fair I think we will not find, and there is everything: there are clothes, look how they have here the vegetables, the fruits. Look how they have them by quantities, underwear, T-shirts. If a lot of people come, you draw your own conclusions. The truth is that the street is full and it's already late, and many businesses are already packing up, because in a maximum of an hour they should be finishing packing everything up. We arrived a bit late. Look at this one, it's already totally packed up and here they made their day, others are still here waiting for possible last-minute customers. Look, a lot of people with eggs in their hands, a lot of people seen with cartons of eggs, it must be that here they are very cheap. Look even musical instruments, stones you can get here many things, spices. Another one with a carton of eggs... another one with a carton of eggs. See, I'm not lying, the carton of eggs seems to be cheap. Look, a Pepe Mujica T-shirt. Internationally, Pepe Mujica was quite well-known when he was president of Uruguay. He served as president of Uruguay during the period from 2010 to 2015. Pepe is a character very beloved worldwide for his way of being, of living, and for the speeches he has given, both during his presidency and outside of it. His austerity, a true reflection of the Uruguayan idiosyncrasy, and his particular lifestyle, have distinguished him as the world's poorest president. The street is huge, I can't see the end... there, at the end. The truth is that it has quite a lot to see and offer. Look here are the eggs, 30 for 190 pesos. Do the eggs sell a lot? More or less. Everyone walks around with one in their hand. I think they have them cheaper than the rest. Maybe, we try. I think so. Eating eggs is part of the essential diet of the Uruguayan. Well, I think the chivito has egg, I haven't tried it yet. Now, these facts about Uruguay will surprise you, because I don't know if the chivito really has goat, but we're going to talk about animals. And it's that here in Uruguay, my friends, there are more sheep than people. Yes, there is an average of two sheep per person living in this country. We're talking about roughly six and a half million sheep, living in this territory because Uruguay exports a lot of wool and a lot of lamb. These figures were much higher, in the 90s they reached more than 24 million sheep, that figure would be for eight sheep per person. Moreover, Uruguay is one of the nations with the highest livestock per capita in the world. And it is that, according to 2021 figures, approximately 12 million head of cattle were in Uruguay. This gives an average of 3.5 per person. Not only food and clothes can be found here, and there is a street here, look at books, many books, home decorations, grills, toys for children. Look at the lasers, they were popular in the 90s. Who didn't carry one of these lasers and was afraid the police would come? Now, do Uruguayans have enough money to come to these places and buy without worries, without looking at prices? Let's analyze it from the point of view of how much they earn on average and how much they spend on living costs. Most people here are earning an average salary of about 20,000 Uruguayan pesos. This might be a little more, if you're lucky, it could go up to 25,000 Uruguayan pesos. These would be between $500 to $650 at the exchange rate. Now, what does this money suffice for? Is it a lot of money? Really, for Uruguayan prices, no. And although it may sound like a lot of money for some other Latin American countries, where on average much less is earned, here a lot is spent to live. For example, in terms of housing, just for rent, if you live on the outskirts, you can spend about 14,000 Uruguayan pesos. These are approximately $350 for a one-bedroom apartment. Now, if you want to live closer to downtown Montevideo, it is going to be more expensive because the average rent is over $500. That means if you earn the average salary of 20,000 to 25,000, you practically spend it all on rent and you still need money for food. In transportation services and others. Now, how much is spent on food? If it's for two or three people, this family is going to spend approximately, about 10,000 Uruguayan pesos, which translates to about $250 approximately. That's if being cautious when adding products to the cart, because it can go up to $300 or more per month. That means, here a person spends no less than about $150 per month approximately. Now, with respect to the cost of living in Uruguay, it grew 96.8 percent more than in Argentina, between the capitals of both countries, living in Montevideo is 90.8 percent more expensive than doing so in Buenos Aires. The impressive thing about this is that this cost of living increased a lot, in the last months of this year 2023, it increased three times in the month of April. For you to have other data in mind, rent in Uruguay is 128 percent more expensive than in Argentina. This has led, friends, to a quite interesting phenomenon, and that is, for example, the Argentine border cities of Colón and Gualeguaychú, experience the phenomenon of hundreds of Uruguayans moving to live there, while maintaining their jobs on the other side of the river. This has made Montevideo be ranked as, the most expensive city to live in Latin America. There, how are those Uruguayan tangerines. Super sweet, the best thing is that they don't have seeds. In other countries we know that word isn't said very well. It's seeds, they don't have seeds. The tangerines are as sweet as Uruguayans are, or are Uruguayans sweeter than Uruguayan tangerines? I think Uruguayans are sweeter. This is very sweet, but the attention has been incredible. The truth is something that we must highlight about Uruguayans, about how life is lived in this country, and it is that they live it calmly, happily. To us, when we have been recognized, it has been so gratifying, so cordial, so warm. The truth is that we feel loved by the people here, whether they know us or not, because those who see us recording ask us and come over just for that, to greet. How have you been? They are very open and very trusting in the sense that, "I want to talk to you, and I go and talk to you" and so super excited. The truth is that we have truly felt very well, they have made us feel very well. Those things are priceless. Those are the things that are priceless, the tangerines do. In the last video, we were around this area on the promenades, and you thought I wasn't going to show you more of this place, yes, I will show you, because I wanted to see and know how they spend a Sunday in this part of the city, where they have these wonderful beaches, and we will be taking a tour just like in many other places. Here I met a Uruguayan. -What's your name?
-Victoria. How old are you? Sixteen. Victoria, tell me something, young people like you, what do you do in your daily life here in Uruguay, at least on a Sunday like this? On a Sunday you can go for a walk on the beach, hang out with your friends, Walk along the promenade, which is nice. Is that your favorite part or do you have any other hobbies? I do rhythmic gymnastics, I love it, I've been practicing it since I was eight years old, and it's like my life. -That's great. Well, thank you very much.
-Thank you. Well, I'm going down to the beach. People sunbathe a lot but go into the water little. I suppose the water is very cold, since we are practically just starting spring, but it's super nice for sunbathing. It's very pleasant for what they are doing, with their tray of food, their drinks, in some cases mate. The beach is quite wide, large. Look, the only ones in the water are the children, because they are the ones who can withstand the cold in these icy waters at this time of the year. And it is that, look, given that Uruguay has an extensive coastline, beaches are a fundamental part of daily life, especially during the summer months that are soon to arrive. Families and friends gather here, as you see, on the beaches to enjoy the sun, swim, have picnics, and engage in recreational activities. Moreover, we had to come to this area because, being a country with so much coastline, it's not the same in a place where you have a beach nearby, as the life lived in a city or country where there is no sea nearby, or where their daily life is not developed on the coast. Life is very different from one place to another, because what we usually see is that places with a nearby sea, live more relaxed, more calmly, without so much worry, they live life more relaxed. I think it's something everyday. Moreover, Montevideo has promenades where we are walking now, and they run along this entire avenue, and people use it to come for a walk, go around with their pets, as we can see, life here is very relaxed. Look at the elderly ladies there playing beach bowling. Here are the girls sunbathing. Think that a large avenue passes through this part here. now they say over there it's 23 degrees, very pleasant, and they're playing a kind of bocce with discs. I think so, surely they have to get as close as possible to that blue or purple disc, I'm not sure what color it is. It's worth mentioning that, just like in Argentina, the country we were visiting before, here they also have the culture of drinking mate, of constantly drinking mate, every day, all day. You can see people on the street with their thermos here, like this, with their mate and drinking, just like him, exactly. Now, I still haven't tried mate in Uruguay. It's only my second day and I haven't had it. The first day in Argentina I had already tried it. If we have the opportunity to try the Uruguayan version of mate, to see if they have any other trick, any other way of preparing it, I'll try it and we'll make some comparison, maybe, I don't know. But mate is indeed consumed here. Now, I don't know which is better, Argentine or Uruguayan mate, I don't know. Well, I already told you that the Rambla is huge, it's very long, and we're going to see the beach and we haven't eaten anything and we've already walked a lot. So the plan now is to eat. Food is an important part of life here for people in Uruguay, but that deserves a video dedicated to trying different foods. It's not that I'm not going to try them, it's that you'll see them in another episode. It's not that all countries have the privilege of making a food video. Not all countries have a cuisine as extensive as to dedicate a video to it, but here in Uruguay, there is. In the first impressions video, I tried asado and you saw it, but there are many other things to try, and what we are going to try next will be, or at least I will, Angie I think won't be able to, is the chivito. From the name... I haven't researched what it is, but from the name of what they've recommended to me, I imagine it's a piece of goat, like roasted meat, but instead of beef, it's goat meat. I think that's what it is, I don't know, we'll check, but you'll see that in another video. Now, what we're going to do is take a bus because if I keep paying for taxis, I'm going to run out of money. So we're going to see if we can get there by bus, because it's on the other side of the city from where we're coming, and this taxi, considering it cost me almost 13 dollars to get here. Those who saw the first impressions episode will know perfectly well. Yes, that's what a taxi cost me, 13 dollars, and very close, really, because Uruguay is not very big. But well, let's look for the bus and see if we try the chivito. Well, I was struck by this sign here that says "Portuguese in four months". What is that? Because I've been waiting, my friends, more than a year for Portuguese nationality. Angie understood it at the beginning. The sign is somewhat lacking information, but I think it meant that you learn the language in four months. In my defense, they should put "learn" or "learn Portuguese". Sure, they made it more direct and it works because the sign caught my attention. I don't know if you could see it well, but... It's a DJ on wheels. it's a DJ on a bicycle entertaining those behind. Before getting there, we need to take a bus, but for that, we need an internet connection to know where to take it, which bus to take and for that, we need the services of HolaFly, through their eSIMs, which are available in more than 170 countries and 70 of them with unlimited data. That means, you won't worry about running out of internet, you'll always be connected, and the best part is that it's super easy to obtain. Through their website, you choose the destination, the best plan that suits you, then they send you an email with a QR code that you scan, add it to your phone and that's it, you'll be connected from the moment you land in the new country you are visiting. And this is a great relief for us, travelers, because what we always worry about is being able to leave the airport, reach different places, stay connected with family, order food, everything related to being connected to the internet today, and it's super vital, even to share on social media, the incredible moments we are experiencing in that dream destination. If you want to be connected at any time, what you have to do is through my link that I leave in the description of this video, you can buy your eSIM and the best part is that you will get a 5% discount, or using my promotional code GABRIELHERRERA. So, now that we know that, let's go take the bus, because I already have it installed on the phone, and I can perfectly know where to wait for it. Let's go. Finally, on the bus, the wait was approximately 20 minutes or more for it to arrive. I was informed that these are slightly more expensive buses than usual. A regular bus may charge about 50 or 52 pesos to go to the destination we were going to, and this one costs 78 pesos because it goes more directly and makes fewer stops. Here is the price: 78 pesos, quite expensive to be a bus, really, they usually don't even cost a dollar. This one is practically two dollars. If you have the transportation card, it's a bit cheaper and there are some advantages. The bus is quite good, this one in particular is in very good condition. Here we have the Rio de la Plata. I don't know if the delay is because of the Heritage Day, and everything might be a bit collapsed, but yes, they told me a saying that goes: "Life goes by, but the 104 does not". Did you know that saying? The GPS malfunctioned and where we had to get off was a 10-minute walk in another direction, so we'll have to walk to get to the place where we are going to eat the chivito at the Facal bar, which was recommended to me, I don't know if it's the best place to eat the chivito, but it was recommended and I follow advice. That you will see as I already told you in another video. See you tomorrow to continue exploring more and learning about the life of the Uruguayan. Friends, a new day but the same video to continue discovering how they live here in Uruguay. That's right, discovering the life of this small country. We're going to take a bus, my friends, because as I mentioned, taxis are very expensive. When public transport works very well, we use public transport, but when we need to move quickly because we have few days in the place, and we want to move from one place to another quickly, we use taxi apps or taxis, but here it's very expensive. We would run out of money if we used taxis to move from one place to another all day, so we're going to have to sacrifice a bit of time, and use public transport which, in this case, are the buses. We were recommended an app to know the bus status, exactly when it comes and all that. It's an app called STM and here it tells me that our bus, or the two that would serve us to take from here pass at 11:29 and at 12:03. Let's see how true it is. For example, here in the app appear some numbers here, and I think they are the buses, the bus numbers in these circles, but mine does not appear. It's cool that they appear on the map and you know exactly where they come from. Well, look, it just appeared. It's here, the 156 is coming this way, it just has to cover this part here and cross. This one is the 130, mine should be arriving soon, and notice how it updates the minutes remaining. When it's very, very close, it says it's one minute away. This app is amazing. What they told me yesterday is true, the standard fare costs 52 Uruguayan pesos, and that's exactly what we paid. In total, it was 104 Uruguayan pesos because it was two tickets, one for me and one for Angie. I also confirm that buying these tickets here, on the bus with cash, they can't be used again, in the two-hour period that you normally can when you have the card. But well, it's better to pay $2.60 than to pay more than $10 for a taxi, definitely. We've arrived, my friends, at the next point we wanted to visit, and it is, my friends, where this video started, the Legislative Palace. We're going to walk towards the front of the place. Well, the transport worked quite well, punctual, the bus is comfortable, there's no hustle and bustle as in other places, no one gets on to sell you things, or at least on the two we've taken, it hasn't happened, I don't think it happens, but these are things you notice compared to other places. Well, to start, my friends, this great building here is the Legislative Palace, and as its name suggests, it is the seat of the legislative power here in Uruguay. Here operates the General Assembly which consists of two chambers that meet separately, or jointly depending on the circumstances, the Chamber of Representatives and the Senate. The surroundings are quite spacious, the building is in the center and it's surrounded by various avenues in its 360 degrees. Well, having now walked on a Sunday through the streets of Montevideo, and seeing what the movement is like on a weekend, we are now on Monday, which is when I'm actually recording the introduction of the video. I'm exactly in the place where it all started. Now, talking about the possible similarities, or differences that may exist between Argentinians and Uruguayans, from these days that I've already been here in the country, I've realized they have many similarities, they have many things in common, they share many things, both historical and cultural and gastronomical. Although here in Uruguay, I've already tried very typical dishes from here that I didn't see in Argentina, also similar dishes but with their Uruguayan touch. But the truth is that I have noticed big differences, especially between the capital cities, in this case Buenos Aires and Montevideo. Life in Buenos Aires is very hectic, it's a big, huge city, with a lot of traffic, a lot of people, a lot of movement. People are in a hurry, people are agitated, and on the other hand, the complete opposite happens here in Montevideo. It's more relaxed, people are calmer, you don't see much movement on the streets. For example, today is Monday, I'm in a place as important as the Legislative Palace, and there's practically no one on foot and not much traffic. The most I've seen is that line of cars there waiting at the traffic light, and otherwise, there are no traffic jams. Life unfolds very relaxedly, very very relaxed, and that could be what I've noticed the most, the most pronounced difference between one place and another. Now, the other thing I've noticed a lot, and which they obviously share, is the topic of mate. Drinking mate in Argentina is very popular, they are born with the thermos and mate in hand, but if I've noticed, I don't know if it's just me, but in Uruguay, the culture of drinking mate seems even more pronounced. I mean, I don't know if it's just me or what I've noticed, but here everyone has the thermos under their arm and nothing else. I mean, here people don't walk around with their purses, men don't carry anything else but, the thermos under their arm walking with the mate in hand. I mean, they take it everywhere. I've seen people on the bus with mate. I think they even take it to the bathroom. So, I don't know if that's even more pronounced here. In Argentina, it's already well pronounced, but I don't know if here it's even more a part of the culture of mate. I don't want to say it's from one side or the other, and we explained this in Argentina. If you want to know, the history, you have to watch the videos we were filming in Buenos Aires, and in Bariloche, because we were in Bariloche. The truth is that's what it seems to me. I don't know if I'm correct, if it's the same or if it's more in Argentina and I didn't notice, but let me know in the comments if you think, the culture of mate is more pronounced here in Uruguay than in Argentina. Well, friends, we are in a pretty nice place. It has parks, it has monuments, but it also has a centenary place, and it's here where the Centenario Stadium is located very close. Talking about Uruguay and not talking about football doesn't make sense, talking about how Uruguayans are, how they live in this country, not mentioning football doesn't make sense. Well, and here we can note the tranquility. Some workers very calmly right there are passing now under the shade. Here's another gentleman here under the shade, another gentleman there, a couple over here, and that is, my friends, Uruguayan life, calm, relaxed, without much noise, without much hustle and bustle. Here we have the Monument to the Cart. Basically, the sculpture is of oxen pulling a classic cart, here on a hill in front of what should be a pond, but at this moment it has no water. Well, we're walking and just, we're seeing the Centenario Stadium right to my left hand. Let's see if we manage to get to the main part, to the main entrance. I don't know if there are tours, we'll find out. If there are tours and we can do it, we'll enter to see the Centenario Stadium. If not, we'll stick to the facade. Well, friends, welcome to the Centenario Stadium, a world football monument. There it clearly tells us. Look, there, homage from FIFA, July 18, 1983. But, my friends, it's closed. At least this main entrance is closed. It says here, look: Visit Centenario Stadium and Football Museum, Monday to Saturday. Today is Monday, it's 12:52, so it should be open. Let's see, you are here. Entry is over here, so, on the completely other side. I imagine that happens to everyone like me, they come to this part and think, it's closed. So, they put that big sign there to tell you that you're at the wrong entrance, although here it says welcome and all. It must be that this is the entrance for the games as such and the visits are over there. Let's find out. While I talk to you a bit about this stadium, and why it's called the Centenario Stadium, why it's so important and why I came here. In the stadium, wandering around a bit, quite simple, it's made of bricks, I believe, the exterior in many parts. It's big because well, it's a football stadium, but not huge and that impressive. Like other stadiums can be, what happens is that it has a lot of history. Like many countries in South America, here, in Uruguay, football is the most important sport. The first international football match in Uruguay was played in 1902. Not only was the first international football match played here, but also the first FIFA World Cup, in 1930. Here we have, my friends, the commemorative plaque of the Centenario Stadium. Notice what I did there; 1930. It says: "Its erection culminated the joint efforts of the municipal authorities, and the Uruguayan Football Association. Remembering that enterprise stimulates the will, for the physical and spiritual betterment of our people. Departmental Government of Montevideo". Thirty years later, in 1960. This first World Cup was held due to the elimination of football from the Olympics, just after Uruguay won two consecutive medals, in Paris in 1924 and in Amsterdam in 1928. By then, when the first World Cup was played in this stadium in 1930, there was absolutely nothing around the stadium. All these buildings, houses, businesses, avenues practically did not exist. Here we have a reminder, although the photo isn't very good, but I'll show you. I don't know if you can see, this is the stadium. I'll see if I can find a better photo online. Notice all the lands around are fields. Here's an area that looks like a football field, although it's not very clear. It was here, ladies and gentlemen, where the first FIFA World Cup was played in Uruguay in 1930. It was the first edition of the World Football Championship, organized by FIFA between July 13 and July 30, 1930. Now, it's quite curious to be in this stadium, in this place where the first FIFA World Cup was played. The first World Cup and having been last year where the last World Cup was played in Qatar. We were there last year, doing an incredible series about this country, and everything that was developing around the football World Cup. It's impressive to be in a place like this. Whether we want to admit it or not, football moves passions, it has even moved wars, wars have been paused because of football. Incredible things have happened because of football, and truthfully, it's a very important sport worldwide. Now, who won that first edition of the football World Cup? Yes, Uruguay won in 1930, and they won again in 1950. The peculiar thing about that is they beat the favorite, which was Brazil. In 2012, it ranked number 2 in the FIFA ranking. Moreover, Uruguay is known for exporting great international players. Among those players, we can name Diego Forlán, whom I saw many times in matches during his stage in Spain, Luis Suárez, Edinson Cavani, Enzo Francescoli, nicknamed "The Prince", was a key figure in Uruguayan and South American football during the 80s and 90s. He played in clubs like River Plate and Cagliari and is remembered for his elegance and vision of the game. Exactly, my friends, on July 18, 1983, FIFA declared this stadium a World Football Historic Monument, being the only construction of its kind in the world. It is the stadium with the largest capacity in Uruguay, and among the largest in Latin America, ranking at number 15. The curious thing about this stadium is that it was built especially for the Football World Cup. It was made only for that event, with that purpose. Now, it was built in record time, it took nine months for the foreigners, the immigrants who built it, to do so. Now, why was it named Estadio Centenario? Because it alludes to the swearing-in of the Constitution of Uruguay. To the centenary of the swearing-in of the Constitution of Uruguay. The truth is that it's strange to see these days, at least in South America, a capital that is so calm, with not so much traffic, that has the movement of a quieter, more normal city, less perhaps important like the second, third, fourth cities. And even though we are in the capital of Uruguay, it's very calm here. Well, if you wanted to know where they learn to drive in Uruguay, this is the place. We are near the monument to the cart and the surroundings of the Centenario Stadium. I've only seen these types of driving school cars, like it's a pretty calm area to learn. I don't know if it's just this site or if they go out later, on the busier avenues to practice with real traffic. I don't know how Uruguayans drive because I've only been here a couple of days, and from what I've seen, they drive well, giving pedestrians the right of way. I think they do quite well, meaning they learn very well in these driving schools because they really don't have a bad reputation for driving poorly. There are countries that do have a very bad reputation. This park here seems very calm. You're going to relax with the kids, let them have some fun for a while. It's quite complete, nice, it has many things for entertainment, and also for the kids to get a little bump here and there. In this large park, the whole area we've been walking through, where the stadium is also located, it has its bike path, it has walking paths around here. Whoever wants to go walking, I wish all countries had bike paths, and it was perfectly marked with enough space, to ride safely on a bicycle. But, many countries, as they have been built in a not very organized manner, sometimes there's not even space for vehicles. So, making a bike path means taking away more space from vehicles and causing more congestion. Although the bike path itself is perhaps for people to cycle more, but this really sometimes is not what is achieved. But at the same time, if they sacrificed that, maybe, it would result in greater use of the bike paths upon seeing that, it's more efficient to cycle than to drive cars. Things to analyze. And I must confess that this part here is very different, from what we were seeing in the old town, in the downtown area. There are prettier buildings, things seem broader, you even see much more modern buildings, though all quite low. Here they don't build tall buildings. It's not that they're very necessary, truthfully, because there's such a small population, approximately three and a half million people, where there are more sheep than people. Why build tall towers if there won't be anyone to live in them? But yes, the British embassy has a big building, in this case, a large house. Look at that, practically a mansion, it's gorgeous. Look, see a sign of the Camino de Santiago. And there are very beautiful houses around here, in most cases, I see they are like businesses or embassies. For this area, it's super nice, very beautiful. It's just that whenever there are many green areas, it gives another aspect to the area, it gives it more spaciousness. The parks, well, and walking, taking advantage of the fact that we are walking from one place to another, I must comment on the insecurity or the issue of security in Uruguay. Truthfully, I have not felt unsafe. We just passed by an area of the stadium where there were homeless people, and it seemed a bit neglected, and maybe if you pass by at night you might feel a bit scared, but I didn't really feel in danger. Now, so there have been several people who have warned me, to be careful perhaps in some areas a bit further away, you can't be completely sure and you have to be cautious, but they haven't given me big warnings like no, you can't go there or whatever. No. The truth is that they have been some small warnings like well be careful, if you stray too far from the busier streets. Other than that, it's calm. And after walking a little over a kilometer, almost a kilometer and a half, 23 minutes, we've arrived at the Obelisk of Mont evideo. Look how beautiful. This obelisk, friends, was built in 1930, to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the Constitution of Uruguay. Well, we are waiting for our next bus, the 121, which will drop us off, my friends, at a jail, or well, that was years ago. To get to that jail, or former jail, my friends, we have come to Punta Carretas. That's the name of this area. This church is very pretty, very nice. And we have arrived, my friends. It turns out that on September 6, 1971, more than 100 guerrillas of the National Liberation Movement-Tupamaros, three militants from FARO, three from OPRE, and five common prisoners, escaped from the Punta Carretas Maximum Security Penitentiary. Precisely, this is the old entrance to the penitentiary. Now it's the entrance to a shopping center, Shopping Punta Carretas, located here in the Uruguayan capital and in what still signifies, at that time, one of the largest prison escapes in history. Today, that imposing prison of 400 cells, has been transformed into a shopping center that houses thousands of Montevideans, and tourists who walk the streets towards the chic bar, where today stands the Punta Carretas sign, right there, before, my friends, it said "Penitentiary". I'm going to see if I can find a picture on the internet so you can see. Of the most notable of that construction, remains this arch which was the entrance to the penitentiary. Perhaps for Pepe Mujica, this is not a very good memory, but he escaped from this prison twice. Now we're going to see if we take a look at the shopping center, but I can tell you in advance that the surroundings are spectacular. Look at that, how impressive. Around here, you can see there are many bars, restaurants, fashionable places, it's clear that it's an expensive neighborhood. Also, if you come here, you will be very close to the promenades, which are also a very touristy spot. We visited them yesterday and it's part of what you've seen in this video. Let's see how the shopping center is, let's take a quick tour. To think about the history of this place, that today houses shops, and in a way an entertainment area for everyone. Before, the last place you wanted to be was right here. The shopping center is very elegant, with all kinds of stores, big franchises, it's very nice and has several levels. Almost 11 dollars for a movie ticket, it's not cheap at all, it's quite expensive. In the food court, a hamburger at McDonald's costs you 69 Uruguayan pesos, that's almost 2 dollars. We have here Rolex, I don't even want to know how much a Rolex costs here. Let's see if they know the prices, which I doubt. Usually, the prices are not listed, but I suppose it will be more expensive than average, to buy a Rolex here. Things that we will find, in a kiosk of a shopping center in Uruguay: mates, mate cups, straws. And, if I'm not mistaken, this must be wool. All porcelain, and the details in gold, it's gold. All made in Uruguay, handmade -Is that wool over there, right?
-Yes. And of course, we had to see handmade wool items here in Uruguay. Remember the fact? This store, they have their kiosk in front and the store right here, where they have many wool products as well, sweaters. And we're walking towards the promenade, and look what I saw here: a booth where they make a podcast and it can be seen from outside. How curious. By the way, the issue of fuel here in Uruguay is like this. For example, at this gas station is the Super, which would be, in this case, the cheapest of the gasolines, at 77.54 Uruguayan pesos. Fuel is so expensive here. I just rented a car for tomorrow to go to Punta del Este, because we are going to be in Punta del Este. I rented a car to go at our own pace and to be able to explore as much as possible there tomorrow. You will see that in an upcoming video because, my friends, I had to experience the city of the billionaires, where people come to spend dream vacations here in Uruguay. So that's what we'll do in an upcoming episode. So, if you don't want to miss it, you have to turn on the notifications, and make sure, especially if you're subscribed to the channel, because many times you watch the videos, and my videos always appear here on YouTube but you're not subscribed. Check there that you're subscribed to the button. It's invaluable support to continue making these videos that I love so much, and you enjoy so much. And how beautiful this is, look. There are very nice apartments, like this one. Houses that are being renovated over there. This is spectacular. This small building here is very very nice, truly, and it's right next to the Río de la Plata, right next to the promenade there. It couldn't be better located. Well, perhaps, on that side to have the complete view. I wanted to explore more of the promenade on this side because it's huge. Also, all this you can stroll through, and people from this area enjoy it to the fullest, and if you're not from the area, you come here to enjoy a while. See all the apartment buildings here, there are some hotels too. There's a bike path here, to walk, to stroll. Over there we see the Punta Carretas lighthouse, I don't know if you can spot it at the end. A good game in the afternoon is always nice with friends. The boys are having a very good game of soccer, with goals, a couple of cones, and nothing more. Well, I don't know how frequent it is, but besides soccer, as we saw, right next to here there's a rugby field. Look at this, and there are those who still like to play it. Right now, there's no one, but the field is there. Also, check this out, on Sundays from 10 to 12, for 6 to 12 years old, there's a free rugby school. Look what a classic is over there. You know what's curious? Seeing this kind of things in South America. It's not very common to see these types of water fountains, for you to fill your bottles or simply drink there. This I usually see in Europe. Sure, there are filters used for drinking water, but this must be direct water already from some well, something like that, and it comes out a lot. Friends, with Juan Zorrilla de San Martín right behind me, with the promenades also right in the background, I must say goodbye to today's video. I hope you liked it, that you have gone away with a pretty clear idea of what life is like in Uruguay, how people are living here, the cost of living, how its inhabitants spend their time in this small territory of America. I would like to know in the comments what surprised you the most, what you liked the most, which was your favorite part, and if you would choose, why not, to live in Uruguay, taking into account, of course, everything we talked about in this video. I won't leave without inviting you to subscribe to my YouTube channel. Activate the notification bell so you always know when I upload a new video. I also invite you to follow me on my Instagram account, because there I'm sharing in the moment when I'm in places, before these videos appear on YouTube. There you can find me as gabrielherrera_ so friends, from here, from Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, I say goodbye. See you in a next video. Goodbye. Much love.
