Uruguay Day 8 – Parque Rodó

Today we explored Parque Rodó, both the namesake park, and the barrio (neighborhood). We also scoped out the beach where we plan to return tomorrow. It’s now been one week since we arrived.

Pausat, our favorite coffee house, doesn’t open until 4:00pm on Saturdays, so we went to La Pasiva instead. They had a good breakfast deal: 860 pesos ($22.42) for two people, and included your choice of coffee (including espresso drinks), small glass of orange juice, scrambled eggs with ham, ham & cheese grilled cheese sandwiches, toast, and sweet croissants. After breakfast we went to a comic book shop, then picked up our fluffed and folded laundry.

Parque Rodó

Once laundry was squared away, we took a bus to Parque Rodó (Rodó Park). The bus stop was right in front of the Defensor Sporting Club. We had looked into soccer matches, and Defensor has a match on Sunday, so we looked into getting tickets. Google said the game was at 4:00pm, but Google was wrong. The game starts at 8:00pm. We decided against getting tickets.

We were meeting Daniel at Enriqueta, a little bar/restaurant on the edge of the park. They were setting up for an event – Festival Seis Años. We got at table, and Daniel joined us when he arrived. We got to see the band warming up, but they didn’t start playing until we had left. We could hear them as we began exploring the park, though.

We walked through the park, which was really nice. There are amusement park rides, a lake with paddle boat rentals, multiple fountains, statues, a photography exhibit, a bocce court, tennis courts (both clay and cement), and tons of space to sit and have a picnic or just enjoy the views.

The band warming up at Enriqueta (side of stage)

A sign in the park that says: “You see the truth but you closed your eyes”

A monument to José Enrique Rodó, an important Uruguayan writer

Teresa and I sitting on a bench near one of the fountains

Escaramuza Libros y Café

After the park we walked to Escaramuza, a very cool bookstore with a stained glass ceiling, book stacks that went all the way to the ceiling, a nice little café, and a tree covered patio. We ordered an apple tart and some drinks (they make a really nice negroni) and relaxed for a bit on the patio.

After the bookstore we went to a small game store called Mornar Store. It was tiny, but had a decent selection of old NES, SNES, and N64 cartridges, plus Magic The Gathering and other card games.

We were killing time until a tapas place was supposed to open (again, according to Google). Once again, Google was wrong (but this time, not Google’s fault). We walked in to Toledo Bar de Tapas right at 5:00pm, when Google said they opened. It was gorgeous. It also had a stained glass ceiling and a tree covered patio. There were workers setting up who told us “we open at 7:00pm now – we opened at 5:00 last year, but haven’t updated our page on Google”. Oops.

Undaunted, we walked back towards the park and on to La Rambla, where we walked along the beach (we’ll be returning here tomorrow) to Noa Noa, a restaurant right on the water. They were closed for a private event. Strike two! We checked out the place next door (Puesta del Sol), but the prices were crazy. So, instead, we went to Bar Rodó, which was a good move!

Bar Rodó

Bar Rodó is, not coincidently, right near Parque Rodó. It has a cool and funky vibe, and really good drinks. The food was good, too! I had a chivito plate (grilled chicken, ham, bacon, a fried egg, mozzarella, on top of a bed of french fries, with a side of Russian salad). It was delicious, but put me in a food coma. Teresa had spinach ravioli, and Daniel had a chivito al pan – basically what I had, but as a sandwich, and without the Russian salad. After our meal, we took the bus back to Centro and called it a night.

Chivito

Chivito is the national dish of Uruguay. It’s traditionally made with beef, but is often made with chicken instead, and usually has ham, mozzarella, a fried (or hard boiled) egg, tomato, mayo, and possibly black or green olives. Chivito al pan is the sandwich version, usually served with a side of fries, and chivito al plato is the dish version (no bread), and is usually served on top of a bed of fries and/or a side of Russian salad. If you’re visiting Uruguay, you need to have chivito at least once.