Asunción

Asunción, short Asu but by the full name La Muy Noble y Leal Ciudad de Nuestra Señora Santa María de la Asunción is a city in change. Modern architecture next to run down buildings and overgrown by metre high trees. It hasn't got a lot to offer for tourists at first sight but upon closer inspection you'll see its unique charm.
So after a quick breakfast we went out to retrace our steps from last evening to see the sights by day. From the Pantheon of Heroes, the Presidential Palace, the riverfront to the old, colourful Loma San Gerónimo. Each area has unique features and the reoccurring theme of run down buildings. We enjoyed our walk through all of these areas and despite there are some homeless people, felt very safe.
When we were at the riverfront we overheard someone talking in German and they started a little conversation not knowing that we spoke German. It was quite funny 😁 Another nice little detail about Asunción are the graffiti, giving it a more modern facade. Overall we walked more than 9 km in the morning to see all the sights. On the way back to the hotel we were surprised by a little military parade for the raising of the flag at the Pantheon of Heroes. They marched, played music, paraded and sung the National Anthem. It was an interesting procedure and there were a lot of locals watching this little spectacle. Overall we hadn't seen a lot tourists, just around 5 more watching the parade.

We went back to the hotel and checked out. Our plan was to visit a museum that lays on the way to the airport buuut just then we noticed that it only opens at 14:00, which meant that we needed to find something to do for the 3 hours in between... Also the hotel wouldn't store our luggage 🙄 So we went to the famous Lido Cafe for a little lunch consisting of two Empanadas: Chilena (minced meat with raisins) and Palmito (palm heart). Afterwards we took an UBER to the museum and were still a little early, so we tried some local beers at a nearby gas station 🍻
Then we finally could enter the "Museum of clay", a collection of art pieces across Latin American cultures and ages. It was pretty interesting but also quite wildly mixed and masses of similar art pieces 🤔 But because of the late opening we only had half an hour time because we needed to go to the airport then. The UBER drive was quicker than expected, so we were earlier than planned. And it turned out that the airport is super small with just a few flights, so we could've stayed a little longer.

When checking in yesterday we had seen that it's a small airplane with just 15 rows and 4 seats each. Checking in at the airport was easy and quick, so quick that we forgot to put the sunscreen and bug repellent in the checked luggage 😱 But as stupid as we've been, as lucky it was that it's such a small airport without a lot of people... They let us bring them back to the counter and into the checked luggage 😮‍💨 The area after security was surprisingly huge with lots (4!!) cafés and a duty free shop comparable to Lima or Panama City. So we used our last guaranies for a soft drink and a croissant 🥐 Then we boarded the small Bombardier airplane and were on our little turbulent way to Montevideo. We even got snacks (chipitas chips 🤩) and drinks for the 2 hour hop.

The arrival in Montevideo was quite a shock with a top modern airport, even automatic passport checks for several passports (including European). Signs informed that tap water is drinkable and the overall impression was great! Then we withdrew some cash for the bus because the UBER would've been super expensive 😅 On the way we could already get a first impression of the city... It had very modern, clean areas with industry and shops but also some rundown housing blocks. From the bus terminal in the centre we walked 15 minutes to our hostel ☺️ We checked in and found a small but clean and nice hotel room to drop off our luggage and then go out to explore the city in the evening. The main sights are nearby and so we walked around the area for about an hour until we decided that we've seen sufficient for now. The city center was weirdly calm and there weren't a lot of people around at all. It felt pretty safe though and the illuminated sights were pretty ☺️
At the restaurant I tried a Uruguayan speciality, chivito, a thin cut steak. It was okay but nothing special 🤷‍♂️ We walked a little more all the way down to the harbor but then got tired and went to our nice and cosy hotel room 😴もっと詳しく