As to the country in general, it may be said that while it possesses no striking features such as lofty mountains or great waterfalls, it is a beautifully diversified region, with no flat or desert land, but with low ridges, valleys, and rolling plains, in some parts well wooded. It is admirably adapted for grazing and agricultural products. The climate is healthful and delightful, the population, numbering about 1,300,000, is more homogeneous than in most of the Republics, and forms an enterprising and progressive nation.
Montevideo
Hotels. Pyramides, Sarandí corner Ituzaingó; Grand Hotel Lanatta, Sarandí 325; Central, 25 de Mayo, 245; Oriental, Solis, corner Piedras; Palacio, Calle Florida; Globe, 25 de Agosto and Colón. In the suburbs, Parque Urbano, and Pocitos.
Excellent electric cars and service. Fare in center of the city, 4 cents, farther out 6, 8, 10, and to Colón, 14 cts. Carriage fare $1.00 or $1.50 an hour. Post Office, Sarandí 207. Postage, letters to United States or Europe, 8 cents; cards, 2 cents.
Uruguay dollars, pesos, are worth a little more than the American; $10.00 United States currency equals $9.66 Uruguay. Or $1.00 Uruguay equals about $1.04 of our money.
The office of the United States Minister is on the 18 de Julio, 221, that of the American Consul in Treinta y Tres, 53. The British Legation is at 445, 25 de Mayo, the Consulate at 20 Paraná.
On landing at Montevideo a carriage may be taken to the hotel preferred, or decision reserved until they have been inspected. No one in the center of the city is pre-eminent but several will be found satisfactory except to the hyper-critical. First may be mentioned the Pyramides Hotel on Sarandí at the corner of Ituzaingó, near the Plaza Constitución, highly spoken of. Well known is the Grand Hotel Lanatta facing the same plaza; the Oriental Hotel, the Central, the Globe, the Florida, are all available, close to the center of the city.
A clean, homelike, and agreeable city is Montevideo, most attractive as a place of residence, and preferred by many to the great metropolis farther up the river, with its million more inhabitants. About the size of our own capital, Washington, it is large enough for all practical purposes, and is the home of a wide-awake community. Several days should be devoted to the various objects of interest, which include parks, suburban and seaside resorts of great beauty and elegance.
Sight-seeing may be commenced with a stroll in the center of the city, after which excursions by car or carriage will be in order. As in Buenos Aires, the cars are conveniently numbered, which renders the service especially valuable to strangers.
Plaza Constitución, sometimes called the Matríz, is a good place to begin. Of the twelve large plazas, this, with several others, has a pretty garden occupying the center. On the east side is the Cabildo, a quaint old building now used for the Legislative Assemblies, the only building of historic importance in the city, which is practically all new. Opposite is the Cathedral with towers 133 feet high. To the handsome interior, paintings and other decorations have recently been added, and there is a sweet-toned organ. On the south side next to the Lanatta Hotel is the Uruguay Club, which is handsomely housed, its imposing salon for receptions and balls the occasional rendezvous of the élite of the city. On the north side of the plaza is the home of the English Club.