Today we randomly decided to explore Ciudad Vieja neighborhood. The taxi dropped us off at Plaza de la Constitución and we felt immediately at home. (Okay, that’s an exaggeration. What I meant to say was that we felt comfortable there.) Because of my refusal to go to a Starbucks, my companion found a small local coffee shop not far from the plaza. We ordered a latte, a cortado, one croissant and a Russian honey cake that the dueño fervently recommended. According to him it takes two days to make this specific cake, and as he claimed, it was absolutely delicious with delicate, subtle flavors.
When we were about to conclude our coffee break, the dueño came to our table and chatted with us. He started by asking us where we were from and what our professions were. When I told him that I used to be a photographer, he brought out his tablet and showed us images of buildings that he has captured within Montevideo. He shared with us his proudest documentations of various magnificent structures and unique features and details of important buildings in the city, including a few videos which I assume were captured with a drone camera. He then shared with us pieces of his experiences in life, which clearly indicated that he basically had been traveling most of his life, for reasons that he did not reveal, until he landed in Montevideo almost two decades ago.
After we paid the bill, he told us that he wanted to show us something. While walking, he pointed at a mural on top of a building and explained briefly about the incredible Montevideo born artist and the museum near by which is named after him. I took a mental note to look him up later.
The building he wanted to show us turned out to be a bookstore that we mentioned to him earlier that we wanted to go. He explained in great detail the significance of it and fun facts that few people would notice. The moment he wanted to bid farewell, my companion asked if he could take a picture of him. He politely declined. I can’t recall exactly what he said. It was something along the lines of “no pictures carry my presence.”
Our coffee break today became an incredibly informative and educational one about Montevideo and the world. We met a person, by coincidence, who was highly knowledgeable about various topics including art. He has such a zeal for life and the world, and he’s somewhat mysterious. Only on the taxi ride back to our hotel, we suddenly realized we don’t even know his name.
PS: the mural on the building is a reproduction of an iconic work by artist Joaquín Torres García, titled Pax In Lucem, which was lost in the fire at the Museum of Modern Art in Rio de Janeiro in 1978.
