| Republica Oriental del Uruguay Capital City: Montevideo Land area: 68,039 sq miles...about the size of Missouri Population: ~3,400,000 Language: Spanish Currency: Uruguayan Peso ($23.10 = $1 US) Highest Point: Mt. Catedral 1,687 feet above sea level Chief products: Beef, cattle, lamb, leather goods Political Units: 19 departments Everyone in Uruguay drinks mate (mah-tay), a hot herbal drink. They carry their mate cups (usually made from carved gourds) and a hot thermos of water with them everywhere...not so different from Americans and their cups of coffee. Uruguayan wine is excellent especially a varietal called Tannat, not currently available in the U.S. |
| Piriapolis |
| We got a kick out of artist Juan Torres Garcia's view of South America. |
| Jose Artigas is the national hero and liberator of Uruguay. Astride his horse, his statue dominates the Plaza Independencia with a background of high-rise office buildings.A mausoleum with Artigas’ tomb is below and has a 24-hour military guard. |
| Montevideo was once a walled city, now only the portal of the citadel remains and separates the old city from the new. |
| An opulent reminder of the city's illustrious past, the Palacio Salvo was once the tallest building in South America. |
| Uruguay's Statue of Liberty |
| A mix of old and new, horse drawn carts are not uncommon on the city's streets. |
| An appealing restaurant on the pedestrian mall in downtown Montevideo. |
| Colonia del Sacramento |
| Piriapolis is our "home" for a few months while Nine of Cups is hauled out and has her annual maintenance. |
| We thought the most picturesque hotel was Hotel Colon, constructed by Piria for his youngest son, Arturo. Brennan and Hannah stayed here on their visit and enjoyed the quaint, historic atmosphere. |
| We were not allowed to live aboard so we rented a "casita" while here and had about a one mile walk each way to and from the marina each day. Our landlady, Christina, loaned us bikes so we could pedal around town. She also let us borrow her car on several occasions so it was a great arrangement. We spent a total of 5 months in Piriapolis completing maintenance and repairs on the boat as well as using Piri as our base for exploring central and northern Argentina. Uruguay, and Piriapolis especially, can be described with one word in Spanish, “tranquilo”. |
| In August 2006, our oldest son, Brennan and his fiance, Hannah Connor, visited for a week. We toured coastal Uruguay for a few days then headed to Buenos Aires. Punta del Este is a getaway resort for Argentines and Uruguayans alike, situated at the entrance to the Rio de la Plata and the South Atlantic Ocean. All glitter and swank, Punta is considered the ritziest resort in South America. It is overflowing with restaurants, casinos, high-class boutiques and nightclubs. We only did daytrips! |
| s/y Nine of Cups Uruguay May - October 2006 |
| The trip from Mar del Plata to Piriapolis was only 224 miles. A pleasant overnight passage of 44 hours and we were in a new country right across the Rio de la Plata. Bienvenidos a Uruguay. Located on the coast, Piriapolis is actually on the Rio del la Plata just off the Atlantic Ocean. The reason for coming to Piri (as the locals call it) was to haul Cups to repair the damage to the keel sustained when we hit some rocks in the Chilean canals and do her annual maintenance. We had heard the prices and facilities were good and it was less hectic and crowded than Buenos Aires. We traveled in “loose company” with Noel on Sadko once more, arriving a few hours in advance of him. We were helped onto the Med moors by another cruiser and then helped Noel when he arrived. To our surprise and delight, Ian and Judy on Pen Azen and Betsy & Bob on Belair were also in residence, waiting to be hauled. We had not seen them since Ecuador, some two years prior. |
| A view of the marina from the local high point, Cerro San Antonio. |
| At its mouth, the Rio de la Plata is an amazing 118 miles wide, making it the widest river in the world. |
| Piri is a very laid back town. The people are friendly and the area is quite pleasant. A picturesque road along the river called Rambla de los Argentinos makes for a delightful walk and we used it frequently heading into the small town center. |
| Our casita was small and spare, but adequate for our needs. |
| Francisco Piria officially bought the land here in 1890 and began development of the resort town to attract wealthy Argentinians. The Hotel Argentino pictured above was finished in the mid-1930’s and was the culmination of his vision for the town he named after himself, Piriapolis. The hotel still operates today as a 350-room European-style spa offering thermal baths, a classic dining room and luxurious living. |
| A land of gently rolling grasslands and wild Atlantic coastline, Uruguay is South America’s second smallest country. |
| Furnished with the bare necessities, we managed to make it a bit homey with our own linens and special touches. |
| Jelly really enjoyed the change from the boat. She stayed within our little garden area and patrolled constantly to keep out birds and especially other cats. |
| Montevideo |
| Punta del Este |
| Founded in 1726, Uruguay’s capital city, Montevideo, is home to nearly half of the country’s population. Located on a natural bay in the Rio de la Plata, we found the city to be quite “Euro” in personality and enjoyed wandering its many neighborhoods and streets and admiring its architecture and culture. |
| Mercosur is a common market group formed by Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. Bolivia and Chile are associate members and in 2001, Venezuela was also voted in. |
| If Cartagena is a city of balconies, Montevideo is the city of cupolas. While David searched for boat parts and services, Marcie took to the streets with camera, photographing the posh remnants of the 1930s building boom. |
| Cupolas... |
| Local Uruguayan beers include Patricia, Norteño and Pilsen. |
| Uruguay is considered one of the safest countries in South America. During our stay in Piriapolis, we never locked or chained our bikes when we left them to go into a store and our landlady always left the car keys in the car. |
| Cine-Rex Building |
| Edificio Sorcobana |
| No special name to this building that I could find, but I loved Atlas holding up the world. |
| Mercado del Puerto is an institution in Montevideo. Dating back to 1868, the building is a wrought-iron structure which houses dozens of shops and restaurants, especially parillas (grills), lined up next to one another. Waiters stand at the entrance to their restaurants, beckoning you to come in for a meal. The smell is mouthwatering as you enter…with beef, lamb, pork, sausage and fish sizzling on wood-fired grills. We stopped in on a couple of occasions for meals which were excellent. |
What's unique about Uruguay? Whenever we visit a new country, we try to discover what is unique about it…what makes it different from every other country we’ve visited? What unique foods are offered? What cultural differences are there? Uruguay, for such a small country, has several distinctions. Foods: Martin Fiero – membrillo dulce (candied quince) and cheese is served as a dessert in many restaurants. Chivitos – A steak sandwich loaded with tomato, lettuce, a fried egg, olives, onions, ham, cheese. Yum! Alfadores – A cookie sandwich filled with dulce de leche Chajá – A meringue dessert claimed as a specialty of Paysandú. Flan casero – Crème caramel usually served with dulce de leche (sort of a caramel cream). Tannat – a varietal dry red wine found only in Uruguay and France. Masas…small, rich, delightful pastries which we could buy at DeVotos for about $1/kilo. Oh, man! Interesting observations:
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| In 1930, the world’s most popular sporting event, soccer’s World Cup, was born in Uruguay. And who won, you ask? Uruguay, of course! |
| The cimarron is a breed of dog first bred in Uruguay. T he brindled tan/black canine is seen frequently and is about the size of a German shepherd. |
| An interesting new bird was the hornero, so named because of its distinctive mud nest that resembles an “horno”, the traditional clay ovens still used here to bake bread. The hornero is the national bird of both Uruguay and Argentina. |
| According to Hoyle, the card game canasta originated in Uruguay and reached the U.S. in 1949. From 1950 to 1952, it was the biggest fad in the history of card games. The word canasta in Spanish means basket. |
| Uruguay was the first country in South America to legalize divorce. |
| In all, we spent nearly 5 months in Uruguay. We got to know many people very well…both ex-pat American couples and native Uruguayans and we were sometimes overwhelmed by their hospitality and generosity. We had tours of vineyards, many dinners and parrilladas at people’s homes, rides, help, loans of cars and trucks. A delightful experience and a positive exit from this remarkable continent. Now we head across the South Atlantic Ocean to South Africa and the rest of world awaits. Come with us? First stop, Tristan da Cunha, the most isolated populated island in the world. |
| Perhaps the most distinctive sculpture we’ve seen was on the beach in Punta. “La Mano” by Chilean sculptor Mario Irraragabal, exposes four fingers and thumb of a huge hand sticking out of the sand. Brennan and Hannah had a good time climbing on the fingers and taking photos. |
| Our first stop in Punta was of course to check out the yacht club pictured above. It was quite small, but well maintained with good amenities. |
| Punta's lighthouse was located high on a hill and very picturesque |
| The Rio de la Plata and Atlantic collide off Punta del Este’s shores. |
| We visited the world´s only "undulating" bridge in La Barra. You can watch as cars speed up significantly to get a "thrill" as they cross. |
| Casa Pueblo is the unique villa and gallery of artist Carlos Paez Vilaro. Located at scenic Punta Ballena, this unconventional house reputedly has no right angles...it's all curves and arches. The museum/gallery was quite interesting. We noted a Piccasso-like quality to his work. |
| Maldonado |
| In 1755, Spanish authorities founded Maldonado about 25 miles east of Piriapolis at the mouth of the Rio de la Plata as an outpost to provision ships. The city, though small, was pleasant to walk around and we enjoyed visiting various museums and sights. |
| A window view from the street reveals the Cuartel de Dragones, a block of colonial military fortifications built between 1771 and 1797 which now houses a museum dedicated to Jose Artigas and independence heroes. |
| Always prevalent on the Plaza San Fernando is the Cathedral San Fernando de Maldonado, framed with autumn colors. |
| For nearly 200 years, Uruguay was the site of territorial struggles involving the Portuguese, Spanish and British empires. |
| We visited the charming little town of Colonia del Sacramento. A jumble of plazas and cobblestone streets, the place exudes history. Founded in 1680 by the Portuguese, the port occupied a strategic position on the Rio de la Plata just across from Buenos Aires and became a key smuggling center for contraband. The old portion, Barrio Historico, is a UNESCO World Heritage site and we wandered the streets with Brennan and Hannah soaking up the ambiance. |
| Once a walled city, only a portion of the wall and the city gates remain. |
| A word about mate |
| Like coffee to Americans, mate is the national drink of Uruguay. In fact it’s more than a drink…it’s a lifestyle. The word mate (mah-tay) is derived from the Quichua word "mati", which means glass or drinking vessel, but it has been generalized as the common name of the fruit of a gourd plant especially the varieties used to prepare and serve the infusion of yerba mate ("poro" and "galleta"). Subsequently, the word mate was used to refer to any kind of container as well as the drink itself. According to the way this beverage is prepared, it is known as:
We never did see so much mate drunk anywhere more than in Uruguay. People carried mate cups everywhere they went. A mate cup was always in hand; a thermos of hot water was carried in the crook of their arms (you keep adding hot water to the thick herbal mixture in the cup) and a bombilla (metal straw) was always being sucked upon. |
| Our favorite guard from the Prefectura’s office, Enrique, always had a great smile and his mate cup at his side. |
| Mate cups in every style and design. |
Bombilla (bom BEE ja) selection
| For a Port Guide of Piriapolis, Uruguay and lots of other information, check out our Cruiser Information Page. |