Thoughts on Uruguay

Having spent my 6 days in Uruguay, here are some of my thoughts.
As I mentioned in the last post, the food in Uruguay is very expensive.  Strangely, it is also very Italian.  Although the national dish is parrilla, which is a barbecued/grilled meat, all of the restaurants have some form of pasta as well.  These were brought over by Italian immigrants.  In the 6 days I was there, I ate Italian food everyday.  I started with gnocchi on Dia de gnoqui and then had ravioli in various dishes (soup, plain, etc.) and finally had risotto (my best meal in Uruguay served in a restaurant named La Petite Cuisine.)

Sign outside a cafe, Montevideo, UY

Although the sign translates at "Free fork of meat," it is basically offering an all-you-can-eat buffet of different kinds of meat.  Notice the dollar sign which they call the peso sign.  This was very confusing to me when I arrived and first used an ATM at the airport.

Mercado del Puerto, an old produce and fish market, has been turned into a building filled with cafes for tourists, most offering the same Uruguayan specialities of parrilla and different pastas.

Mercado del Puerto

Before I arrived in Montevideo, I thought that the drinking of mate was something that used to be popular and was now unusual.  Wrong!  People everywhere, of all ages can be seen with the mate (cup) and bombilla (straw with sieve).  They also usually have a flask or thermos of hot water and a carrier for all of those accessories that they wear on a strap.

Carriers with thermos, mate, and bombilla

Vendor on the peatonal with items for tourists and Uruguayos

I walked on la rambla every morning in Montevideo.  It is a walkway stretching for miles on the Plata River seperating Uruguay from Argentina.  Every day that I was there it was sunny in the morning and a good time to walk.  By about 1pm though, the clouds had come in and it had gotten chilly.

On la Rambla

A theater across from la Rambla

I spent a day with a SERVAS host who showed me and a Swiss couple around.  She talked about how expensive Uruguay is and the high crime rate.  I hadn't paid any attention to the bars on all of the windows and doors, but when we went to her apartment and I saw the 3 locks on her door (inside the building!) I realized that it must be bad.

The only Gothic cathedral in Uruguay

The final thing that I had to do in Uruguay was find a place to taste the wines.  I did and I am so glad that I went there, because I was given 3 varietals from Uruguay with a selection of chocolates.  Although tannat is a French grape, it is the wine that Uruguay is famous for.  Having tried "the best" of the tannat wines, blended (cabernet and tannat) and alone, I can safely say I don't like tannat and I didn't bring any home.

Uruguayan wines and chocolate

So, what were my overall impressions on Uruguay?  The people were very friendly and it would be a good place to visit for a day.  However, the crime rate, the expense of eating, and the lack of anything in particular to visit or do, make it less than ideal for a long vacation.  Many Uruguayos asked me, "Why didn't you go to Buenos Aires?  That's much nicer than Montevideo?"  I'm glad I went, but I probably wouldn't return.  Adios y gracias, Uruguay.

The Andes on my way to Ecuador