Tell Me About ... URUGUAY

i am still wondering how they managed to win 2 Worldcups with only 4 million people. (anyway, sorry back to to the real answers)

a friend of mine went there recently. he said it was nice and managed to bring back some incredible bottles of wine.

that's all i got

ha ha! look at this country! "u r gay"!

ha ha! look at this country! "u r gay"!

fwiw, this is one of the images that comes up when you type in "gay uruguay" on google:

http://www.nancarrow-webdesk.com/warehouse/storage2/2007-w38/img.02413_t.jpg

I remember hearing in Spy School that Uruguay was trying to become the Belgium of South America. I think it's country's leaders have a different idea of Belgium than people here.

anything else?!?

Pretty much all I know about Uruguay is that it's where the writer Horacio Quiroga was born. I liked his Stories of Love, Madness and Death. His biography is almost impressively miserable (see wikipedia entry).

I think my mother-in-law knows a Uruguayan. I will ask about what it's like to live there these days. Seems like a place that keeps itself to itself.

so, does anyone else know anything about Uruguay?!?

the capital is montevideo

Their president is great : http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20243493

ethan's Simpsons reference years ago went right past me at the time LOL

I spent a few days in Montevideo a couple years ago. What do you want to know? It's like a chill version of Buenos Aires.

USA/Canada and Australia/NZ relationship analogies might be somewhat extensible to Argentina/Uruguay.

I spent a few days in Montevideo a couple years ago. What do you want to know? It's like a chill version of Buenos Aires.

the usual touristy stuff -- cool sights and things to do, night life, etc.

another ILXor also told me about Punta del Este -- an Uruguayan beach resort area.

We took the ferry from BsAs, wandered around Ciudad Vieja, browsed the open-air markets, sampled some restaurants, and walked up a main thoroughfare until we hit a nice park and drank mate. Which is pretty much the same thing we did in Buenos Aires most of the time. Don't underestimate this, it is super fun. The flora and fauna and pretty much everything else are totally different down there and I found it hypnotic and sometimes overwhelming. Everybody is generally super-nice all the time, but be prepared to deal with folks who speak no English at all. By the time we went to Uruguay, my Spanish was up for the challenge. I think we tried to find Isidore Ducasse's birthplace, but did not. I never talked to anyone who went to Punta del Este, but I assume it is like Mar del Plata in Argentina, a beach resort town that is a destination mostly for vacationing locals. A lot of expats would spend a weekend in Colonia to reset their Argentinian tourist visas, and it's a nice sleepy coastal town with all kind of historical tourist stuff. Also much closer to BsAs, if you want to hit both countries.

One of my very best friends is Uruguayan (moved from Montevideo to the US). I joke sometimes that he's the most perfect person I know, and so perfect that his perfection elicits no envy, just gratitude (because, e.g., his optimistic outlook is accompanied by great capacity for empathy). If the fiber from which he's made is to any extent woven across that small country, well then...

Also note that in the Rioplatense dialect of the region, the word "Uruguayan" is immensely pleasurable to speak aloud.

^Haha yes! I had a distant cousin who visited us (when I lived in Chile as wee lad) from his home in Uruguay, and I loved when he said, with great emphasis, "Sho soy Uruguasho!".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYZdpqbTK28

Listen!

Never been but my impression was Punta del Este was really nice and various elites from Argentina and Brazil loved to go there. It was a favorite spot of Vinicius de Moraes, or so I've heard. Astor Piazolla wrote a piece called Suite Punta del Este which became the haunting theme of 12 Monkeys.

Also note that in the Rioplatense dialect of the region, the word "Uruguayan" is immensely pleasurable to speak aloud.

― the girl from spirea x (f. hazel), Monday, January 21, 2013 11:47 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^Haha yes! I had a distant cousin who visited us (when I lived in Chile as wee lad) from his home in Uruguay, and I loved when he said, with great emphasis, "Sho soy Uruguasho!".

― collardio gelatinous, Monday, January 21, 2013 11:52 PM (Yesterday)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mr465Atwenw&h=QAQFHBz89

Yeah, even after spending time in Buenos Aires, I was surprised at how many dudes were strolling down the street in Montevideo with thermos tucked under one arm and sipping on mate. Of course, we brought our mate with us too! It's kind of awesome, pretty much every establishment open to the public is happy to top up your thermos with hot water for mate. It's a good way to recover from a day drinking sleepiness... kill a bottle of wine around lunchtime, and then hit the mate to wake yourself up again, then hit a cafe and drink more wine, and so on.

uruguay sounds rad from what y'all are saying. i've never considered it for a possible trip but i am now.

The major expense is the airfare down there. Otherwise it is very inexpensive and the food and wine is amazing as well. If I get laid off later this year, I'm probably moving back down there.

thanks for all of the great posts, hazel -- just what i was looking for in reviving this thread!

My Uruguasho friend joins me on camping trips once a year. I bring the whiskey, he brings the mate. We count on rivers to bring the fish. It's the best, che.

Of course! It's making me want to visit again! I'll see if I can find any pictures.