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Published: August 9th 2007
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Gooooooal, Pedro
...but why is Norman Wisdom refereeing? The blogs are coming through thick and fast now. No sooner was I leaving Buenos Aires, I was heading to Uruguay.
Uruguay, or "The Republic East of the Uruguay River", to give it its official and needlessly strung out name, is sandwiched between the South American powerhouses of Argentina and Brazil (and to the East of the Uruguay River). It is the second smallest sovereign state in South America, after Suriname, although no-one really knows Suriname exists (French Guiana is also smaller, but is still officially a French territory. Hence; Which country has the longest land border with France? Answer: Brazil)
Conveniently enough for me, Uruguay is positioned on a route between Buenos Aires and Iguazu National Falls, so made an ideal stop for some much needed tranquility after the hecticity of a week in BA.
The only thing anyone seems to be able to associate with Uruguay is that they won the first Football World Cup final in 1930. But I was determined to discover that there was more to this country than one football match played over 75 years ago. I really, really, tried. So here goes..... What I further discovered about Uruguay was that....... in that
Cobbled streets of Colonia
made all the more cobbly in sepia I had a lot of time to play with different camera settingsmatch they came from 2-1 down at half time to win 4-2. Hat-trick hero from the semi-final, Pedro Cae, scored yet again.
OK, so there's no history of note, but surely there must be some famous Uruguayans on the world stage? Help. Anyone? Even Belgium has JCVD and Tin Tin to offer us. I did hear of one famous Uruguayan. His name is Pedro Cae, a hat-trick hero from the 1930 World Cup semi final.
I should mention that there are some anonymous Uruguayan rugby players who's airplane crashed in the Andes, ie. the film, 'Alive'. You could also argue the case for Fray Bentos - of pie fame. But the origins are German and the label "Fray Bentos" preceded Uruguay renaming the meat-producing factory town after it. Now the whole hog (or cow?) is owned by Campbells Soup in the UK and I'm saddened to report that the town of Fray Bentos no longer produces that fine selection of canned pies.
The first port of call was the colonial port of Colonia del Sacremento, a short ferry ride from BA. Still by my side were my loyal
travelling companions, Jordan, Ben and Caz. We were on the back of one last big night out in BA, so were awake only in so far that our limbs were moving. Without much in the way of conversation we ambled around the cobbled streets of Colonia, stopping every 30 minutes for another caffeine hit. Although the city is pretty enough, it only takes a few hours to explore. There's a lighthouse, more cobbled streets, and just outside town an old-style bullring. The bullring was built and opened in 1910 with grand pomp and ceremony. In 1912, Uruguay banned bullfighting. A tale of true London Domesque proportions.
We were too tired to appreciate Colonia fully, and so took a sleeper bus to Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay.
I imagine Montevideo, with its miles of beaches and quiet parks, is an ideal city to be in during Summer. It was Winter. Not to be deterred, we spent two days there. They say Montevideo is the city with the highest quality of living in the whole of Latin America, and also one of the safest cities in the entire world. Translated, it's a bit dull.
Literally translated, Montevideo means "I see a mountain".
Not quite sure where that mountain is now though, because I saw no mountain. Again, and very Uruguayanly, the full strung out name is San Felipe and Santiago of Montevideo.
The evidence of Uruguay's relative financial comfort is no better demonstrated than by its incredible unresoursefulness. Shop receipts are printed on A4 paper and you get a polythene bag for more or less each item bought. Oh, and restaurants charge a cover charge for using crockery and cutlery. I wanted to find out what happened if you said you didn't need them, but was persuaded not to be an arse.
After nigh on a month together, I went north to Iguazu with Caz, whilst Jordan and Ben returned to BA. A firm handshake and sturdy slap on the back conveyed all the emotion required, and we took our busses our separate ways.
We had a quick stop off in the spa town of Salto on the Argentine border, before leaving Uruguayan anonymity behind.
PS. I am well aware that Uruguay also won the World Cup in 1950, but it didn't fit in with the point I was trying to make.
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