Uruguay Of Yore Or How Many Vowels Can I Fit In One Blog Title ?

People have whimsical, romantic or just plain silly reasons for wanting to visit a particular place; something in a postcard they once saw, or a scene from a movie or maybe a passage from a favorite book. Sometimes it takes a lifetime to reach these places, if they exist at all, and sometimes it's the journey to get there that ends up being more important than the destination.

I've always wanted to visit Uruguay. I've met (maybe) a total of 5-7 Uruguayans my entire life but every one of them has been friendly and fun to be around. (If Kitty Odell is reading this, she'll remember Udo...). My old Argentinian friend Alberto used to talk about how his father would travel every month to Montevideo for a week, “transporting” goods, then return to his life in Buenos Aries. As he forbid his family from ever visiting or contacting him there, there were of course suspicions that a second family existed, or at the very least a shadow life... So, I wanted see this country of friendly people and mysteries for myself.

Some places are so unique that they can't be compared to anywhere else, and other places that are so bland and without character that they could be anywhere (and no-one would care !), but Montevideo, Uruguay is a city that reminds me of many, many places.

Perhaps if one lived in Montevideo for a time, its own specific character would appear but my lasting impression will be of a city that kept triggering memories of other places and other eras. The city's main theater would be very at home in central Italy and in the town hall's square, there is a copy of Michelangelo's David. Many buildings have the “crumbly chic” look familiar to anyone who's been to Genoa or Florence. The language, cultural attitudes and general rhythm of life are from Spain. Slanted cobblestone streets with “heavy buildings” brought memories of Vienna and Budapest, not to mention the “career waiters” in its cafes. And because of all the financial turmoil that Argentina's been through (Buenos Aries is only 3 hours away), there is a section of the city filled with swanky international banks, ala Switzerland, where wealthier (and wiser) Argentinians have gone to deposit their savings over the years.

Some sights even reminded me of things I saw in New York as a child in the late 60s, when there were still just enough old timers and “old ways” to have left an impression. Things like real soda bottles (the type with thick glass and a gas canister on top), and a few horse drawn carts piled high with sacks.

So, it would seem the mystery of Montevideo is that it can be so many cities and still itself. The Uruguayans can't even agree on where the city's name originated ! And yes, the people are some of the friendliest and laid back you're likely to ever come across...

Brett