Adventure of the month

Let’s say, hypothetically, that it’s summertime in the southern hemisphere and you are a wealthy Argentinian. In order to keep up your social standing, you want to go somewhere where you can both see and be seen. What do you do? Easy, you take a jaunt across the Rio de la Plata to Uruguay and find yourself a posh spot at the “it” seaside resort of Punta del Este. You then discuss these plans with everyone you know, doing so in a sing-song accent that strives to be as pleasant as nails on a chalkboard. New hypothetical, your work has you hanging out in Montevideo, Uruguay’s capital, for four days. It is springtime and Punta del Este is a bit on the dead side. You will soon take to Montevideo’s town square to cheer their soccer team as they qualify for the World Cup. You will roam up and down the colonial streets and learn that beer is only served in magnum-sized bottles (which you will carry with you during your roaming, because soccer hooliganism requires it). You will marve...

Sightseeing made simple. Original jewelry by Cristina Schroeder The Solis Theater, opened in 1856. The final port of call and in all likelihood the subject of the last post of 2008 was country #79, Uruguay. More specifically, we stopped in the capital city, Montevideo. Like Valparaiso, this was once an important port city that lost its prominence once the Panama Canal was completed and trade ships could bypass it altogether. As a result, the once impressive Art Deco, colonial and neoclassical buildings have fallen into disrepair and the streets, at least on this Saturday afternoon, appeared eerily quiet. The only signs of life were a result of having two cruise ships in port, both the tourists they off-loaded and the multitude of police officers assigned to protect them. Some wise soul at the Montevideo tourism office came up a walking tour brochure, which a battalion of representatives cheerily handed out at the port, and also calculated every possible way in...