Mar 4 - Montevideo, Uruguay

Today, Sam is in the country of Uruguay. Sam is going to go with other passengers on a walk around the area near the port, maybe on a bus tour later. There are a lot of buses on the pier waiting to take passengers on tours!

 

 Along with the all of South America (except for Brazil) it had been part of the territory that Spain claimed. The Spanish weren’t too interested in this area at first because they didn’t find gold or silver only good pastureland.  When the Spanish became concerned about the Portuguese moving into the area from the territory that they claimed (now Brazil), they decided that they needed to establish a settlement in the area we know as Uruguay. The city of Montevideo is located across the Rio de la Plata from Argentina. This river is the widest river in the world, 220 km. at its widest. It is also short, only 400 km. long.

The weather in Montevideo is really nice (for people, not snowmen). They do have four defined seasons, but without the extremes. There is plenty of sun throughout the year and also 30” of rain throughout the year that is beneficial for the wine regions in the country. May get down to freezing, but it doesn’t snow. There are some really nice beaches in the area.  Uruguay has 660 km. of coastline.

Sam found out that gas for vehicles is really expensive in Uruguay, about $9/gal. Uruguay has to import cars, gas, and technology. Although they export technological services! He also heard that Elton John was expected to be in Montevideo tonight for a concert.

There was a lot of interesting architecture in the city. The building used by the Congress of Uruguay was an excellent example. There was a world-wide contest in 1903 for architects to turn in designs for the building. They had to use materials from Uruguay in the construction. An Italian architect won. The winning design had 52 different colors of marble and 17 different colors of granite.

There are a lot of statues in Montevideo (and many of the other cities and countries in South America). Sam decided to have his picture taken with one that was for a Spanish hero.

There was a bull-fighting ring built in Montevideo, but there was only one event held. After that, the president of the country banned bull-fighting. The arena is now used for other sporting events.

The current president of Uruguay apparently is not like most people in that level of authority. He was an ex-guerilla leader and had spent time in jail. He dresses sloppy and when speaking uses a lot of slang. His salary is $1700/month. He donates 90% of it to charity. He has income from a personal business as well. The president and others elected into political positions can only serve one term of office – 5 years.