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Colonia or Bath?
Our brief stop in Uruguay has been the tonic we needed, both as welcoming and relaxing as we had hoped. It also looks a bit like home, with very familiar architecture, but missing the modern, producing something akin to Britain in the 1950’s. Except of course for the weapons shops. And the mate drug thing.
Holiday time is now running very short, so back to Argentina we go for the final fling!
Yerba mate paraphernalia
What? Mate is a tea-like infusion made with dried yerba, a kind of holly. Mate is actually the name of the gourd that the tea is drunk from.
Who cares? Everyone in Uruguay. This is a national obsession which beats us Brits and our tea hands down. Children on bikes, old people window shopping, trendy teens, and hassled mothers with babies are all cradling their thermos of hot water and sucking mate through a metal straw. Independent surveys (ie ours from the comfort of a street-level cafe) have revealed that at any one time a fifth of Uruguayans are drinking the stuff. Seriously, it’s ridiculous. The Argentinians and Chileans also drink it, but per capita Uruguay is by far the largest consumer.
Mate fans injest too much caffeine
What’s it like? Nasty. Taste is like very strong green tea, but more bitter and with a generous dose of tobacco (has been linked to throat cancer..). Contains the same amount of caffeine as coffee.
Anything else? Yes actually. Sharing mate is ritualistic and has its own set of rules. Usually, whoever brought the mate always prepares the drink and refills the gourd with hot water. The gourd is passed around in a clockwise direction, each person finishing the gourd before giving it back to the brewer. When a person no longer wants to take mate, they say thank you to the brewer when returning the gourd to indicate they don’t want any more.
Shopping in Uruguay is brilliant. Casa del Policia (downtown Montevideo, superbly positioned next door to the Uruguayan version of Clinton cards) has all kinds of tempting offers like the one above. And they have guns. Lots and lots of guns. Frightening stuff.
The healthy option (single portion size)
Uruguay dishes up typical South America junk food, which is either heaven or hell, depending on your point of view. Street bites are the worst ‘yellow food’ imaginable ie chips, cheese, white bread. It’s fun for a while, but after three months my guts are waving the white flag and may commit harikari unless they see vegetables pronto. It doesn’t matter what you order – chivitos, completos, lomitos, or the ominously named finito (chicken and chips to you), it’s all high cholesterol fodder, and always, always comes with fried potato, fried meat, and cheese. Right, I’m off to track an apple, there must be one here somewhere..
By the way, a chivito like the one above doesn’t exist. It never ever has this much salad.
Population: 3.5 million
Size: 176,220 sqkm (England + Wales)
Other: Life expectancy 75 yrs, literacy 98%
Tiny Uruguay, squashed between gargantuan Argentina and Brazil deserved a side trip. With a reputation for relaxed hospitality, some time out here sounds like the ideal antidote to Argentina’s occasionally arrogant confidence. So, here we are for some holiday rest and relaxation before we conclude our trip with Argentina’s rock and roll.
Fact of the Day: Uruguay has won the world cup twice – in 1930 at the very first tournament, again 1950.
* Due to lack of camera, and the optimistic pricing of them in South America, all photos from now on are stolen.
We gotta get out of this place... 