Celeste regalame un sol.: Holy week in Uruguay! 1ª Parte.....

Holy week, weekend, I took off from Buenos Aires, and headed off to Argentina's neighbor just across the river, Uruguay with Jessi. Uruguay is an extremely tiny country, in fact the smallest in all of South America with only a population of 3.5 million, about that of the city of Seattle.

It took us six hours to get to Montevideo, the capital city and home to 1/3 of Uruguay's total population, still making it a pretty small city.

Plaza de Independencia (Independence Square)

We were staying in the Old City, or Ciudad Vieja which had a cool Colonial look, and located very close to the port of the city, you could actually see the water from 3 sides of a street block in most parts of Ciudad Vieja.

The city was pretty empty while we were there, most inhabitants take advantage of the Holidays to leave the city and go to their vacation homes outside the city or to travel, making it much more tranquil and relaxing than the Hustle and Bustle of Buenos Aires.

Although it's a different country, Uruguayan culture is very closely related to Argentine culture, the white European ancestry with heavy Italian influence, the Gaucho and Mate (pronounced Mah-tay) cultures, and of course the Parrillas and leather industry, even the two countries' flags are similar.

Also the Spanish is quite similar as well. Uruguay has been a part of Argentina in fact in the past, as well as it has been a part of Brazil, now its broken away and finds soverignty squeezed inbetween the these two South American power houses.

The second day in Montevideo we took advantage and went out to look at a couple of the many Artesan fairs in the city, to try and find some cool unique souvenirs.

Mate gourds at Artesan fair with Uruguayan Flag.

Later that same day, we headed out to Mercado del Puerto (Market of the port) where we had a Parrillada (barbeque, Uruguay/Argentine style). For only about $46 dollars, we got a BBQ for 3 and 3 drinks, so roughly $15 dollars a piece (it was Me, Jessi, and another American travelling that we met at the Hostel who hung out with us for the day). But this wasn't any ordinary Barbeque, it was incredible, with every cut of meat you can imagine, with two different sausages, pork, and chicken! It was so much we couldn't even finish it all.