Montevideo

Today we visited Montevideo, Uruguay, our last port of call before heading back to Buenos Aires. Our stay there was only for seven and a half hours, so we had little time to waste. We decided to book a .free walking tour of La Ciudad Vieja (the old city) that started at 10:30 and lasted for two hours.

Our guide was funny, spoke perfect English, and was a fountain of information about the city and the country. Here are a few of the tidbits of useless information we learned today:

1516: Spain discovers the country.
1527: Sebastian Cabot establishes the first European settlement, San Lázaro.
1680: The Portuguese settle the area.
1726: The Spanish found Montevideo as a military stronghold.
1811: Uruguay gains independence from Spain.
1822: Brazil annexes Uruguay.
1825: Uruguay declares independance from Brazil and begins a three-year federation with Argentina.
1828: Uruguay becomes an independent nation.

- The first president, Fructuoso Rivera, passed an act of parliament that resulted in the extermination of the country's indigenous nomadic people, the Charrua
- Urugauy is the only South American country with no indigenous population
- There are more cows in Uruguay than people
- The average Uruguayan consumes 99 kg of beef per annum (why aren't there defibrillaters on every corner?) They are the biggest per capita consumer in the world.
- The average Uruguayan consumes 10 kg of Mate (pronounced matt-ay) per annum. That's about 29 million kg of Mate per year.
- Mate is said to have potential health benefits including higher energy, reduced inflammation, lower blood sugar and cholesterol (maybe that's why there aren't defibs on every corner)

Drinking Mate is a little ritualistic. A cup, also known as a mate or gourd, is filled to the brim with mate leaves, and a small amount of very hot water is poured in from a thermos. Once it has infused, the brew is drank through a metal straw with a filter on the end, known as a bombilla. Once all the liquid has been sucked up, the process is repeated over and over again.

It's very common in both Uruguay and Argentina to see people walking down the street with a mate in one hand and a thermos of hot water tucked under the opposite arm.

Of course, I've been curious to try it, but in the two months we've been in Buenos Aires, I've yet to find anywhere that serves the brew. One is obliged to purchase the full kit if you want to try it. However, it's also very common for people to share mate, even amongst complete strangers, as this is seen as a display of friendship. No thanks. But today was my lucky day as our tour guide pointed out a cafe that serves the popular local brew.

For two hundred pesos, about $5.00 USD, we were served a gourd filled with mate leaves, a bombilla, and a large thermos of hot water. I wasn't too impressed with my first sip, which was very strong tasting, and a little bitter. However, the potency diminished with each replenishment of the cup, and, by the end, I was almost enjoying it. I'm not sure I'm going to run out and buy a mate kit to bring home to Vancouver, but I could change my mind over the next couple of weeks.

And so, after many new and wonderful experiences, the consumption of far too much food and finding new friends, we arrive back in Buenos Aires tomorrow morning. We'll then have only seventeen more days in Argentina before we head off on the next leg of our journey.Read more