The Southernmost Capital

Our third couch surfing experience together was in Montevideo on July 6th 2013, a capital city whose name had inspired me to travel in the first place. Knowing nothing of the city, I always knew I must go there and find out what it was like, so Montevideo is in part what inspired me to go travelling in the first place.

Founded in 1724, Montevideo was built by the Portuguese on the North shore of the Rio de la Plata to help fortify their claim to the region and to aid their settlement of Colonia del Sacramento to the West. Whilst Colonia was built by the Portuguese to smuggle goods in and out of Spanish controlled Buenos Aires across the river, Montevideo became a legitimate trading post when the Spanish ran the Portuguese out of the region back to present day Brazil, and they, the Spanish, took control and began populating the city themselves. A census in the early 18th Century showed that the small city was a mix of people from Galicia, the Canary Islands, Guarani indigenous Indians, and African Bantu slaves.

After a brief stint under British rule in 1807 (those Brits get everywhere!), control of Montevideo was wrestled back to the Spanish. The British were defeated in battle, and before they could regroup and ensure the Uruguay and Argentina of today were English-speaking countries, a treaty between Britain and Spain was forged to defeat Napoleon in Europe (preventing further British attempts on the South American regions). However, unaffected by the strife in Europe, the colonists in Latin America and the Caribbean seized the opportunities presented to them as Spain’s attention was diverted to the Napoleonic Wars back home. Starting with Haiti in 1804, one by one, they began to declare independence. General Jose Artigas was the Uruguayan revolutionary who is now considered the father of the country.

The country’s bloody birth was consolidated by Brazil’s annexation of the region after Spain was sent packing. Then, once Portuguese Brazil also retreated in the face of Uruguayan freedom-fighters (Treinta y Tres Orientales, or the Thirty Three Orientals), Uruguay was plunged into civil war until 1851. Fighting resumed in 1855 until 1865, and Montevideo had been under siege many times.

Because of the fertile land of the pampas regions covering Northern Argentina and Uruguay, the area has been a huge cattle raising region since the Europeans murdered off all of the indigenous Indians. In Uruguay all of the indigenous peoples were killed off by the Spanish. Bernabe Rivera, who was the nephew of Uruguay’s first president, led the Charrúa people into an ambush where most of them were massacred. They had existed despite all attempts at wiping them out by their fierce Guarani neighbors as fishermen and nomadic foragers for over 4000 years.

Even all of the wildlife that is normally associated with the pampas region (giant anteaters, deer and jaguars, for example) were all hunted to extinction leaving Uruguay as a country visited mostly in the Summer for it’s attractive and fashionable beaches that Francesca wrote about already. Uruguay, however, is extremely geographically accessible, being mostly flat plains. It is also very small. With only about 3 million people in total, and half of that population living in Montevideo, it can be very quiet, especially in Winter.

We arrived at the Tres Cruces bus station in the afternoon and hopped inside a cab to head towards our new couch surfing friends house. Carla and Nico had kindly offered us their spare room for 5 nights in the Palermo neighborhood of Montevideo. 15 minutes later and we were warmly welcomed into our first capital city couch surfing experience. After talking for a while about travel, life and future plans, etc. Nico showed me how to make pizza bases. We met with the couple’s friends, and learned of their planned trip to Europe in August (including London!). Francesca and I got some good tips, including about the Sunday market in town. We decided to go there the very next day.

Held over a few square kilometer blocks, the La Feria Tristán Narvaja Flea Market is on every Sunday. We found food, antiquities, clothes, and all sorts of other junk on sale there. We decided we wanted to keep costs down, so headed into one of the many regional ‘per kilo’ food joints ran by Chinese immigrants. These are of a similar stripe to the ones we found all over Brazil, but cheaper.

We walked around for a while, but as it was drizzling, we headed back to Carla and Nico’s place, where we were treated to some delicious alfajores. Think two cookies with dulce de leche between them with coconut shavings on the side. Delicious! On our way back, we saw what would become obvious are the two trademarks of South American cities: protest slogans, and dog shit. Stray dogs are not uncommon in Brazil, but cross the border to Uruguay, and they are everywhere!

The next day was a lot better, weather wise. We decided to head to the historic football stadium, the Estadio Centenario. Listed by FIFA as one of the most important stadiums in football history, it was the site of the first football World Cup final between Uruguay and Argentina (4-2).

After a hot chocolate (as Montevideo is the Southernmost capital in South America, it is pretty cold in Winter), we decided to take a look at the stadium before the museum. It struck me as looking pretty small for a  stadium, but it was definitely one of the better kept pitches I had seen. The stadium is actually a respectable size, regularly holding up to 70,000 fans. The first World Cup final had fewer stands and more people watching from ground level many people deep, but still had 93,000 watch Uruguay win.

The museum was pretty cool, too. They had many objects and photographs from lots of different sporting events from all over the world. Upstairs, they had a huge room which had a display for each and every World Cup in history. We saw shirts signed by Maradonna, footballs signed by Pele, trophies, medals and posters. The history of football in Uruguay was also documented. Football is, of course, the biggest sport in Uruguay – introduced by British immigrants in the late 19th Century (the first club team was called Albion FC), it is now a huge industry. We heard from our couch surfing friends that families enroll their male children into football academies at the tender ages of 5 and 6 and pin all of their future financial hopes that they will become the next Suarez or Forlan.

We then decided to try our luck and headed to a lesser known tourist attraction: El Castillo Pittamiglio. This castle was built in 1911 by an eccentric architect and self-styled alchemist, Humberto Pittamiglio. The building is a higgledy-piggledy mix of styles, from Gothic and medieval to Renaissance (much the same as Montevideo itself is a mess of different types, textures and styles of buildings). There are many different symbolic signs that make up the building and it’s fixtures, lots of myths surrounding it’s use and that of it’s owner, and lots of interesting features including hidden passages and passages that go nowhere.

We booked on a tour (Spanish – the English tour can only be undertaken with a large group). After eating some sandwiches by the sea (actually the Rio de la Plata, or River Plate), we got on the tour. There was a surprisingly large group of people, mostly from Argentina.

We were shown lots of different symbols; alchemical, Rosicrucian, Masonic, and, of course, Christian. The number 8 figures heavily in alchemy and in the architecture of the building. The 8 alchemical elements and the infinity sign (the number 8 laid on it’s side). The hunter symbolism was also ever-present. The Holy Grail was supposedly housed here between 1944 and 1956 (obviously that is nonsense, as the Holy Grail does not exist).

The tour consisted of a look at the main tower of the castle (via an open courtyard and stone, narrow, twisting staircase). Pittamiglio built it to overlook the river (water), with an open wall that allowed the wind in (air), to a room that had a triangle in which was placed (earth), surrounded by three sconces of (fire). All in an attempt to transmute everyday objects to gold (fail). The wooden paneling was amazing in the house, with lots more symbolism – including the tree of life, yin and yang, the number 8 and distillation techniques. The woodwork was beautiful, as was the layout of the rooms. We were not allowed to take pictures, but can report that a visit is well worth the effort if in Montevideo! The guide will talk slower for you (in Spanish) if you ask nicely. People in Uruguay are pretty polite and accommodating.

We decided to walk back the 3 kilometers to Palermo, via the park. Unlike Brazil, Uruguayans like to use their parks, recreationally. We happened upon the park’s castle, which had a nice view of the boating lake and some exceptionally fat rabbits that lived on it!

We also chanced upon the US embassy here, so we got some snaps of good ol’ George Washington!

We managed to save a bunch of money in Montevideo and get a bit back on track with the budget by stocking up at Carla and Nico’s with some groceries from the local supermercado. During our time there we cooked up pasta with chorizo sausages, sausage with peppers and onions in tomato sauce, and even made our own home made empanadas with cheese! Success!

On the way back from the grocery store, we happened upon a street band performing Candombe. Not to be confused with the African-originated Brazilian religion, Candomble. Candombe is a Uruguayan manifestation of African music. It is quite carnival-like, with dancers walking ahead of drummers, all playing a mix of different rhythms and beats. It’s not everyone's cup of chai, but this group were really good, and we enjoyed listening to the pounding music.

The next day, on the 9th July, we had a big day of being tourists planned. We headed into centro and walked through the main thoroughfares and plazas, to the main plaza; Independencia. This is the site of a huge statue of Artigas on his horse, which is also his final resting place and mausoleum.

The first building we went to was the Museu Casa de Gobierno, or the Government House Museum (seat of the Executive from 1880 to the mid-20th Century). It says it is designed as a tribute to Uruguayan democracy, but is really a salute to the Executive branch of power, or the Presidency, both past and present. The first room is a tribute to the birth of the nation, however, and as such, holds General Artigas’ sword and banner (‘Liberty Or Death’). This museum had no English explanations and you are not allowed to take pictures, but we got a couple of photos anyway. It holds mostly ex-presidents busts, portraiture, weapons, furniture and the like. The museum is laid out chronologically, so Spanish speakers will get something out of it. We learned that the Constitution was adopted in 1830 in Uruguay, just before the civil war, and that the government house was built to expand the old town into the new town and to help sever ties with colonial rule.

We got some nice photos of Independency Square, including a shot of a building called Palacio Salvo. Designed and built in 1920 by an Italian immigrant, Mario Palanti, the 100 meter high building was the highest in South America for decades. With consummate South American flare, the building was designed to act as a light house which would match a building we would go on to see (spoiler!) across the Rio de la Plata in Buenos Aires, also built by Palanti. These two buildings were supposed to shine a light that joined in the middle of the river and light a beacon like Moses parting the Red Sea. They did not take into account the curvature of the Earth, however, so this scheme failed, and the lighthouse was replaced with a TV antenna. The scheme to make the building into a hotel also failed – it is now an office block-cum-apartment building.

 

We then headed down to book ourselves on a tour of the Theatro Solis, and then passed through the remaining (protected) old city gate. We wandered down a pedestrianized section of town (lots of shops, bakeries, cafes and craft stalls). We visited the Metropolitan Cathedral of Montevideo – it was pretty average for a church – the walk there and back to the theatre was more interesting. Especially as we found a nice charm for Francesca’s charm bracelet she is collecting – a small tree of life, just like the one on the wood panel in Pittamiglio’s castle! Cool!

We made it to the theatre happy with the haggling we had done to buy the little silver charm (we got it for almost half the price). There are tours here in Spanish, Portuguese and English, so pretty much everyone is catered for.

Built in 1856, this is Uruguay’s oldest theatre. In 1998 a major reconstruction was started after a fire, which was completed in 2004, and kept the building in a neoclassical style. The reconstruction also changed the way people accessed the building. Nowadays everyone accesses from the front, whereas before, the poorer classes had to access from the back, where the rich people could not see them. This kind of exclusivity is now in the building’s past, and they are very proud these days to demonstrate how enlightened they are.

For example, many of the European composers come to this theatre to perform; and many of the South American theatres actually work together, by swapping productions, casts and sets so that plays and operas can tour. There is little to no government money flowing to the theatres these days, so they have to be a bit smarter and more businesslike in the way they conduct themselves.

We were shown to the main part of the theatre and were lucky enough to hear a rendition by the orchestra who were practicing for that evening. On the ceiling was some pretty cool acknowledgements of the greats of stage and music, like Shakespeare, Verdi and Moliere. As usual for these types of buildings, they all were conceived and built to demonstrate how successful the countries like Brazil and Uruguay had become on their own. The city planners sought to remove the colonial symbols and create their own. Weird, though, as everything is done in European classical styles, so each theatre and palace and government building, looks a little similar, not to mention the fact that they all remind you of the Old World, and so, for me, fail in breaking the colonial connection. However, all of these ventures were successful in their own right, so what do I know?

After a short walk through the old city again, we passed the main government bank, where there were trucks filling up on money, each with an undercover police car, full of men bristling with modern weaponry, such as sub-machine guns (looked like Steyr 9mm).

Hurrying past, we made it to the Museo de Arte Precolombino Indigena, MAPI (Pre-Columbian Indigenous Art). Luckily they had an English audio guide, which is well worth the extra few dollars. This museum gave a good overview of the indigenous people’s history of all of South America, starting when humans first came to the area, via the connected landmass at present day central America (the Isthmus of Panama connected the two continents 3 million years ago, and the ice age ended at about 12,000 BCE), about 15,000 years ago.

This first wave of people and animals no doubt had a profound affect on the animals in South America, including the megafauna, that were already there. One such animal, the glyptodon, weighed about the same as a VW Beetle (to be classed as megafauna, an animal must weigh over 1000Kg). A relative of the armadillo, the glyptodon was encased in armor all over its body, was a herbivore, and, some say, had a spiky tail. Once the ice melted, Indians entered South America for the first time, and fossil evidence suggests the megafauna died out around the same time. Global warming and human interaction (hunting) are most likely to blame, but it is a contentious issue amongst experts.

We saw arrowheads, pottery, artwork, statues and other weapons and jewelry from the last 10000 years, from all over South America. What struck me most was the increasing level of sophistication that you could see in the different objects as time went by until the Europeans arrived.

We next headed to the Gaucho Museum, which was an old house restored to a museum by El Banco Republica. The first floor was set up like an old bank, mostly with activities for children to teach them about money and finance.

The second floor held a lot of the gaucho’s objects; that is, objects the old-time cowboys from the region used. A gaucho is a cowboy in one sense, but being a gaucho also became a fashionable term that was adopted by richer city dwellers and ranch owners. The romantic notions attached to the gaucho (out on the prairie, herding cattle and telling stories by firelight, etc.) propagated the fashion. Far from just the essentials a cattle herder would need on the range, the gaucho toolkit enlarged to include the most ridiculous frills imaginable. We saw intricately made spurs, expensive walking canes, ridiculous over-the-top belt buckles and ornate mate gourds made from silver. It is true that cattle herders were very much like the cowboy of the west, but that was long ago. Now, gauchos exist as simply people from this region, Uruguay and Rio Grande in Southern Brazil, and they identify with the cowboys’ customs and regionalist pride.

As it was quite late, and our camera had ran out of batteries, we made for Carla and Nico’s place that evening (9th July) to do more cooking. The next day we decided to head out early, as we wanted to fit in some museum’s we had missed out on the previous day. We also wanted to settle an old score.

We had heard that there was an Ombu tree in Montevideo. Carla and Nico both told us it was not worth visiting, but I do not think they understood what we went through in Punta del Diablo, trying to get to the Ombu trees. No-one seems impressed enough by that story, in my opinion, and this time we were determined to see an Ombu tree!

We found it! It was a cool looking tree, certainly not a tourist attraction, as it is fenced off, there is no sign saying it is an Ombu, and it is on a roundabout in the middle of a busy intersection. Nevertheless, we saw our Ombu, and got photos. Mission accomplished.

We had already planned out how to get from the Ombu to the next stop – El Palacio Legislativo – by bus. This would save us a bunch of money, and was now a much more accessible option than in Brazil, as it was not so goddamn hot all the time.

The Legislative Palace is the seat of the Uruguayan Senate and House of Representatives (they followed the US style of governance). The Senate was in session when we visited so we could not see that, but we were allowed in to the main reception hall, the congressional library, and the house’s chamber (don’t forget to bring your passports!). Uruguay is actually called the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, which originally, in Spanish meant ‘the republic East of the (river) Uruguay’. The name Uruguay is a Guarani word. It is thought to mean ‘river of painted birds’, but no-one really knows the origin of the word.

The building was completed in 1925, designed by Italian architect Vittorio Meano. It was actually inaugurated on the centenary of independence from Spain. Another post-colonial neoclassical building, the legislative palace stands out for its vast scale and regality. With 3 floors and an area of 8000 square meters, its marble, decorative statues and metalwork really are awe-inspiring. By far the most impressive official building, architecturally, that we have seen so far.

The main hall had some official guards (from Battalion Florida), whose task is mainly to look cool for tourists, and ostensibly to guard the first copy of the 1830 constitution which they stand next to. This hall is impressive as it leads to the antechambers of both the Senators and the Representatives. The sciences and the arts are both represented in mosaic form on the South and North arches, respectively (made in Venice). Stained-glass windows build by an Italian artist in Montevideo are installed here, alongside reliefs inspired by the national emblem. This main hall is another Hall Of Lost Steps, named after its acoustic echoing – there are others with the same name in Europe.

We next saw the reception hall, which is under construction. We asked a lot of questions though, so our guide, a lady with really bad teeth, kindly let us in and showed us around amidst he builders doing restoration work. An amazing room, it really strikes home in these places how much money is stored in places like this, when it is sorely needed to feed the countries people. The ceiling is covered in 24-carat gold leaf; the chandeliers are made from Murano crystal and bronze.

On the second floor of the building, we were treated to a visit of the congressional library. The work is all inlaid, of Pompeian style and decorated with stained glass and bronzes. The books can be looked at by anyone – lots of students or professors come here, and there are over 250,000 books in the collection. It also as a huge collection of newspapers, magazines and other publications from the start of the printing era until today.

The House of Representatives was next, with its marble and walnut wood, and a huge painting showing a meeting between Artigas and another General during the siege of Montevideo in 1813. This is where the president swears his oath of office. There is a huge Artigas quote chiseled in the marble ceiling above the representatives to remind them at all times that ‘you are here by the grace of the people, and the people are sovereign’.

The ceiling is completed with a large stained glass window, depicting the emblem of Uruguay. The emblem, or coat of arms, is split into four quarters. Top left, is the scales of justice, and the top right is the Cerro de Montevideo, or Montevideo Hill, with the fortress, representing the strength of the new country. Bottom right, is the ox, a symbol of the plentiful land, and bottom left, is the horse, symbolizing liberty, or freedom. In fact, Uruguay is one of the most progressive countries in South America. Its leading party, the Broad Front, is run by a left wing ex-guerilla, Jose Mujica, who was shot six times and imprisoned for 14 years under the dictatorship. He lives on his wife’s farm, outside of Montevideo, eschewing the presidential residency and sending his government salary to charity. He has, so far this year, presided over new and progressive pro-gay marriage laws – Uruguay being one of three South American countries to do so. He has also now led talks, and a move by the legislature to legalize marijuana usage, which demonstrates the worldwide move away from the disastrous policies of the War Against Drugs.

On our way out, we managed to get a sneak peak out of a window to the top of the building which is crowned by a sort of tower, adorned with several marble caryatids, each representing a classical activity: poetry, law, mathematics, music, etc.

We left and got a taxi this time to the Museo del Carnival, a museum dedicated to the longest carnival in the world – the Uruguayan Carnival which runs from January to March. We had spent February in Rio’s famous carnival, so were interested to see what the differences were in the two events.

The museum showed that the carnival started back in colonial times, when African slaves were still, shamefully, arriving into South America. It was the blacks who set up the carnival as a way of reminding about their heritage, which was predominantly Bantu, from East Africa. It is very similar to its Brazilian counterpart, in that there are bright, themed costumes, loud music (Brazil has samba, Uruguay has candombe) and lots of partying all night long. Both events also have a lot of food associated with them, with street parties providing food to revelers all day long.

A main difference in Uruguay, is they also have street theatres which include humorists and parodists performing for the people. The museum was pretty small, so you can get around it in half hour or so; but there is another thing that makes a visit worthwhile to this area – the Mercado del Puerto (the Port Market), almost next door.

This marketplace is full of delicious meat cooking on the parillas, or BBQ grills. A large flame is used to cook meat, seemingly for hours. The whole thing reminded us a little of the Brazilian style of cooking churrasco. The market place also holds various food stalls, and shops, and we really enjoyed walking through, but unfortunately we still did not get to try the dish Uruguay is famous for: the chivito. The chivito is a massive sandwich with lots of meat on it, but a we had food to finish back at our couch surfing place, we decided to try the chivito when we got to our next destination. We were given a shot of delicious medio y medio, though, or half wine and half champagne. Delicious.

We then made our way to the Casa Rivera museum. Named after Jose Fructuoso Rivera, one of the heroes of the revolution, and the first president of Uruguay (known for a particularly inept stint at the helm). This house was purchased by Rivera in 1834, and became a museum in 1942 and is now a collection of colonial era and other historical objects important to the country. This museum and the next one we went to, close by Palacio Taranco, were both pretty much filled with old junk of a sort you would see at any flea market, but they are free anyway, and the buildings and location make them interesting. The Taranco family donated the house and it is now also called the museum of decorative arts. In the basement is a hideous collection of pottery, but there were some interesting pieces on the upper floors. Apparently, the government still hold some of their meetings here.

After this long day, we headed back to the apartment to make the rest of our food and to pack for our next destination further West along the coast of the Rio de la Plata. Colonia del Sacramento is about 4 hours bus journey from Montevideo – pretty comfortable, and we were looking forward to the quaint colonialist town.

Montevideo had been a nice change of pace after spending so many weeks in the quietude of the Uruguayan wintery countryside. We are grateful to Carla and Nico for their generosity, and I will remember Montevideo with fondness, and am glad one of the questions that drove me to travel has been answered.