What do you know about Uruguay?

So I spent 4 days in this small country, stuck between big brothers Argentina and Brazil. Uruguay have a population of 3.3 million, with the majority of it's people - all 1.7 million of them, living in the capital: Motevideo.

Uruguay, like Paraguay, is not really famous for anything... So I enter the country not knowing too much, aside from that I found the folks to be much similar to the Argentinians, in their love for beef and their "gaucho" (cowboy) culture, their love for "mate" (the tea), and that they the same slang and slur in their vocab.

I enter Uruguay by catching a ferry from Buenos Aires to Colonial. Colonial is a pretty and tiny town by the seaside. Fought and won over between the Spanish and Portugese for decades, before changing hands for the last time to the Spanish.

This place probably invtented the word "tranquillo". With little traffic, tree lined streets, rocking chairs in front of houses, and long "siesta" time. In the afternoon many shops are closed, the business people are all having their extended lunch, the older folks are sitting outside their house, and the kids are fishing off the rocks. The old part of the town is listed as UNESCO World Herritage to preserve it's old buildings, city walls and the wobbly cobble path.

I fell in love with Colonial straight away. I love the idea of having an "open" house where people can peep in to see what their neighbours are up to, where people greet each other on the streets, and where the "siesta" time seems to last forever. Finally, the sun are spectacular. I spent my evenings sitting by the waterfront, watching the sun go down, the sky darken, and the boats returning to port. Tranquillo!

I also spent two days in Motevideo, the capital. First impression again is the friendly folks. Amazing for a capital city. And when I got on board the bus with my backpack, people actually stood up to offer me their seat. The city itself isn't very exciting for tourist. But I enjoy walking the streets and seeing a real living city, where it's citizen get about on their day-to-day business. Thankfully the city is still in the midst of celebrating the carnival. And I manage to catch some of the performance at a open air theater. They had a stage set up with different groups singing, acting out sketches, and some fantastic back street boyz style dancing. The celebration is probably pale in comparison to Brazil but hey, at least I got a taste of it, without blowing my budget! :)