The first taste of IFAJ proper began Sept. 1, 2013, not in Argentina,
rather in the ferry terminal in Colonia, Uruguay.
After a couple hour bus ride up the coast to catch the quick ferry to Beunos
Airies, the first stop was – with no surprise – the banos, or washroom. As we
wait in line, Lilian says, “Hey, our people must be here – she has an IFAJ
tag.” She is looking at the woman at the sink washing her hands.
Sure enough, we walk out into the waiting area, and there
are the pre-congress Uruguay
tour delegates. Like us, they have spent
three days in Uruguay. They visited a large dairy and a large beef
farm, while we visited historical towns and the beaches, with a bit of ag
colour added in by our guide, Maria.
Maria, is mid-forties, married, Uruguayan, and a wonderful
tour guide. She is a translator by profession but does tours like ours from
time to time. She grew up in Colonia and lives in Montevideo
now so she added just a ton of colour and stories to our tour.
In three words, Uruguay
is a wonderful mosaic of styles and cultures – a melting pot of Italian,
Spanish (Maria was half and half), Portuguese, French, British and even a bit
of Russian. When asked where people in Uruguay
originate from, Maria says the favourite answer is “the boat.” Sounds a lot
like Canada.
I have never been to a second world country so had no real
expectations. I didn’t realize until
last night where I had heard the only stories of Uruguay until my travel
companion’s father mentioned on Facebook the Uruguay round of ag trade talks
some years back. I still know nothing about the place, but at least, I’d heard
of it before.
Best advice now, don’t leave Uruguay
to the end of the tourist destination list, or start your world-wide list and
work from z to a so that you get to see this interesting place.
Highlights: Leg,
public artworks, green space, architecture from every one of the above
mentioned cultures, and now modern too, beaches, world heritage sites, feeling
safe, shopping for leather and jewellery as the country has many semi-precious
stones, …and of course, good food. Not
so much salad but delicious sea food, meat, and crème de leche – a carmel
cream that they are famous for. Oh, and
mate – their non-alcoholic, cultural drink.
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