I have been to... Uruguay

The final installment of our South American odessey was a brief visit to Uruguay. We called in at Montevideo and Punta Del Este.

Just outside the port area was a monument to the Graf Spee.

The Graf Spee is here (if you look very carefully you may spot the buoy). Until ten years ago, bits of it were still visible but sadly no longer.

This rather grand range finder is still around though. More on that later.

Montevideo was a real delight. Very low rise, stuffed with classical Spanish colonial buildings and very liberal and relaxed. The Amsterdam of Latin America.

Some beautiful 1930s buildings.

Jose Artigas, hero of Uruguayan independance. Garibaldi later helped a hand to keep Uruguay independant. He certainly got around.

We finally took the opportunity to try some Mate. Umm. An acquired taste I think.

The main square, with both the old and new presidential palaces.

Artigas tomb. This was built by the military dictatorship.

An old Spanish artillery bastion on the coast.

The Catedral Ingles. There was a large British community here in the nineteenth century.

And back to the Graf Spee.

This is one of the anchors. It looks just like the one on the Airfix kit!

The stereoscopic range finder with me alongside to give an idea of size. It was really huge huge. Laying hands upon it was also another addition to my coup counting of 'bits of old battleships'.   

There were other bits of dockyard equipment around, like this steam crane. 

And a rather larger crane.

A statue of a stevedore.

The Uruguayan navy was also much in evidence.

They seem to have rather more ships than the Royal Navy at the moment!

I've got no idea what types ships these are. I suspect some of them are quite old.

Over in Punta Del Este is this memorial to the Battle of the River Plate. The anchor is supposedly from HMS Ajax. The portaloo rather detracts from it. The battle was actually fought off the coast here.

This stone marks the boundary where the River Plate ends and the Atlantic begins.

We also went to the Ralli mjuseum, which was a  large private modern art collection, similar to the Guggenheim in Venice.

They had an extensive collection of Dali sculptures.

As well as various other modern artists.

Bizarrely there was a Beryl Cook special exhibition!

Other bits of Punta del Este were less salubrious.

I was rather taken with this vintage truck though.

Some of the coastline was pretty rugged, reminiscent of the west coast of the UK.

While other bits had a very tropical feel (there were lots of very, very expensive holiday homes over in this bit).

So, Uruguay was an unexpected delight. Highly recommended (apart from the horrific data roaming charges).