LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Montevideo
built 658 days ago
Montevideo, the southernmost capital on the continent, is home to half the country's population. Born on the banks of the Río de la Plata, Montevideo first existed as a fortress of the Spanish Empire and developed into a major port city in the mid-18th century. European immigrants, including Spanish, Portuguese, French, and British, influenced the city's architecture, and a walk around the capital reveals architectural styles ranging from colonial to Art Deco. Indeed, the richness of Montevideo's architecture is unrivaled in South America.
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Montevideo is not the best place for Shopping. Besides some typical stuff you won't find anything you wouldn't find in other cities, prices of things related to electronics are much more expensive than those in the USA or Europe. You can find though some good prices in well-known clothes brands (such as Lacoste, Levis, etc) at the local malls. You should ... visit "Manos Del Uruguay" at the Punta Carretas Shopping Center where the finest wool made clother of all Uruguay are at great prices.
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Montevideo has the reputation as a sedate, and reasonably secure, city. Relative to the intermittent political and economic upheavals of its neighbors, Uruguay has maintained a degree of stability. Argentine friends tell tales of stuffing their bras with currency and hopping the shuttle flight from Buenos Aires to Montevideo to deposit the money into banks here. After 25 years of rightist regimes, the political climate in Uruguay turned leftward with the November 2004 elections. Testimony to this change, the refurbished grand Teatro Solís recently hosted two aging lefties: poet Mario Benedetti and singer-songwriter Daniel Viglietti. They reprised a music/spoken word recital from 1978--a performance that would not have been tolerated in the intervening years.
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Although Montevideo has few must-see attractions, its charm lies in wait for the careful traveler. A walk along La Rambla, stretching from the Old City to the neighborhood of Carrasco, takes you along the riverfront past fishermen and their catch to parks and gardens where children play and elders sip mate (a tea-like beverage). Restaurants, cafes, bars, and street performers populate the port area, where you will ... discover the flavors of Uruguay at the afternoon and weekend Mercado del Puerto, or Port Market. Many of the city's historic sites surround Plaza Independencia and can be visited in a few hours.
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Montevideo hosted all the matches of the 1st FIFA World Cup in 1930. Uruguay won the tournament by defeating Argentina 4-2, and later in 1950 defeated heavy favored hosts Brazil 2-1, achieving its second World Cup Championship. Uruguay ... won several Olympic medals in soccer including 2 gold medals, and has won the most "Copa America" tournaments, the world's second most prestigious tournament after the World Cup (tied with Argentina at 14 wins). Its Estadio Centenario is considered a temple of world football. The city is home to two of the most important South American football clubs: Nacional and Peñarol. Consistently since its early successes, Uruguayan footballers have been among the worlds best, recently producing such soccer greats as Diego Forlan, Paolo Montero and Alvaro Recoba, and currently exports many world class players to the European leagues, a surprising feat when considering the population of just over 3 million is a small fraction of most other South American countries.
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Montevideo likes to tout its tango credentials, but except for tourist events in hotels or theatres, this seems largely a nostalgic memory. The keeper of the cultural flame, Teatro Solís (named for Juan Díaz de Solís the first European to navigate the Rio Plata) offers milonga and tango lessons twice weekly in its lobby. A floating tango/milonga dance circuit exists in Montevideo, but it's less evident than those in Buenos Aires and Nueva York. In the old city, the lively bar aptly named Fun Fun features authentic tango musicians (without the dancing); these accomplished performers play several sets nightly (on weekends) to a varied and interesting crowd.
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Montevideo