A Year in Uruguay

Labels: Argentina, Brazil, nature, video

Fuerte San Miguel is a small fort on the Brazilian-Uruguayan border about 20 minutes outside of Chuy. It was built in 1734 by the Spanish army to guard their colonies from Portugal. The fort is built on a rise, and from the walls I could see miles and miles of countryside. I had two thoughts: Brazilian pastures are indistinguishable from Uruguayan pastures and it's a really long way from Europe to rural South America. I could hardly imagine how isolated a Spanish soldier would have felt at that post.

Labels: Brazil, Colonial, interior, Rocha, Uruguay

We had a great meal in Chuí. The waiter brought skewer after skewer of grilled meats: beef, pork, chicken, sausages. A buffet offered various salads, french fries, feijoada (the Brazilian national dish of black beans and meat)and a lot of other choices. It was tenador libre, all-you-can-eat. I ate all I could.

Labels: Brazil, food and drink

Chuy is Uruguayan and Chuí is Brazilian. The two names describe one town straddling the border. There are no formalities to cross the frontier in Chuy, just walk across the street and you're in Brazil. The border itself runs between the parked cars. On the Brazilian side, the benches are painted green and yellow. In Uruguay, they're blue.

Shopping is Chuy's attraction. Right now, the exchange rate favors Brazilian shoppers and they cross to Uruguay to buy cheap goods. The weak peso makes it expensive for Uruguayans to shop in Brazil, so the stores on that side are struggling. Brazil's pharmacies do sell inexpensive generics.

Labels: Brazil, interior, Rocha, Uruguay