South America...mark it on the agenda...

[lady__croft]

So the top choice of the New York Times "41 Places to Go in 2011" is Santiago, Chile. I'm good for that. It was always on my must see cities/locations in South America...right up there with Montevideo (and pretty much anywhere in Uruguay), Buenos Aires (and pretty much anywhere in Argentina), southern South America/Patagonia/Ushuaia/Tierra del

Comments

[lady__croft]

It may be pricey but honestly, in comparison, it is so expensive to travel internally within my own country that I'd rather travel abroad. I guess the internal flights are what will get you in South America as well but the rates for hotels and food are significantly less than in Europe and North America. I don't expect to travel to Asia, Australia or Africa anytime soon as they would require a significant time commitment (not too mention the expensive overseas flights) so South America seems a reasonable option.

Your reply actually further justifies my desire to travel to Uruguay. I am not necessarily superstitious but ever since this summer there have been so many references in my life to Uruguay. It started out when my roommate and I were mentioning the teams we supported for World Cup and Uruguay was one. We chose Uruguay as our underdog team. Everyone around us kept scratching their heads and, like you, asking 'why Uruguay'. Now I'm not saying Uruguay is that unpopular in Canada but to be frank I doubt if four out of ten Canadians could even locate it on a map (and at least one or two wouldn't even know that it was in South America). So to keep seeing Uruguay references is somewhat unusual. I've met random people on the street from Uruguay, it has been mentioned in plays I attended, it has shown up in countless travel articles in local papers, I've had no less than three work relations traveling there this fall and winter, and of course the eventual success of the football team in World Cup (much to the shock and overwhelming surprise of my friends), Like I said, I am not that superstitious but I do believe this is kismet as there are just too many coincidences this past year. It is as if fate is telling me to go there. Don't get me wrong, it honestly looks just like any other travel destination - a few interesting places to see and a decent beach to relax on. There is no major drawing card for Montevideo like the big European cities which offer a plethora of museums, monuments, gardens and historic sites. However if I just want a do-nothing-relaxing, peaceful vacation then Montevideo should fit that bill. I'm certain when I do go it will be as an add on after seeing Argentina. Argentina (and Buenos Aires in particular) sounds so busy and exciting I will need a place to rest afterward.

It's interesting that you live there and say it is boring and sad. I can understand the 'boring' but not the 'sad'...what is 'sad' about it?