Uruguai

Colónia del Sacramento and Montevideo, December 2023

By Francisco Morais

January 7^th, 2024

Colonia del Sacramento

Crossing the Río de la Plata by ferry, we left Buenos Aires behind and arrived in Colonia del Sacramento just over an hour later. Five centuries of history unfolded beneath our feet as we wandered narrow cobblestone lanes lined with pastel façades and wrought-iron balconies. In Plaza Mayor, the 17th-century lighthouse stood sentinel over decaying convent ruins and the river beyond, where late-afternoon light gilded every shutter and stone wall. Evenings found us sharing fresh seafood at riverside parrillas, toasting mate under lantern glow as sailboats bobbed gently in the bay.

Montevideo

After a full day in Colonia, we boarded a coach for the one-hour drive east to Montevideo. Here, the city’s heartbeat is measured along the Rambla: a 22-kilometre waterfront promenade where joggers, families, and street artists converge in sun and salt spray. We spent four days exploring Ciudad Vieja’s Art Deco arcades and wandering Mercado del Puerto, where smokey grills sizzled with chorizo and provoleta. Afternoons were for pastel-colored cafés in Barrio Cordón, sampling alfajores and venturing into hidden galleries. At sunset, the sky turned copper over Pocitos Beach, the skyline’s modern high-rises softening into silhouette as children flew kites along the shore.

Estádio Centenário

One afternoon, we made our way to Estadio Centenario—the monumental stadium built for the inaugural FIFA World Cup in 1930. Walking its art-deco stands and empty terraces, we felt the echo of roaring crowds and the weight of sporting history resting in the concrete bowl.

Estadio Centenario is a stadium in the Parque Batlle of Montevideo, Uruguay, used primarily for football, and owned by the Montevideo Department. The stadium was built between 1929 and 1930 to host the inaugural 1930 FIFA World Cup, as well as to commemorate the centenary of Uruguay's first constitution. It is listed by FIFA as one of the football world's classic stadiums. On July 18, 1983, it was declared by FIFA as the first Historical Monument of World Football, to this day the only building to achieve this recognition worldwide.