Montevideo and the Candombe of the Llamadas
Monday 9 March
And here we are, in the capital of Uruguay and its most populous city, Montevideo, located on the Río de la Plata in the southern part of the country with a population of over 1.5 million people. It has been ranked as the city with the best quality of life in Latin America since 2006 and has a well-educated work force, with high levels of spending. It takes its name from the hill next to its bay – Monte vide eu is the name that came from the expression meaning “I saw a mountain” in Portuguese and is attributed to Ferdinand Magellen’s expedition upon sighting the hill. It is now known as the City of San Felipe and Santiago de Montevideo as it was originally named the port of San Felipe in 1725.
Sadly, our city tour this morning was a bus tour only, so all the photos below are out of the (slightly dirty) bus window. Independence Square with its statue of national hero José Gervasio Artigas against a backdrop of the first “skyscraper” in Montevideo with it’s quirky top floors, the neoclassical Legislative Palace, inaugurated in 1925, and the religious cross in the middle of the road at an intersection which commemorates the historical site where in the 18th century, three wooden crosses were placed to mark the spot where three people were murdered.
Next, we passed The Football Stadium – Estadio Centenario, named after the centenary of Uruguay’s Constitution and built by immigrants in nine months to host the 1930 inaugural FIFA World cup – the final of which Uruguay won, beating Argentina 4-2! Finally, a beautiful bronze sculpture called La Carreta, which comprises of a covered wagon being pulled by six oxen with two behind the wagon and a horseman carrying a shaft beside it, which commemorates the first pioneers. To be honest, I found the city a little disappointing, quite run down, scrubby greenery and with so much graffiti spoiling some of the beautiful buildings, such a shame!
However, our mood was massively uplifted by our final stop - one of the most fun Museums I have ever been to – the Carnival Museum!!! Inaugurated in 2006 with the aim of preserving and promoting one of the country’s most important cultural expressions and popular celebrations, it was awarded the Queen Sofía International Prize for Conservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage. The Carnival in Uruguay is recognised as the longest in the world at more than 40 days, during January to March, and is notable for its satirical street bands and the Candombe of the Llamadas, a traditional Afro-Uruguay music and dance festival which we have just missed as it was on 6 & 7 of February! The Museum houses a large collection of objects, costumes, models, images and information relating to the history of the carnival in Uruguay and there is even a cobblestone street running through the interior – because “the carnival is the street and the neighbourhood”. The word candombe was first written in the 18th century to describe the mixture of music and dance from a fusion of Bantu and Catholic religion developed by Angola and Congolese slaves in the Río de la Plata region of Spain and introduced to Uruguay in the 18th and 19th centuries.
We were to be treated to our own show and were ushered into the theatre and invited to help ourselves to a plate of churros, the traditional fried pastry, shaped like sticks and coated with sugar, and from my previous tastes in Spain, dipped in chocolate, here they were filled with creamy dulce de leche! Note to self – don’t miss the gym this afternoon! What followed was an awesome performance of the Uruguayan Murga – the central artistic expression of the Carnival of Uruguay, characterised by being a fusion of political satire, choral singing, theatre and social criticism. The group of Murgas were in colourful costumes with intense makeup and they had the most awesome voices. Of course it was all in Spanish, but we could certainly get the gist of it with their expressions and the music. What a treat and very uplifting indeed.
Back to the ship to make the most of our last free time on it today – we have one more day tomorrow but that is action-packed so we will enjoy a lovely afternoon in the sunshine here on Viking Jupiter!