en areas over the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The Uruguayan capital gets fresh air from the winds coming from the coast and sweeping over its streets, but its lungs are in fact made of over eight square miles of parks and gardens, strategically distributed all over the city and its environs, in addition to thousands of trees planted along the sidewalks of its streets and avenues. Likewise, the city’s main artery is the quayside, stretching all along its southern shore, where people go to work out, meditate, meet with friends, or just contemplate the sea. Extending over more than 12 miles, the quayside not only frames but also defines the city. One of the architectural landmarks of Montevideo and a hub for social encounters and economic activity is the Mercado Agricola, the produce and food market enclosed within a majestic temple of Uruguayan agricultural production and food industry.
The other facet of Uruguayan economy is best represented by the beach resort of Punta del Este, better known as the St Tropez of South America, Uruguay’s Riviera, or Amalfi and Monte Carlo combined. Situated at the spot where the Rio de la Plata joins the Atlantic Ocean, the city of Punta del Este ranks as a major destination in South America for its sunny beaches, summer houses, posh retreats, or permanent relocation. The earliest historical records about Punta del Este go back to the maps that Amerigo Vespucci dedicated to Lorenzo de Medici charting out his passage in 1502. Commanding a Portuguese fleet that was exploring Brazilian lands, he reached the coast of present-day Punta del Este and continued farther south. The real colonizer of the Rio de la Plata was Juan Díaz Solís, who sailed into its waters naming them Mar Dulce (Sweet Sea) and on 20 January 1516 reached the Island of Lobos, which he baptized as the Island of San Sebastián de Cádiz. On 2 February 1516, Solis discovered the bay of Punta del Este, and named it Nuestra Señora de la Candelaria (Our Lady of Candelaria). After his death and upon the return of his expedition to Spain, the first goods were exported from Uruguay to Europe: sea lions’ fur. Another famous voyager who sailed along the coast of Punta del Este was Ferdinand Magellan, whose expedition towards the Moluccas was the first voyage around the earth confirming that our planet is round. Explorers serving the Spanish and Portuguese crown were not the only ones travelling the Uruguayan waters. The English pirate Francis Drake, in the service of the British crown, reached the Rio de la Plata on 19 April 1578 and was the second man to achieve the feat of circumnavigation of the Earth’s oceans. Other celebrated voyagers and visitors to the Uruguayan coast included Horatio Nelson and Lady Hamilton in 1808, Charles Darwin on board the Beagle in 1833, and Giuseppe Garibaldi in 1837. In the course of the nineteenth century, Punta del Este developed a reputation as an elite resort town and a fashionable spa. The twentieth-century Punta del Este, a resort-city hybrid, offers the visitors an exciting alternative to the typical modern city: its beautiful landscapes cradle spacious beaches, distinguished for their natural exotic beauty and environmental intactness. Punta del Este equals tourism, security, high quality of life, culture, arts, history, lush natural and man-made beauty, and a variety of sports – surfing, kite-flying, windsurfing, fishing, kayaking, triathlon, etc. Punta del Este is also one of the major cruiser ports in South America. Everything that the city has to offer and display is accompanied by professionally conceived city tours, with guides and abundant information for tourists and professionals attending numerous conferences and congresses in all sorts of fields. The versatile and multi-faceted nature of this city-resort attracts and seduces families seeking entertainment, professional artists, wealthy entrepreneurs, international movie stars and super models, all of them converging in Punta del Este for its luxury boutiques and cafes, the picturesque hustle and bustle of the port 