VIII Reunion Regional Latinoamericana de Astronomia
VIII Reunión Regional Latinoamericana de Astronomía
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Geographic Background
The República Oriental del Uruguay,
located between parallels 30 and 35 of southern latitude, comprises a
territory of approximately 70,000 square miles with a population of
3.1 million. It is subdivided in 19 administrative districts
called departamentos. The capital city,
Montevideo, is also the capital of the departamento of the same
name and is located on the east margin of the Río de la Plata, in the
southernmost part of the country. Its population is about 1.3 million.
Tourism and Climate
Tourism is an important source of income for Uruguay. The entire Uruguayan
coast, including the city of Montevideo, consists of a belt of white sand
beaches separated by rocky headlands.
The best beaches are found in the departamentos of Canelones, Maldonado and
Rocha, mostly along the Atlantic coast. The main resort is Punta del Este,
in the departamento of Maldonado. The beach season starts in December and
peaks in January and February. Although the pollution levels in almost all
of the beaches of Montevideo are within the internationally approved levels
for bathing and aquatic sports, we recommend to use them with caution.
The Uruguayan cuisine has Italian-Spanish roots with the addition of some
original dishes and an abundance of meats. The typical dish is the
parrillada : tender veal meat, entrails and sausages slowly
broiled over wood coal. We
recommend pulpón, asado de tira
(veal ribs), as well as pamplonas , chinchulines tiernos ,
chorizos, sesos, choto,
húngaras,
and morcilla (blood sausage), sweet
or plain (all of these specialties are generically known as
achuras , and are found at
restaurants with parrillada).
The restaurants also offer a variety of plain or stuffed pasta.
The typical fast food is the chivito (on a bun
"al pan"; don't worry, it is impossible to eat without making a
mess), the pizza a la pala (brick oven pizza), the muzzarella
, fainá and figazza. For all the activities
involving personalized attention a gratuity of 10% is considered good.
The national currency is the Uruguayan peso ($u).
The exchange is unrestricted and fluctuates around $u 6,90 per US dollar.
Few merchants accept dollars as a form of payment. In almost all the
important commercial zones there are currency exchanges (cambios).
If you are going to use taxis it is important to take into account that
they rarely accept large-denomination bills as payment.
The climate is temperate, mildly humid, and very variable. November in
Montevideo is characterized by a mean of 65 F with extremes of 40 to 85 F
and a constant breeze.
Arrival in Montevideo
Ground transport
The Tres Cruces station is the place of arrival of all ground transport into
the city of Montevideo. It is centrally located in the capital,
with immediate access to three important avenues: Avda. Italia,
Avda. 8 de Octubre and Bvrd. Artigas (map).
International buses arrive and depart from there to Argentina, Brasil, Chile
and Paraguay.
Air transport
Carrasco International Airport, located East of Montevideo in
the neighboring departamento of Canelones, is the arrival point of all
international flights. As its name indicates, it is near the
Montevidean
neighborhood of Carrasco where the Meeting will take place.
Sea transport
The Port of Montevideo, located in the bay of the same name, keeps an
air link of hydroplanes and hydrofoil boats with Buenos Aires with
several trips per day between both ports. The boat trip takes
about three hours and costs US$37 (one way). Ferry boats,
hydrofoil boats and airplanes cross the Río de la
Plata between the cities of
Buenos Aires and Colonia in about one hour with an additional two and a
half hours of bus transport between Colonia and Montevideo, arriving at
the Tres Cruces station. The trip through Colonia is slightly
less expensive
(from $20). In all cases for a cost starting at $40, cars can be
transported across the river (fares and schedules will be
included here soon).
RRLA VIII Venue
The VIII Regional Meeting will take place at the
Hotel Carrasco . The hotel is on the Rambla
República de México, within the neighborhood of
Carrasco. Built at the
turn of the century and recently renovated, the hotel has all the necessary
facilities including fast access to the airport.
The sessions will take place in the
Salón Imperial of the hotel with
capacity for 350 people. Posters will be displayed in the
main Hall.
Montevideo has a public transport system that relies on buses
and taxis. The taxis of the departamento are black with a
yellow roof and serve mostly the capital.
Fares are computed with meters, and are based on time and distance.
The final cost is determined using a table
which lists a price versus the meter reading. The fare is per trip,
no matter how many passagers are traveling (1 to 4). Fares are slightly
higher between 10 P.M. and 6 A.M. (night shift). The distance
between the Tres Cruces station and the Hotel Carrasco is about 9 miles,
and the corresponding cost of a taxi is about $u 40.
The airport taxis (outbound from the city of Montevideo) are painted white
and have a fixed fare (US$ 15). Indicating "Al Hotel Carrasco por favor"
is in all cases sufficient to determine the destination. If the
taxi driver asks for your preferences, "por la Rambla" is
likely to be best answer.
The fare (el boleto) for public buses in Montevideo is
$u 3.80. Due to the numerous lines that serve inside the city we
recommend that you take a taxi from the Tres Cruces station or the airport.
We plan to place personnel to
greet participants at the airport, port, and Tres Cruces station
during Sunday 26th and the morning of Monday 27th.
Lodging and Meals
The RRLA VIII organization will house the participants in the following
hotels nearby the venue (prices include breakfast in all cases):
- Hotel Carrasco
- Per person, per day, double room: US$ 20.
- Suite, per person, per day: US$ 30.
- Multiple room: US$ 12.
- Hotel Cottage and Hotel Oceanía
- Per person, per day, indouble room: US$ 30-35.
- The distance to the meeting venue is a 5-minute walk from the
- former and 10 minutes in a bus from the latter (located on Punta Gorda).
- Albergue-Hotel del Lago Rivera
- Multiple room, per person, per day: US$ 9.
- The distance to the site is 15 minutes by bus (as marked with a triangle
- on the map of Carrasco).
The number of single rooms in Hotel Carrasco is very restricted. More
single rooms are available in Hotels Cottage and Oceanía.
The price will be 50-75 % higher than the double room.
Hotel Carrasco will provide lunch for a ticket price of US$7. Lunch or
dinner in any of the restaurants of the area will cost from $u 50 to $u 80
(8 to 12 dollars). In a higher category restaurant a meal can cost between
$u 100 to $u 150.
The closing dinner will be taking place Thursday 30 November at the
Club Náutico (see map of Carrasco). The
price of the ticket is US$ 30. There is a visit programmed for Wednesday 29
November in the afternoon to the Eastern resort of Piriápolis,
including lunch on the bus, a visit to the Fauna and Flora Reservation, and a
visit to Cerro San Antonio and cena criolla, for US$ 40.
