Colón & Rosario Multiuse Collection

Another collection. In the early years of the International WC Research Project, methodology was not entirely appropiate. Therefore, our database has millions of pictures without reliable information regarding WC location.

However, picture 1 is from a coffee shop in Rosario, picture 4 is from the public facilities in the park in Colón, pictures 5 & 6 are from hotels in Colón, and the last one is from a wonderful little bar where one of the other clients tried to sell us a large painting, allegedly one of great value, painted by one of the great british painters.

He went to his house and brought the art for us to see, and it turned out to be a picture of several little chickens and their mother (could be their aunt or older sister as well), painted in (slightly) different shades of brown. Apparently, it could be sold in Europe for thousands of euros.

We saved the money, and took the picture which can be seen below instead. Now that is art.

Colón & Rosario Urinal Collection

From a trip to Colón by the Rio Uruguay, and Rosario, the third biggest city in Argentina with 1,121,441 inhabitants, by the Rio Paraná.

Colón is a nice little town with a river to swim in and termal water to boil in, and it attracts a lot of tourists in summer. They´re building new houses all over the place, and about half of the ones that are finished, have "for rent"-signs on them.

Rosario was also a pleasant surprise for the IWRCP delegation; it´s one of these places that don´t really have any good tourist attraction, apart from the city as a whole. It just has a good feeling to it. And it has Hotel Savoy, finest hotel any IWCRP employee has ever stayed in.

El Gaucho, San Telmo

Amidst fancy bars in the area around the corner of Chile and Defensa, this little parrilla is like an oasis of unpretensiousness. Cheap, big bottles of Quilmes and carbonized meat served by elderly gentlemen. No doubt the best option for a quick litre of Quilmes in the area.

The picture is from the ladies' room; thanks to my mother for valuable research.

Café Irazú, Montevideo

Café Irazu is named after the 3.432 m costa rican volcano which last erupted when John F. Kennedy came to visit in 1963. The Irazú, named after an indian tribe that used to live nearby, helps the people of Cartago determining which way is north. Very convenient, since costa rican streets do not have names, nor the houses numbers, so adresses are like "200 m north, 800 west and 75 north of where the chinese restaurant used to be before the health inspector turned up".

This coffee shop in Montevideo does have an adress, though; it´s Juan Carlos Gómez 1315, and the costa rican coffee is excellent. And as always, it provides photo opportunities for the Project when the "eruption" comes 5 minutes later.

Since I´m a nice guy, I give you a picture of the Irazú crater as well.

El Molino, Cabo Polonio, Uruguay

Cabo Polonio is a strange, yet very nice little town on the beach. Surrounded by several kilometers of sand dunes, without any cars except a few 4wd trucks which bring visitors to or from the bus stop. No electricity, no phone, no water in the little houses scattered randomly about the place.

El Molino, however, has a WC, or a C, to be accurate. In order to protect the audience, the angle of this picture does not allow us a view of the more profound part of the bowl, where several previous guests had contributed to a rather disturbing panorama.

Maybe I´m getting a little soft, perhaps I give you too many unrelated pictures, but here are a few from the rest of Cabo Polonio. It wouldn´t surprise me if someone, maybe a cow, a horse or at least a chicken, has used the beach or the corner of one of the little houses as a WC, so that justifies it.

Choriburger, Abasto, Buenos Aires

Choriburger is located right across the street from the mall in Abasto. There are several pooltables, extremely cheap beer and perhaps the finest toilets in town. According to unreliable sources, the place is full of peruvians with knives.

The brownish yellow on picture 1 is not mine; looks peruvian.

McDonald´s, Montevideo

I don´t know why I keep going to McDonald´s. Why travel all around the world just to see a urinal exactly like the ones at home?

Montevideo collection 2: urinals

It´s not really necessary to build all kinds´a fancy apparatus, when all us guys need is a nice little corner with certain drainage.

Montevideo collection 1: multifunctional

As any historian will tell you, the human memory is unreliable as a source for certain knowledge of the past. Unfortunately, we have no written sources confirming the names of these places, but they are all somewhere in Montevideo.

Hotel Richmond, Montevideo

Not much to say about The Richmond, really. Better than Hotel Palacio, although the latter did not have Russian stereotypes drinking and discussing the quality, availability and price of whores with the receptionist all night.

Hotel Palacio, Montevideo

I don´t know what palace the Palacio is named after, but it somewhat resembles Saddam´s presidential palace. After the bombing and looting. Located in Montevideo´s nocturnal centre, drunken hollering and disco music from several nearby establishments can be heard untill 6 a.m.

The Palacio also has the most uncomfortable beds I´ve ever slept in, including the times I´ve passed out on the floor.

A bar in Montevideo

The persons on the non-WC picture are measuring their blood-pressure, a procedure everyone must go through after visiting the establishment´s WC. Depending on the reasons (and therefore length) of the visit, holding your breath during the whole stay may cause your head to explode, which in turn results in less costumers.

Notice the cigarette in the urinal, and contemplate how desperate you have to be for a cigarette to smoke it in a place like this.

Bar y Minutas... Lolita?

Read the sign and make out the name of the bar yourself. The owner is spanish, and fills up coke-bottles with some nasty alcoholic beverage on request of the clients. Since smoking is not allowed in bars in Uruguay, the drinking has been taken out on the streets.

This bar has one of the nicest WCs on the IWCRP list so far. Quite simple, yet multifunctional.

Búquebus

There are boats crossing the Rio de la Plata several times a day. The trip from Buenos Aires to Colonia, Uruguay, takes about three hours. From Colonia, there´s a bus taking you to Montevideo, lasting another two hours. IWCRP gives you pictures from two differnet boats; the nice one (which has pinball machines) and the not so nice one.

A café in Montevideo

This is the first place we visited in Montevideo. I include a non-WC picture as well, for I thought it was such a beautiful panorama; booze and bananas. The basic diet.

Hotel Savoy, Rosario

Hotel Savoy must have been the fanciest hotel in the country at the beginning of last century. Not much has been changed since then, hardly even a lightbulb. It has a "The Shining"-feeling to it, but without the snow, and without Jack Nicholson peeking in while you´re in the bathroom.