Furniture and appliances/ electronics

[Syd]

Well, Davudyfamilia, I guess you'll just have to decide for yourselves. Seems that Sara does not find 180 thread count on sheets sufficient for her needs, whereas I thought that was okay. However, I will disagree that from the store I specifically recommended that they are rough as sandpaper or so thin that you can read the paper through them. You have received advice from the forum, which was your purpose. You'll have to decide which advice to accept.

[Sara]

Seems that Sara does not find 180 thread count on sheets sufficient for her needs, whereas I thought that was okay.

My point is: why settle for OK when you can buy GREAT stuff in the States for less money?

Sara
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[clara]

Absolutely bring linens and towels. Tiendas Montevideo is a chain of low cost, mediocre quality which purchases their stock opportunistically. On occasion you can find fairly decent merchandise while other times it is not fit for any use. If Syd was fortunate enough to find quality there then I am happy for his good fortune. Personally I would prefer the sure thing. Arredo, a chain which I think is Argentine, has some merchandise which looks nice enough. The quality things (down comforters, quilted bed covers etc.) are quite expensive. They tend to be selling last year's trendy stuff from abroad. If you care only about quality and aren't looking for the latest trend then Arredo is a better option IMO. Still, bringing quality stuff with you is the easiest,surest, least costly, most expedient option.

[Sara]

Arredo is the Montevideo and Punta del Este chain I mentioned - couldn't remember the name. Thanks, Clara...

Sara

[expatbob]

I completely ditto the sheet threadcounts. My fine posterior will not tolerate anything below 300!
Bring quality power tools/hand tools, as they will cost double to triple locally for the same brands (you can buy a 110/220 step-up-down transformer anywhere in UY).
Good coffee machines cost a fortune down here so bring your US one.
Also surround-sound stereo equipment must have a bazillion% tax on it because what you can buy for $50 in the US costs like $1000 here.

[Julia en Toronto]

davudyfamilia,

Earlier this year my husband and I spent three months in Uruguay, visiting family and friends.

From our experience visiting, I agree with Sara and Clara as well...bring as much as you can from USA. For sure, bring all your kitchen utensils like pots, pans, various kitchen gadgets that you need for various types of cooking. Most definitely, bring your dishes, casseroles and more importantly if you have good kitchen knives of different sizes and types, do bring them as you will not regret doing so. As Clara pointed out, Tramontina pots are available in UY but can be quite expensive, compared to the States or even here in Canada.

Many inexpensive things that we may use on a daily basis in USA or Canada can be found in UY but at a much higher price. We stayed in our friend's apartment and, although the kitchen was stocked with dishes, cutlery, etc., we needed a few things for the kitchen so we bought what we knew we could use. Plastic containers that you could buy here in Toronto at the dollar store were more expensive in UY and the lids did not close properly. About towels, especially kitchen towels, I also agree with Sara and Clara that if you can, bring your towels and linens from USA. We bought some inexpensive towels at Tienda Montevideo, only to find that when you wash them, the lint gathers tiny balls all over the towels when they are dried, quite a pain. We did buy a set of sheets from Geant which were very nice and comfortable to sleep on. They were very thin but took little time to dry and they were not itchy on the skin.

We also bought some towels from Arredo, which were of a good quality and not terribly expensive. We washed the towels without lint balls on them but when we visit UY next time, we will definitely take two sets of sheets with us from Toronto as well as enough various towels: dish towels, dish cloths, bath towels, hand towels and beach towels. Also take SOS scouring pads for cleaning stainless steel pots if you use them. During our time in UY, we could never find soap scouring pads and we would have used them if they were available.
Also, since you have two little girls who may stain clothing at some point, bring Shout! or Spray and Wash with you if you use it as well. I brought some with us when we were there and we were glad we did. Our friend even asked us to bring some the next time we come as I used it to take out a stain on his jacket.

Hope at least some of this helps. Keep reading this forum for answers to your questions as you will find loads of helpful information before you make your trip to UY. I hope you will enjoy your time in UY. The people in UY are usually nice and can often be very helpful. Even if you do not speak the language, as long as you make an effort to be understood and try to understand them, you will fit in and be happily accepted.

Take care and good luck.

Julia

[Dr Bosque]

Our experience has been that towels here are of the 'friction' variety - they don't actual absorb water at all, but if you rub long and hard enough.... Of course, you can get towels like that in the States as well.

Garden and cleaning tools here are more like children's toys than something made to get a job done. If you're tall or for any other reason like a long-handled shovel, bring one. I'm told I can find a Stanley Wonderbar somewhere in Montevideo, but at the local ferretería I would be wasting my breath. We recently learned of a place where we can get made to order replacement cloth or paper vacuum cleaner bags for the model we bought from a departing German (La Casa de Aspiradores, Colonia and Vazquez).

Ditto Patrick about chairs and couches - the cushions we had reupholstered a few months ago, insisting on firmness, are already collapsing. No curtain we've bought has been 'square;' all need to be re-hemmed even if they are the right size.

You can find extensive discussion of the subject of 'what to bring' in several threads.

[Sara]

The one thing that I searched for but failed to find in 18 months was a comfortable sofa and chairs. Ditto thick curtains.
Patrick.

I have a very comfortable (but very expensive) stuffed armchair. It swivels and rocks, and so far it's holding up well. I got it at a place called NYR, it's across the the street from the La Opera's end of the Portones' Shopping Center. Everything is made to order.

Curtains are also made to order, and can be lined for extra insulation. Fabric selection is limited but adequate.

Sara

[loei]

The one thing that I searched for but failed to find in 18 months was a comfortable sofa and chairs. Ditto thick curtains.
Patrick.

I have a very comfortable (but very expensive) stuffed armchair. It swivels and rocks, and so far it's holding up well. I got it at a place called NYR, it's across the the street from the La Opera's end of the Portones' Shopping Center. Everything is made to order.

Curtains are also made to order, and can be lined for extra insulation. Fabric selection is limited but adequate.

Sara

I only considered pre-made furniture that I could try out for comfort as I was uncertain about the comfort or otherwise of a made-to-order jobbie bought unseen.

It was before my container was sent from the UK and I had good contacts with people in the northern Italian sofa trade so decided to delegate Chris to buy us a top of the range Italian set and send it over in the container. In retrospect, I'm glad I did.

The Brits are experts at thick lined quality curtains at bargain prices and having had a couple of rather unsatisfactory sets made up locally, I decided to do the same wrt curtains.

It was fortunate for me that I arrived here two years before my container did

Patrick.

[Sara]

I only considered pre-made furniture that I could try out for comfort as I was uncertain about the comfort or otherwise of a made-to-order jobbie bought unseen.
Patrick.

At NYR they have samples you can try. I took a book and sat in "my" chair, reading and relaxing for about three hours, to make sure it was really comfortable. The saleswomen thought it was a little weird, but understood I wanted to make sure of the fit before spending that kind of money on a single chair.

Turned out fine - the only problem is that the dogs like it as much as I do, and sometimes I have to wait my turn to get on the chair.

Sara