February 8, 2016
After two days at sea, today we arrived in Montevideo,
Uruguay. What a change in the weather – from daily highs in the 50s to today’s
expected 80s. The past two days have been bitter sweet as we have said goodbye
to friends who are departing in Buenos Aires tomorrow. We have exchanged cards
and promises to keep in touch. We have invites to visit in Switzerland and Edinburgh.
Over 130 of our fellow travelers are leaving the ship in Buenos Aires, and
although new passengers will be boarding, we will finish the journey with 70
fewer guests.
We are docked near the city and can easily walk into town –
our favorite situation – no shuttles needed! Although we had scheduled a tour
that included a drive around town and a trip to a winery, we cancelled in favor
of simply exploring on our own. This is a wonderfully walkable city, although
eerily quiet for city of 1.5 million. That’s because today is the second day of
the three-day Carnival. We saw confetti left over from the previous night’s
celebrations. However, the architecture and squares are charming and, as the
day progressed, we saw lots of families out enjoying their holiday.
Montevideo skyline
Uruguay is the smallest country in South America and wedged
between Argentina and Brazil. It has a distinctly European feel to it. Montevideo
flows from its Old City – Ciudad Vieja – on the peninsula to the New City –
Ciudad Nuevo – a bit more inland. A lovely “gate” marks the end of the Old and
the beginning of the new. We walked from the pier, past the old gate and
through the Plaza Indepencia, all the way into the new city along the main
shopping street Avenida 18 de Julio, where we had lunch at a little pastry shop
next to another square. Montevideo has done a wonderful job of preserving its
architecture intermingled with newer design buildings.
At the gate between old and new Montevideo
On the way back to the ship we found a lovely little shop –
Esencia Uruguay – that specialized in Uruguayan wines and chocolates, so we
bought some chocolate and a couple of bottles of wine. Wine making is a
relatively new industry for Uruguay, so they have a way to go to match the
quality of neighboring Argentina.
All in all, it was a pleasant day – although we had to learn
to handle the heat again after the previous weeks in the Antarctic. Rain was in the forecast but, luckily, it held off until we were back aboard.
Strange floating junkyard of old ships
Tonight was
celebration of Chinese New Year on the ship, so staff was decked out in
Asian-style garb. We attended a special wine dinner featuring Asian cuisine. Now we’re off to Buenos Aires for two days.
Watch out for Zika!
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