Monday, Day 107 - Apr 23 - overnight to 7PM, Montevideo, Uruguay

It is nice to have the unexpected overnight. Today we have a leisurely breakfast then explore the local market and some of the pedestrian shopping street. After lunch we do a free ship's tour to a local, historic, food market and artisan beer brewery.

After breakfast we catch the intra-port shuttle to the gate at 10AM and walk across the street to the pedestrian street that works its way to Independence Plaza, about a fifteen block walk according to the tourist information lady on the ship. First, we visit the wonderful Mercado del Puerto just across the street from the port gate. It was originally a rail station, but now has food stalls and restaurants, ranging from wonderful empanadas at a small stall with all of about five seats at a counter to lovely, sit down restaurants with great service. They are firing up the huge BBQ grills and cooking all kinds of meats as we walk through the building...smells wonderful. There are also a few souvenir shops and we pick up a magnet for the RV and a pin for the “boys." We then walk up the pedestrian street toward the Plaza. Carolyn sticks her head in several handicraft shops and buys a couple of hand made items. The architecture is wonderful. It is such a shame that it is being allowed to crumble away. This is a nice walk all the way to the square and is worth doing on your own.

After about an hour we head back to the port gate, the shuttle and the ship. Carolyn gets a snack for lunch. Then we work on our computers until about 1:30PM when we head to the dock to find our bus for our afternoon tour, "City Highlights and Uruguayan Beer Tasting," a free ship’s tour lasting four hours. There are only 21 on this tour. In fact, the four afternoon tours are all very small. We drive by or stop at most of the same spots as yesterday. We first stop at Independence Square, once again admiring the marquee attractions in downtown Montevideo, Then we drive along the river and stop at the Montevideo Sign for a photo that we didn’t get yesterday. Then along the river to the old beach resort area where we turn inland for Batlle Park where we are able to see Centenario Stadium today; it is just an old concrete and cinder block stadium by today’s standards.  And we stop again at “La Carreta,” the vandalized, bronze ox cart.

Now it’s on to Mercado Agricola, the city’s sprawling farmer’s market. It has an alluring mix of sights, sounds, colors, aromas, and merchandise of every imaginable type. Besides the expected fresh fruits and vegetables, there are gift shops selling handicrafts, live entertainment and gourmet restaurants. Of course many of the goods are produced 

locally.

But, first we stop at Mastra Brewery for a tour of the brewery and a free sampling of their Uruguayan beer and snacks. This is lots of fun. They are serving four different beers on tap and we sample all of them. Even Carolyn finds one she likes and generally she doesn’t like beer! After plenty of free time at both places we drive by the Legislative Palace for a fast picture and then head back to the ship, getting home about 6PM. This is another good tour and a very good day.

We get cleaned up and go to dinner a little later than usual. Dick has a Malaysian dish..pork ribs and Carolyn has the scallops.  Again Dick goes to the room and goes to bed, but Carolyn goes to the show. It is a new one arranged by the Regent performers, “Under the Sea." The entertainers really have fun doing their parts, but it does lack the polish of the set shows. It is definitely bed time now!

Sunday, Day 106 - Apr 22 - Cruising the Atlantic Ocean...Not...Docked in Montevideo, 10AM to overnight

Montevideo is a laid-back capital city so vibrant and cosmopolitan that nearly half of Uruguay’s population calls it home. It is no wonder considering Montevide's magnificent landmarks. The relatively small capital is the nation’s only major city, yet visitors do not come here in search of the hustle and bustle of a large metropolis. It is said that Montevideanos themselves travel to Buenos Aires and São Paulo when they crave big city excitement. As Uruguay’s cultural, political and economic center, the city boasts a good number of monuments, museums and impressive architecture. We visited here twice in 2011 on Regent’s Mariner "Circle South America" cruise. The first day we did an overview walking tour of downtown. And when we came back we did the all day tour to Colonia Del Sacramento, a UNESCO site. Two really good tours.

We arrive in Montevideo some time after 7AM and wake as the anchor starts down. We have to wait until the tanker pulls out of our docking spot which should be anytime now. By 8AM we are moving up the foggy Platte River to the docks. Montevideo is a huge ,very active commercial port.

As we eat breakfast we watch the ship dock. The captain slips our monster in between two huge commercial ships with the aid of tugs just like it is child’s play. By the time we get back to the room the ship is cleared and people are flooding off!

We picked the free tour, "Highlights and Tango at Casona Maua." We will see the most renowned landmarks in downtown Montevideo, including a strange castle adorned with symbols from secret societies where we will watch a tango performance.

The tour doesn’t leave until 12:45PM and is 4½ hours long. As usual we go to the theater about 15 minutes early and get our bus tickets for the third of four buses doing this tour. They call the first two buses about five minutes after we get our tickets so we go out with them just to make it a little easier for Carolyn to get to the bus. Our bus already has about a dozen people on it and the rest are right behind us as we get on. For the first time ever we leave early......everyone really does have cabin fever!

There are about 25 people on our bus and it is nice and comfortable. After departing from the pier, we enjoy a leisurely drive through Montevideo seeing the wonderfully atmospheric Old Town, historical Independence Square and then the Legislative Palace, a glorious neo-classical building constructed nearly 100 years ago with more than 50 types of marble. It is considered to be among the world’s most beautiful Houses of Parliament. 

We also pass through tree-lined Prada, a neighborhood dotted with early 20th-century mansions. Then, it’s on to Batlle Park, a lovely urban green space named for Jose Batlle y Ordonez, Uruguay’s president from 1911-1915. We were suppose to see the Centenario Stadium, site of the first World Cup soccer championship, but there is a game there today. So we head to “La Carreta,” a bronze sculpture that depicts the area’s 19th-century oxcart drivers, which local artist Joe Belloni unveiled in 1919. Unfortunately, this is a very sad park area. It is trashy and the statue has been badly vandalized. The reflecting pool and the near by stream is full of trash and there is trash all over the ground and around the many trash cans in the park. The trash cans are empty; Dick looked. People apparently just toss their trash at the cans!  As a country we would be embarrassed to take tourists there. Montevideo needs to do a massive restoring of their beautiful old buildings, major trash pick up and start caneing the graffiti artists. Hey, it works in Singapore!

We then drive through some nice areas with interesting architecture and make a photo stop at Plaza de la Armada by the river for a photo of the monument dedicated to the Fallen Soldiers (Sailors) of the Navy. Our tour continues to the resort area of Carrasco, developed 100 years ago as a beach vacation area for the wealthy of Montevideo. There is a beautiful old hotel that is being restored, beautiful homes and a shopping area similar to Rodeo Dr. in LA. From here we drive back to Old Town along the scenic shore road or Rambla to Casona Maua.

Upon arrival at Casona Maua, we are offered a complimentary wine and entertained with traditional Tango music and dancing. Casona Mauá was built in the 1870s and has an important architectural and heritage significance. The venue belonged to Baron and Viscount Mauá, a powerful business man, visionary and entrepreneur who founded among other things, Mauá Bank, the first bank in Uruguay, which opened its doors in 1857 and the first one to print currency within the country. Nowadays, and after a great restoration process, Casona Mauá maintains its original beveled glass, Carrara marble, floors, ceilings, skylight and moldings, making it a bastion of Montevideo's historical Old Town.

We head back to the dock and get cleaned up for dinner. It has been a busy day with the afternoon tour. We order soup, they are out of all lettuce so no salad, steak, baked potato and ice cream along with a bottle of Malbec from the wine tasting.

Carolyn goes to the after dinner production, “World Beat,” by the Navigator production company. It is a real toe tapper. Dick is asleep when Carolyn gets back to the room and soon she is also.