Founded in 1726, Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, it is the largest city with a population of about 1.5 million people. Ciudad Vieja, the old city, is located where we are docked, with narrow streets, large plazas and elegant colonial architecture. So to back up a bit, Uruguay, is placed in a tiny buffer between Argentina and Brazil. It is one of the smallest countries of South America, geographically, slightly larger than England and Wales combined with a total population of just over 3 million people. The coastline boasts impressive beaches, while in the north there are rolling hills and grasslands, similar to the Argentina pampas and southern Brazil. Most of the people are descendants from Spain and Italy, giving this city a very “European” feel.
This is our second time visiting Montevideo, the first time some ten plus years ago, we took a tour to a winery which was great but did not get to really visit the town. Today, we took the opportunity to walk the town and explore with our usual suspects, Marcel, Marianne, Michel and Silvie. This town is easily laid out with all the sites within easy walking distance of the port, mostly on pedestrian only streets - so pretty safe and easy. There must have been some problems in the past as the police were just about everywhere ensuring a safe visit - that said, at no time did we feel that there was going to be any problems. So from the ship we headed to the Plaza International enjoying the sites along the way. We then headed down to the Ramblas where there happening to be a bike race taking place, fun to watch for a bit. We then just looped around and back down the pedestrian street to the main meat market where we stopped for a nice lunch with some great live music. Perhaps some of you saw the live FB feed we did. It was then time for some retail therapy (always great after a few beverages) before heading back to the ship in time for the all aboard time. Dinner and a great show as we capped off our evening where we will be in Buenos Aires tomorrow morning, ship turnover day with about 120 leaving and 180 joining. Today we also lost our Head Dining room steward who had to end his contract early, due to timing and the US administration processing, he could not get a US Visa in time to end his contract in the US, so this is thanks to you know who….
A few pics from today, hope you enjoy…
Quote of the day: “I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list” - Susan Sontag
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