February 24, 2012

We docked at Montevideo early this morning. It is sunny with a forecast high of 27 C.  Since our excursion is not until this afternoon, we went to the dining room on Deck 4 for breakfast. Having lots of time before the shops opened, we headed to Deck 11 for a walk of over 3 miles in 48 minutes. By 9:30 a.m., we were on the pier walking to the main street but, before we got to the street, we spotted an internet café and stopped to add photographs to the blog from the past 11 days.  That took almost 75 minutes, but only cost $10 American.  Larry returned to the ship to put the laptop in the stateroom and then we headed to the main street to explore for an hour.  There is a mixture of old and new buildings. We walked into Mercado del Puerto which has restaurants and shops.  All of the restaurants had huge wood burning fires probably to cook food.  It was hot enough outside that those fires were not needed for heat. There were many small vendors outside the Mercado selling amethyst, jewelry, hats, Yerba Mate packages and Yerba Mate cups and straws among the many items. Yerba Mate is an herbal tea popular in Uruguay and Argentina.  Most of the streets are one way which works quite well. We walked back to the ship, passing two security checks by port authorities, followed by the usual checks by ship personnel, one before the gangplank and the other as we boarded, that also included our backpacks and purses going through an X-ray machine and everyone stepping through a device, just like airport security. After lunch at 1:30 p.m., we met our tour group on the pier for a walking tour of the old town and proceeded to be bused to a location about a 10 minute moderate pace walk from the ship. 

We started at Plaza Zabala, and just across from it was Palacio Taranco, built as a mansion for a family in 1910. It houses the Museum of Decorative Arts.  Most of the original main floor furniture is there and the second floor walls contain the family’s art collection and newer pieces added since the 1980s.  We were fortunate to see a Tango performed by a couple who has been dancing at the mansion on Saturday afternoons for several decades. Tango developed in Montevideo and Buenos Aires at about the same time. Next, we walked down Sarandi, a pedestrian shopping street to Plaza Constitution and toured the Metropolitan Cathedral.  Then, we had a 20 minute break where we photographed buildings and bought ice cream from a vendor.  It was refreshing as the day was sunny and hot, about 29. Next, we walked through the gate of the original Citadel of Montevideo to Plaza Independence, where a small protect was taking place and saw the Canadian Embassy across the street beside the Radisson hotel. We stopped and took pictures before and proceeding to Teatro Solis for a tour of their concert hall and theatre spaces.  The main theater seats 1,100 people and has four levels of boxes, just like the European Opera houses.  It was built between 1840 and1856 and closed for 6 years in the 1980s to be refurbished. An addition was added to double the size of the stage area. It has a second smaller theater that is like Winnipeg’s Prairie Theatre Exchange, which can seat up to 300 people. Our three and half hour tour ended and we were bused to the ship, there was no option to walk the mile back to the ship.

Once on board again, we fell into the regular routine of dancing before and after dinner and going the 9:15 show.  Tonight, it was a finale with a singer, the magic act and the aerial artists Suzanne and Sebastian, plus a salute to the crew. Tomorrow in Buenos Aires, many of the passengers will be at Argentine Tango shows which include a later dinner so many will be off the ship during dinner and the ship’s evening show.  The Casino and on board shopping will be closed while the ship is in Buenos Aires so people were buying photos taken during the trip and making other last minute purchase.  The time change for Uruguay changes back one hour tonight, so tomorrow’s tour time of 9 a.m. will not be quite so early. There are only two more nights on the ship.