Thursday - January 31, 2008
Montevideo, Uruguay
During the course of our wanderings in Montevideo, we decided that the city still had a very old world feel, in the manners of the people, in the gorgeous buildings along the main streets, and in the relaxed atmosphere that still is very much in evidence. Like Argentina, its neighbor across the River Plate, Uruguay is a land of gauchos, tango, and barbeque. I saw only one qaucho and missed the tango demonstration, but we ate a lot of barbequed meat while we were there, and it was all delicious!
We had a map that showed a recommended walking tour that took us past the highlights of the city, so off we set with camera and map in hand. Unlike Rio, we had a fine, sunny day with the temperature in the low 80s. The city is very nicely laid out and has numerous parks and squares to rest in, so it was an easy way to spend some time. We wandered around admiring some of the most beautiful and well-cared Beaux Artes buildings that we have ever seen. Many had beautifully carved Art Nouveau doors with sweeping curves and flowing lines. We also saw some very fine Art Deco buildings and some with Grecian pillars and intricate friezes on the pediments. 
I have never seen so many banks in one city in all my life and invariably, they were housed in some of the finest buildings. There were also a large number of historical museums and interesting art galleries, but we didn't have time to investigate them. 
Uruguay is known for its fine leather goods, and we saw some shops with many beautiful jackets, shoes, and purses in their window displays. Having blown the bank account in Brazil, I decided that it would be wise to keep my credit card in my wallet, so I didn't get anything for myself. But some of the red leather jackets I saw were sorely tempting. I settled for 2 small paintings that I just love, sold to me by a street artist for the kingly sum of $25. I hate to think what it is going to cost to get them framed, but I have them on display in our cabin and I love looking at them, so I consider them a very good buy.
We stopped at a restaurant on Constitution Square for lunch on our first day ashore, and spent almost an hour and a half lingering over a very good lunch and some wine, watching the world walk past. We remarked to each other that the atmosphere was still very Spanish in nature, although there are a lot of Uruguayans with Italian, German, and other European backgrounds. On our way back to the ship, we found an area just by the port which is filled with restaurants and almost all of them serving barbeque. We ran into Harry, our wine steward, standing around and he directed us to a huge building that we were told was an old train station. "Just walk inside", he said, "and have a look around." So we did, and we couldn't believe it - the building, which was huge, was filled with lunch counters and restaurants on two levels, all serving barbeque meats that they were cooking on large wood-burning fires! It was an amazing sight. I have never seen so many people eating in one place. 
We decided that we would go back to this area for dinner, so we set off around 9 pm, with our mouth's watering. When we got there, we were disappointed to find that the big building was all closed up for the evening and just the restaurants around the perimeter were open for dinner. We realized that it must be like Spain, with people eating their big meal at lunch and just having a light meal at home in the evening. But we chose a place where we could sit outside and watch the vendors and the promenaders outside and the chefs working at the big fires inside. I thought about ordering the mixed grill, until I saw that the meats included were described in English as kidneys, bowels, and black pudding! I was tempted to just have chicken. But we ordered a beef brochette each, that when it came was a large piece of tenderloin cooked with a Cognac-mushroom sauce. Along with a nice bottle of Uruguayan wine, it was a delicious dinner and a nice change from eating on board, great as that is. 
Our second day in Montevideo was as pleasant as the first, with sunny skies and a nice breeze. We walked across town to the river in the morning, and I have to say that I have never seen a wider one. You stand on shore and see all the freighters going by and think you must be on a lake or the ocean because there is nothing but water as far as the eye can see. Apparently there is a ferry that takes people across the mouth of the river from Montevideo to Buenos Aires and it takes 4 hours each way! We then carried on with the rest of our walking tour before it was time to get back to the ship for the 2:00 pm sail away. 
We had been invited to a sail-away party by a nice couple in our dining room and met about 5 other couples there, also from our dining room. It was an opportunity to talk to some of these people that one sees every evening but normally only exchange a few words with. In sailing out, one of the most noticeable buildings is a skyscraper that looks like a huge sail, just like the famous hotel in Dubai, the Burgh al Arab. I had to wonder if it was designed by the same architect. Quite an impressive sight. We all raised our glasses, made a toast to the lovely city of Montevideo, waved to the people lining the waterfront, and are now sailing at about 28 knots down the coast to Stanley in the Falkland Islands.