Montevideo is the nation’s capital; however, there are
only 3 million people in all of Uruguay with ½ of them living in the capital. We found out that there are 12 million cows
and we were told if you go out into the country-side, all you see are cows.
It is also very humid, much like Miami in the summer
time. The town is made up of a lot of
beautiful squares and old building but not much else.
From what we saw and heard, this would be a great country
to live in.
We originally thought we were on the ocean but if you
look on the map at the start of this trip, you will see that we are actually on
a river that leads to the Atlantic Ocean.
It is also the widest river in the world and you cannot see to the other
side at this point! It will not be until
tomorrow night we leave our next port that we will be in the ocean.
We boarded a free shuttle to go to the main town square
where we started a walking tour for the next 2 hours with a very lovely guide
who has lived Uruguay all her life and spoke perfect English.
The tour was fine – we had been told that there is not
much here and “they” were right but we did see some interesting sights, like
old churches and government buildings.
We ended the tour at the port and there is a huge port
market there with a great big building that had been built by the British a
long time ago. It looks like an old
train station, but it is actually crammed with restaurants all cooking
meat. While they are on the water, cow’s
meat is still the #1 food here – they serve very little fish.
We had a lunch of sausage and tenderloin and it was
wonderful. Then we walked the couple of
blocks back to the ship and looked at tomorrow’s schedule and then it was time
for a nap before the show, dinner and casino.
The show was a magician who had been America’s Got Talent
and went pretty far and he was very good and also funny, but not as funny as he
thought he was.
We still had only one other couple with us and that’s
fine although we did till the waiter if they had another couple who were eating
along he should ask them if they would like to join us. Three couples make a great table size.
Then it was on to the casino where Barb was down and Ed had
a nice run. After all the players left
the blackjack tables we sat around and talked with the staff for a little bit
and then went up to bed.
During the day, we walked the equivalent of 5 miles and
Barb’s back held up, with the help of a few pain pills, and Ed’s knee, was good
with a little ibuprofen. This was the
last major walking tour that we have planned, so life is good.
Night – tomorrow Punta del Este, Uruguay
Part of the food in the food market
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| Lunch |
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| The main Catholic Church |
