Montevideo, Uruguay

Monday, March 30, 2009 found us waking up in the port of Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay.

Greg and Nancy, some fellow cruisers from the Cruise Critic forum, had arranged a walking history tour of Montevideo. We opted to join them. Our hostess was a British ex-pat. She was absolutely delightful. She kept us moving and gave us an historical perspective. She had old maps and showed us where the city used to be and where the remnants of the old city are located. I really hadn't known much about Uruguay before this visit, and I felt pretty happy walking away with the knowledge I had acquired. The picture you see is the arch that leads to the park in the center of the city. There was a gaucho pulling a horse drawn cart during our walk. While that was charming to see, we also saw our fair share of feces (both animal and human...enough said).

We walked back towards the cruise terminal to visit the markets just outside the Mercado del Puerto. We found some leather goods and tshirts for the kids. We had walked through the Mercado building in the morning when they were bringing in the wood for the grills.

It smelled wonderful then, but now with all the different food cooking...it was irresistible. We had read about the Estancia del

Puerto and were eager to give it a try.

It was fun to watch all the action at the counter. The different salsas were fun to try and I can honestly say I had the best chorizo I have ever tasted. If only I could have brought some home.

We had a nice walk back to the ship. The weather was fabulous and it was a great day! Next day was "at sea" and our next destination will be Puerto Madryn, Argentina. Penguins...here we come!