Montevideo, Uruguay

Tuesday, February 19

Weather:  86º, Partly Cloudy

The morning wasn't quite as rushed as a normal port day. The ship didn't dock at Montevideo until 9 am which gave us time to get up without an alarm and eat breakfast. (Reading back through my blog posts has made me realize just how much I hate alarms now that I am retired!)

Once the ship pulled up to the dock we switched our phones off of airplane mode to check our emails and texts. My son was just starting his day back in Minnesota and commented that our 4-year old grandson was having fun following the videos we were sending on the Marco Polo app. He has a large world map on the wall of his bedroom where he was following our route. An amazing discovery (to a 4-year old) was that the Falkland Islands were further away from Minneapolis than Sioux Falls, South Dakota where his other grandparents live. I know to him the drive to Sioux Falls seems like forever so it would be hard to comprehend going to the opposite end of the world!

We could look out our window and see the gangplank and when people started disembarking we left our cabins. Having a cabin right by the forward elevators/stairs is so convenient at ports. Today the gangplank was on Deck A directly below our window.

There is a painted walkway leading from the ship to outside the port area which we knew from the port talk a couple of days ago. We followed the path and once outside the port gates, we saw the double decker Hop-On-Hop-Off (HOHO) bus waiting. We bought all day passes using a credit card for about $22/person. As soon as the bus started loading, we climbed to the upper, open air level. The port was the beginning of the route so we had our choice of seats. Bob and I grabbed seats on opposite sides of the aisle so we had cameras pointed in both directions during the tour.

Here you can see the green path leading to the entrance of the port.

Headsets were handed out which could be plugged into a jack in the seat back. Various languages were available and 2 of the channels were in English. This is where my trouble began. The audio that I was hearing kept changing to Spanish each time the bus stopped and when it did the volume also dropped. So frustrating. After the first stop or two all of the seats on the bus were filled.

A HOHO bus is a good way to get a general overview of a city, but a poor way to get much information or history. The bus was moving quick enough that I just kept snapping photos...usually not even hearing what was being said. We passed by multiple statues of people that I'm sure were important, but I couldn't tell you who or what they did.

Cross and statue that was erected to commemorate the visit by Pope John Paul II.

Kent and I are both retired math teachers and thought it was interesting that they had a monument to honor parabolas! 😉

A replica of Michelangelo's David

An obelisk built in 1930 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the constitution of Uruguay.

Close-up of statue on obelisk.

I enjoyed seeing the architecture of the old buildings...especially the doors and balconies. Even some of the simple buildings had ornate doorways.

We have a good friend who worked at the corporate level with McDonalds so I always photograph the restaurants when we travel.  Even a humble McDonalds had ornate wrought iron railings on the windows!

The full loop around the city took a little over two hours. Part way through I realized that my side of the bus was always in the sun and I was beginning to roast. At one of the stops,I made Bob switch seats with me. I was already sunburned from my afternoon at the pool yesterday and didn't need any more sun.

About 88º F...and the temperature continued to climb throughout the day.

See how comfortable he is in the shade? Time to switch seats.

The HOHO tickets allowed us to get off at any of the stops and then reboard when we were ready, but it would be "iffy" as to whether there would be any seats available when we wanted to get back on. We nearly got left by the ship in Vancouver last year for that same reason and didn't want to take a chance...so we just stayed on for the full loop. Really the only area we wanted to explore was back by the port anyway.

Legislative Palace

Palacio Salvo...offices and residences.

Telecommunications Tower, the tallest building in the country of Uruguay.

After finishing the loop, the four of us got off and started walking through the small stalls of vendors and into some of the shops. We also wandered through the Mercado del Puerto with more little shops and eating establishments all serving asado...meat that was being roasted over open fires. It smelled wonderful but on such hot day not so appetizing. Our only purchase was a yerba mate cup & straw for our daughter-in-law, the geography teacher.

Inside the mercado.

Mercado del Puerto

We went back to the ship around 1:30 to cool off and eat lunch and we both knew we wouldn't be going out in the heat again.

Entrance to the port.

Supplies being loaded onto the Zaandam.

Dogs were sniffing through all of the crates on the dock.

Windows getting cleaned.

The mid-ship pool on the ship with the cover retracted.

We sat outside in the shade on the lower promenade deck watching all of the activity in the port. Off the bow was what appeared to be a ship graveyard...wrecked hulls of many ships piled into one place.

There were many cranes loading and unloading the ships and at one point we watched a tug pull a VERY large cargo ship out of the harbor. It was so close to the front of the ship that we joked we might even hear a scrape as it sailed by. (Little did we know that a similar situation would play out in a couple of days when we were docked at Buenos Aires. Luckily it didn't involve the Zaandam.)

After being in the heat we were both very thirsty so went up to the Crows Nest to get a soda. We each had gotten $25 beverage cards as a promotion and just like our last cruise, there was still a balance left on both of our cards at the end of the cruise. I know that seems very odd to many cruisers! We would never get our money's worth with an unlimited beverage package.

We didn't notice a smoke smell in our cabin when we returned but I could feel my eyes starting to water and nose run. Within a relatively short time I was in a full blown allergy attack. This isn't something I usually deal with so it was weird. I dug through my bag of medications and found an antihistamine/decongestant.

Side note.  My son is an IT manager at a large hotel/conference center in Minneapolis. Often businesses bring their products to display at meetings and then just leave them. Last year at Christmas he "gifted" us with some sample medications...including the display shelf! Each box only contained one or two foil wrapped medications but they were perfect for travel!

Drugs...the perfect Christmas gift.

By the time we went to dinner the medication had done nothing and I sniffed all through the meal. I was feeling crummy enough that I excused myself before dessert and went back to the cabin.

Bob and Kent went to the evening show...a rerun of the juggler and the magician. I stayed in the cabin and tried to do a little more packing but mostly got frustrated. Trying to pack for Iguazu Falls for a few days before we fly back to the states sure complicated the process.

Deni, our room steward, had left a letter on the bed warning of crime in Buenos Aires. We have a full day tour planned for tomorrow so will have to be diligent.

The monkey...always my favorite towel animal.