Jan. 1- 4, 2024
Happy New Year! I am happy to report that at the end of day 25 on the cruise – my weight was exactly the same as when I boarded! Yay to averaging 13,000+ steps/day and hitting the gym almost every morning.
Three relaxing days at sea let me enjoy the ship. My progressive trivia team came in 4th (so no prizes – boo). I chose to watch the egg drop competition rather than participate – too much other stuff going on to sit and design and build the device. During the egg drop, we hit a bit of weather with 60mph winds and they had to close the forward elevators due to water coming in on Deck 12 (some of you may have seen the video: during the egg drop, we felt the ship listing slightly, but no, we did not almost “tip over” or any such thing).
We didn’t need to research what to do in Montevideo, Uruguay – Royal Caribbean planned it for the world cruisers – a trip to a winery! World Cruisers (and those that paid for the excursion) were separated into 4 groups and transported to 2 different wineries – John and I went to The Familia Deicas winery, friends Liam and Alan were taken to Spinoglio – so the tastings were a little different, but our overall experiences were similar. Our day started a little “off” – we were told to be in the theater at 7:50, we arrived at 7:40, and sat in the theater for almost an hour (our friends at the 8:45 time arrived before our bus was called), then waited another 30 minutes on the bus. Our journey started with a bus tour of the city of Montevideo (none of the photos came out well enough to consider posting), followed by a 45 minute (not sure how long – I napped through most of the drive) ride to the winery. We exited the bus and were greeted by a glass of sparkling wine and canapes – the day dramatically improved.
A tour of the winery, then into the tasting rooms where cheese plates and wine glassed awaited us. We chose our seats then the wine flowed. The sparkling (one of my absolute favorite types of wine) was followed by a rose. My tasting notes were “a wine for people that like light beer– very light, not much body or distinctive flavor”. This was followed by reds – I’m not a red wine person – it flares my rosacea – but I was there to taste wine (a great excuse for day drinking)– so pour on! The next was a very tannin-y red that I took one sip and decided “nope”, the next red was much better, and the last – a dessert wine that I liked, but at $40/bottle decided against purchasing. They were out of the sparkling I had tried outside, so purchased the sparkling rose, which the sommelier stated he liked better – we’ll see – it’s currently chilling in the fridge.
As we finished our salads, the room rang with the sound of drums, as a group of drummers entered with dancers. They danced and floated across the center of the room. Dessert (a pot de crème with a little soft cheese mixed in) came with the tango dancers. I started off accidentally behind the bamboo because of other photographers, then realized it made a great vantage point – as if I was spying on a couple in a private moment.
The entertainment finished with Carnival! Ladies in headdresses, more drummers, then they handed out costumes: harlequin jackets for the men and headdresses for the ladies – John and I joined the dance line as we weaved back and forth through the room.
We tipsily returned to the buses so the next group could enjoy their time. A quick trip to the ship, dropped off the sparkling wine spent our remaining two hours walking in the nearby old town. Anyone whose been to the south of Spain would think they had been transported back to Europe. The streets were lined with stone buildings housing small shops and cafes that spilled out onto the streets.
Boards announcing their prix-fixe meals (most 3-4 course meals would be about $12 pp), tempted us to stop in, but as we were already full from lunch, we resisted, and sadly made our way back to the ship.
History lesson:
The area was settled by several hunter-gatherer tribes around 10,000 years ago. The main peoples inhabiting the region along the Rio de la Plata and the Uruguay Rivers when the Europeans first arrived in 1516 were the Charrua, Chana and Guarani. The first Spanish explorers were killed shortly after arrival. Further exploration continued, but without gold, it held little interest until 1603, when horses and cattle were brought in by Hernando Arias de Saavedra, settling along the Rio de la Plata, and the Jesuits began a mission in 1624 hoping to convert the Charrua peoples.
The region lays between Brazil, which was controlled by the Portuguese, and Argentina, controlled by Spain, and was claimed by both entities at different times. Uruguay became independent of Spain in 1811, but was quickly claimed by Brazil, which they again fought and won their independence in 1825, only to have Argentina attempt to absorb them. Complete independence and recognition as a new nation occurred in 1828 with the Treaty of Montevideo recognizing the “Oriental Republic of Uruguay” as a buffer nation between the two larger powers. (Technically, locals are referred to as “Orientals” and not “Uruguayans”.) Unfortunately, one of the earliest acts of the new republic was to order the genocide of the Churrua peoples – only 300 women and children survived the massacre and were placed as servants in households.
Politically, the country shifted back and forth between representative democracies and dictatorships until 1985 – the end of the last military power, and the rise of a stable democracy with growing middle class, good schools, hospitals and progressive social structure (civil employees have had pension plans since the 1830’s, teachers since the 1890’s). They have legal access to marijuana and rights to abortion and same sex marriage. Close to half the population is Catholic, but there is no state religion, and there is a legal separation of church and state. And they have an almost ideal climate, without earthquakes or hurricanes.
I will have to say, so far, Montevideo has been my favorite port. The perfect weather in the upper 70’s and mid-level of humidity helped. We’ve even glanced at apartment rentals (about $1200-$2000/month for a 2/1 or 2/2 – the closer to the water, the higher the rent). This is definitely a place we will return to spend a month.
Now – stand back – next stop- Buenas Aires!
I love your posts. they are something that I look forward to reading. We were originally booked on the trip but had to cancel-Boo. So your posts are becoming something we greatly look forward to reading. Thank you!