After a busy day in Buenos Aires, the next day we were in the port of Montevideo, Uruguay. With a population of 1.3 million, it is the capital of Uruguay. Instead of a Holland America excursion, we booked a private tour with Viator. A three hour tour of the highlights of Montevideo, it was just the right length of time to see this small capital city.
It was a perfect day with sunshine and temps in the 70s.
We stopped at Constitution Plaza where we visited the Metropolitan Cathedral, a Roman Catholic cathedral constructed in 1804.
Baptism Area
The Salvo Palace, built in 1928 is now used for offices and private residences.
The Legislative Palace is the meeting place of the General Assembly of Uruguay.
Monumental equestrian statue & underground burial chamber for Uruguayan revolutionary José Artigas.
We noticed a lot of dog walkers in both Buenos Aires and Montevideo. Evidently it is a profitable business in those cities, especially with college students.
And of course, every place has a city sign and we borrowed the country flag!
Next up: Punta del Este, Uruguay
Our third of call was Punta del Este, Uruguay. Known as the Monte Carlo of South America, the Hamptons of South America and the Miami Beach of South America. A tiny sleepy town of 13,000 people for much of the year, during its high tourist season its numbers swell with wealthy jet set tourists crowding the harbor with their yachts .
Once again we booked a tour through a private company and we had an excellent local guide. We enjoyed exploring the city in a minivan rather than a big tour bus, Our guide was enthusiastic and spoke fluent English.
Since this is a very small peninsula, we could easily see the highlights in three hours. But first we had to take a tender boat over for a twenty minute ride. No problem since it was a beautiful, warm day.
La Mano is a famous sculpture (fingers) and symbol of Punta del Este completed in 1982.
Church of Our Lady of Candelaria is a sweet little Roman Catholic church.
The Punta del Este Lighthouse is 147 feet tall and a working lighthouse using electricity. It was built in 1860 using a volcanic cement mix from Rome.
At the harbor fishermen were cleaning their fish and throwing the scraps to the waiting sea lions and birds.
The next day was a welcomed sea day. A day to sleep a little later and a day to relax after all the past busy days.
Next up: Puerto Madryn, Argentina. The captain announced during his noon talk he is expecting gale force winds during the night and 35 mph winds tomorrow while in Puerto Madryn. Not sure what tomorrow will bring!