Blogs from Montevideo, District of Montevideo, Uruguay, South America

It turned from cold to hot in the blink of an eye. The resident lecturer on board, Terry Breen, has recently moved to Uruguay and it was great to listen to her talks about her newly adopted homeland. She loves the place and her enthusiasm for Montevideo is infectious. Sitting on the edge of the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Rio de la Plata, Montevideo has always been a maritime community. It is most famous for ordering the notorious German battleship, the Graf Spee, out to sea where she was scuttled by her Captain in 1939. The city is built around the port. I love it when we can just walk off the ship and be in a city…no need for shuttles or taxies…just like in San Francisco. As a matter of fact we ... read more

Først og fremst: Gratulerer med dagen, Endre! Håper du får en kjempefin feiring med kake og det hele;) Kun ett år igjen nå ;) Feliz cumple som de sier her ;) Nå er jeg i Montevideo (hovedstaden i Uruguay). Jeg dro hit i går med båt og buss, noe som tok 5 timer til sammen. Det var en veldig fin og koselig reise. Det er veldig komfortabelt å reise med båt - så lenge det ikke er store bølger i alle fall. Jeg satt for det meste oppe på dekk og nøt solen og litt utsikt. Etter vi kom i land ventet en ca to timer lang busstur gjennom et helt flatt og grønt bondelandskap. Det var veldig fint å se litt grønt etter å ha vært i en storby noen dager. Jeg ankom bussterminalen kl ... read more

LAST SEA DAY The day is muggy and overcast with intermittent showers. That puts paid to my plan of sitting on deck for a tan. Breakfast service in the main dining room was appalling. We ordered at 9:10 and left at 9:45 with five of the six of us not served. No excuse for that. Stopped in at the disembarkation talk just in time for the crew to take their bows and to hear “Love in Any Language”. This never fails to move me to tears. Then it was time for a stroll, chatting with my new friends along the way, lunch and the poker tournament. I came in 5th. The cash game was a stinger. I called an all in with aces full to be beat by four eights. Ouch! At 4:00 Theresa and Bob ... read more

1-22-12 Sunday When we woke it started to pour, so we ran through the yard to the kitchen where Richard was playing guitar with some friends and other guests of the hostel. We sat over some Mate and waited for the storm to pass before paying our bills and hitting the road. The ride back was just as long if not longer then the ride there. I passed out in the back seat (big surprise) and woke 15 minutes before arriving in Montevideo. The rest of the day was spent in the living room of Francisco’s house while we watched Italian soccer and prepared dinner. Sundays seem quiet here in Uruguay, we drove through the city on our way home and there was hardly anyone in the streets, it seems as they take their rest seriously ... read more

21st January 2012 Yesterday we docked in Puerto Madryn. Temperature was 17c (low 60’s fahrenheit) No tenders across choppy seas to the shore this time. We were able to walk off onto the quayside in summer clothes for a change. We opted not to do an organised trip but instead made our own way to the Ecocentro, as recommended by Rough Guide. Very good whale ‘experience’ – all about the Right Whales that breed in this area (last month unfortunately). Back in the town we again took RG’s advice for lunch in ‘Estela’ – very good paella – no English spoken, which is a recommendation in itself. We are struggling a bit with the Spanish but Brian’s Latin helps. This is a fine looking seaside town, affluent and clean. Fishing and a large Aluminum plant are ... read more

1-20-12 Friday Montevideo is a very interesting city; I am not sure exactly how to gauge it. The streets are filled with young energetic people surrounded by an antiquity of old buildings slowly dying into the background of a posh new city now being erected through the shadows. The old building are quickly forgotten, they are shrouded by graffiti that engulfs the city. Political campaigns by both government and local gangs alike use these beautiful ghosts as backgrounds to a new era. A new era is much needed but not the one that it is in. The people of Uruguay are a mix of European decent, to which no one is for certain where they should pledge their allegiance to Spain, France, Italy, Germany, it is a melting pot of all the countries, but it seems ... read more

Day 92 Wednesday 11th January Last night we experienced a huge argument at a café and this morning we coped one at the hotel. After breakfast and just before we headed out the couple in the room next to ours decided they would have an explosive screaming match with each other that continued into the hallway and then back into the room. From what we overheard (and we didn’t need to press our ear to the door), he wanted to head out on the town and she wanted to sleep for a few more hours. To us the solution was obvious, but it took them 10 minutes of screaming before he stormed off and left her to sleep. After the scorching temperatures of the last week it was great that today was a lot ... read more

...the rookie South America mistake...we entered Argentina via the Paso Jama in the Andes, fuelling up our car in San Pedro heading for Susques to stop, refresh and get gas. On top of the pass (which goes up to 4830) we saw a pretty big and open gas station with a sign in front of it saying "Next gas station Susques 115km", so we decided to drive by...big mistake, in Argentina when you find a station that is open and actually sells gas, refill!! There were two estaciones de servicio in Susques, the first probably destroyed by the Spanish when conquering South America and the second one selling only Diesel...F***!! The next one was supposed to be 160km downhill, our calculations said that we have gas for approximately 140km under normal conditions (in the altitude the ... read more