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Published: February 18th 2012
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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 could walk for miles on pedestrian ways and the only thing we had to dodge was the doggie doo. This small capital is a laid-back version of bustling Buenos Aires.
Upon leaving the port gate we went straight to the Mercado del Puerto. There some of the best grilled beef is cooked over large fires. These parrillas feature almost every cut of meat including
prime steaks, intestines which they call gut, blood sausage and even chorizo—a carnivore’s dream and an herbivore’s nightmare. We had an excellent steak lunch there with Stuart and Cele.
The city is filled with street markets, sidewalk restaurants and parks surrounded by colonial style buildings. We can see why Terry decided to move to this lovely oasis.
The weather was perfect for an evening deck party with music and dancing and a fine spread of food. We watched a brilliant sunset as the Prinsendam steamed out of the harbor. We followed shortly thereafter and cruised up the river to Buenos Aires, knowing that in three days time we would be back in Montevideo for another visit.
We were most fortunate to arrive in BA on a Sunday as that is when the streets come alive with antique markets, craft fairs, buskers and mimes and music and dancing everywhere. Argentina has become known for its Tango mania. It originated here in the barrio of LaBoca. This was the red light district and the dance was initially a macho display between men as they awaited their turn with the ladies in the upstairs brothels. Now there is a television
PEDESTRIAN WALKWAY
Montevideo is very user friendly station that has only Tango 24/7. The city is filled with Tango shows which can cost as much as $500 per person for a performance.
We went on a private tour of Buenos Aires with Sandra and Hank. Our guide, Lucas, was excellent at giving us the low down on the city and showing us the interesting spots. He was really surprised when we told him that we had spent our honeymoon here 39 years ago. We tried to find the hotel where we stayed to no avail. Too bad we weren’t doing a blog then.
Lucas took us to Recoleta Cemetery, long considered the most exclusive address in town…people are dying to get in there. Sometimes Argentineans are accused of being “cadaver cultists” because of their fascination with deceased celebrities. We visited Eva Peron’s mausoleum which was adorned with flowers. We also saw the balcony at the Casa Rosada Palace where Evita gave what amounted to her “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” speech. The locals don’t care much for the movie since it was mostly filmed in Europe and starred an American in the lead role. To them Madonna is no Evita!
Buenos Aires is a
SOUTH AMERICAN PARRILLA
No shrimp on this barbie! beautiful city filled with wide boulevards and large parks. The French designed much of the architecture and the British built the railways. We spent the afternoon walking for miles and exploring this town. There is a very visible presence of Tourist Police all throughout the downtown area. Everything seems very peaceful and safe to us tourists.
The next day we took a cruise on the Tigre River which is part of an extensive delta area around the Rio de la Plata. The only way to get to these river islands is by boat. The shores are lined with summer houses and guest cabins. Supply boats filled with groceries, propane, and water make their way from pier to pier selling their goods to the residents. Garbage scows have daily rounds picking up the trash. A former Regent chef lives on a house boat in the delta.
We had some world cruise friends visit us on board one night in Buenos Aires. Mike, Evy and Bob, who are going on a three week Antarctic expedition, wanted to see their friends and staff whom they have shared many cruising days with on board Regent ships. The evening was a nice reunion
IN SEARCH FOR THE BEST PARRILLA
Cele and Stuart in the Mercado del Puerto for them and their favorite crew members.
We left Buenos Aires on Valentine’s Day. We had a Cruise Specialists party at sail-away in the master suite on the ship. There were balloons, hearts, chocolates and a beautiful view from the expansive balcony as we cruised down the river back to Montevideo. The gorgeous sunset over a receding Buenos Aires was a nice punctuation mark as we bid adios to Argentina.
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Michael Kalm
non-member comment
Evita
That's funny! To me, Evita and Madonna are EXACTLY the same.