Dec 7

We docked at Montevideo, Uruguay with both sun and wind.  We did our own self tour since we've been here several times.  We walked across the street and through the Port Market and continued on to the Rambla, a 22 mile long paved path along the Atlantic.  The waves were really choppy and the wind off the ocean was quite fierce so we headed back to the pedestrian street area.  There are some interesting old buildings along the street but they are in disrepair,  It's an area now being bought and renovated for upscale living, but the work has just started and has a long way to go.  We took the long hike to Constitution Square which is ringed by well kept 19th century buildings.  In the center is a huge statue of Artigas, the George Washington of their independence movement.  Below the statue is Artigas' mausoleum which is open for visiting.  We took a different street back to the Port Market and explored the shops and craft stalls.  The market is housed inside a huge former warehouse capped with a tin roof.  In addition to some upscale souvenir shops in one end there are numerous parillas.  A parilla is a restaurant which cooks food over hard wood flame & coals.  Beef & sausage are the mainstays but chicken, lamb and root vegetables are also prepared.  The odors are enticing and we sat outside at our favorite restaurant El Palenque, an establishment I've enjoyed since 2003.  I had a sausage appetizer and a bife de choriso, a cut of beef similar to a 1 1/2 inch thick NY strip steak, and french fries.  Pat had a beef brochette and fire cooked sweet potato.  Be both had Medio y Medio, the local beverage which is half dry white wine and half champagne.  It's bottled like champagne and is the perfect accompaniment to a good meal on a hot day.  It was so good we ordered a second bottle.  We visited an art shop where we previously bought some ceramics, but went away empty handed.  We visited a couple more artisan shops before returning to the ship for afternoon tea time and team trivia (which we won.)  This evening was the Captain's welcome cocktail party and we had dinner with Jamie Logan, the Cruise Director.

This cruise segment has a group of over 300 guests on for a "Playbill" cruise which is part of the "Broadway at Sea" program.  They come as a group along with some Broadway headliners and have private shows and lectures.  They do have to put on 3 or 4 performances for all guests and tonight was a famous singer, who I never heard of and can't remember her name, but she put on a great show and had a lot of humor mixed in.  The theater was packed with many having to stand.