Friday February 5th, 2016 – Montevideo visiting the town and lunch at a winery. However, Before discussing one of my favourite places in South America – Montevideo (having been there many times during my life), let me briefly update what we have been up to between Rio and Montevideo.
Wednesday February 3, 2016 – At sea on route to Uruguay – as usual the days at sea are filled with lectures, eating, some exercise and shows. This was no exception with excellent lectures by James Fraser (UK press photographer) on Prince William Early Years, followed by the marine biologist Philip Price discussing Sharks through their 400 million years of existence and Historian Robert Homer on The Battle of the River Plate. The evening show was the moderately talented Hillary (Hills) O’Neill impressionist and comedienne and good friends with the Entertainment Director Jo Haley.
Thursday February 4, 2016 – At sea on route to Uruguay – the morning started with a “Destination” lecture (always done before each stop to introduce the place) by Graham Howell and this time it was on on Ushuia, Argentina. Next was the UK TV presenter and “Celebrity Lecturer” Peter Snow who really brought to life the Battle of Waterloo about which he knew a great deal and he and his son Dan have written an authoratative book on the subject. Next was James Fraser this time on Prince William and Catherine (Kate). The evening show saw a return of the very amusing Richard Gauntlett – UK comedian / vaudeville cat and Mark Donahue a Multi-instrumentalist. We are now caught up to today in Montevideo.
Friday February 5, 2016 – Montevideo, Uruguay – the city of 1.3 Million sits on a promontory in the very wide (200Km) River Plate (Rio de la Plata), surrounded by water on three sides, it affords many outstanding beaches and La Rambla Street going all around the waters edge. The heart of the city is Independence square with the Local Independence (from Spain) hero – Artiga sitting on his horse in the Center surrounded by 33 palm trees, each representing one of the brave 33 individuals who continued the struggle for independence after his death. The only remaining part of the city that was fortified by a wall on the one remaining open side not exposed to the water, is the gate standing at one end on the square. On one side is located the old and new presidential palace / headquarters. Uruguay is a bi-cameras democracy with 19 states and often considered as a”little Switzerland” due to its size, open political system, general neutrality during the world wars, aiding both UK and German ships. The country has a population of just over 3 million very friendly people and tourism, cattle (Beef, milk products & leather), wool are the principal economic activities. One of the other famous structures on the square is the Teatro Solis – Opera House that was built on what was to be the railway station, but due to the sedimentary rock, which was similar to Milan’s La Scala, the railway was moved and the theatre built in a style and with similar acoustics as La Scala.
Leaving the square we went to the very impressive Legislative Palace / Chambers built all of locally quarried marble. A spectacular building taking up the entire square and with manicured gardens all around. As we drove through the neighbourhoods (all classes) we passed a large white cross, some 5 stories high in the middle of an intersection / roundabout that was erected for the visit of Pope John Paul II and was supposed to be removed after his visit, but the people wanted it to remain in memory of his visit, so now seems to be a permanent addition to the town. Our next stop was at “La Carreta” – A life sized bronze sculpture by Jose Battle y Ordoñez of six oxen attempting to pull a covered cart out of a rut in the road with a man on horseback and some other oxen “pushing” from behind all in a park by a reflecting pool. A must see in any visit to Montevideo.
The next stop at Plaza de La Armada (Armada Plaza) where there is a memorial to fallen soldiers, a great view of the Montevideo skyline and many nesting birds in large nests that give one the idea that condominium life is for the birds, literally!!! Here I digress to discuss two things – The Drinking of Mate which is omnipresent. A gourd is hollowed out, often decorated on the exterior and after “curing”, filled with finely chopped leaves of the Mate tree. The result resembles green tea leaves. With the gourd full, hot water (which is carried around by all in a thermos) is introduced and after allowing some time for the infusion to steep, it is sipped through a straw, usually made of metal with bronze ones being the prefered, that has a “spoon like” bottom with small holes, allowing the liquid to pass through and into the person’s mouth sipping the tea, while leaving the leaves in the gourd. This process is repeated throughout the day until the leaves no longer provide taste to the hot water. At which point the leaves are discarded and refilled with fresh. One gourd full of Mate is usually good for about 1 litre of hot water. People are drinking and carrying the gourd and thermos all day to the beach, along the street, in the bus, in short everywhere. This practice is also undertaken in Argentina. The second digression is the origin of the name Montevideo. Common folklore is that it came from a Portuguese sailor shouting out “Mount see I” (monte veo eu). However the person it was attributed to was on a Spanish ship and all aboard, including him spoke Spanish. So a better explanation is Monte-V-de-E-O = Monte (mount or hill); V = Roman numeral for 5, thus the 5th hill; de = Spanish for of or from; E = East and O = Oeste (West). So putting it all together – the 5th hill from East to West. Indeed there were hills and the city was formed on the tallest of these hills.
Enough digression, after the park we headed to the Carasco neighbourhood with its “super-fancy” homes and the large 5 star Sofitel Carasco Hotel and Casino fight on the water’s edge. The water here is freshwater resulting from the confluence of various rivers heading to the Atlantic by Punta del Este where the river is 220 Km (137 Miles) wide – the widest in the world. Even at Montevideo, one cannot see the other side and is a 20 minute flight to the other side and thus Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Carrasco area is the “high rent” district and gorgeous. It was now time to head to the highlight of the day – Jacksonville Winerery.
As we arrived at the Winery, we were greeted by farm hands and “wenches” dressed in ancient local garb (actually actors playing their parts very effectively) and a patio area with wine flowing for all 200 people from the ship to enjoy. At one point duelling singers egged each other on as part of the “show”, the girls singing Milonga / Tango like dramatic songs, while we enjoyed the “fermented grape juice”. Argentine and now Uruguayan wines are very good and constantly improving. We wandered through a museum like area filled with old wine making equipment from 150 years ago, some identified, some yet to be. At the appointed time, we were all led through the cellars with vast 10,000 liter (2,650 Gal) barrels all lit with thousands of candles in old wine bottles. At one point a couple of dancers put on a bit of a show, then we entered the main room which was a wine cellar converted to dining room for about 250 people with a raised platform in the Center of the room. Candles added to the atmosphere. Music played as we were served a delicious local meal with Empanadas, Chorizo sausage, and lots of beef, melted provelone cheese (provoleta), potatoes, yams, wine, a small salad and as desert Membrillate con queso (Quince jelly and cheese). A sumptuous feast, during which singers and Milonga (like Tango) dancers entertained us. A meal and atmosphere to be cherished and never forgotten. As we exited and made our way back to the busses, we saw a fascinating bird – Hornero (Oven bird) – that makes its nest with mud all around and a central hole in the caked mud ball resembling an oven. A memorable occasion to be celebrated with the bottles we purchased to sample at a later date.
The sail away, was a brilliant exercise in how manoeuvrable these enormous ships can be, as indeed was the entry to the port at 6AM earlier in the day. This being the ship’s maiden voyage to the port, the captain and local pilot were working without foreknowledge. The quay was not much longer than the ship with a large container ship moored at our stern and a long concrete pier running almost at right angles to our bow. Thus after casting off, the ship had to use its fore and aft lateral thrusters to pull away parallel to the quay for some 100 yards, while simultaneously edging slightly forward to avoid the container vessel. The river is shallow, and with a deep draft, the liquid in which we floated can best be described as navigable mud!!!! After proceeding from the quay to a defined location a sharp turn to Starboard followed by an immediate sharp turn to port, allowed us to get into the channel along the River Plate that was navigable to our next Port of call – Punta del Este, Uruguay. Following the sail away, we had a light snack and off to the theatre. This evening’s show featured a reprise of the comidienne Hillary (Hills) O’Neill & Jeff Hughes a young brilliant New Zealand pianist and singer.
Roger & Anne Travels 