Wednesday January 29, 2020 Montevideo
You haven’t heard from us for a while
because when we left the Falkland Islands we had a sea day and then were
supposed to be in Puerto Madryn, Argentina. Well we got there and the ship was
standing off the wharf where we were to dock. But the winds were up at 40 knots
and gusting to 45 and predicted to worsen during the day. The captain made the decision that it would
be too dangerous to dock and if we did get docked would be in an unsafe
condition to pull away from the dock. So…that port stop was cancelled and we
got another sea day. And then two more to get to Montevideo and that puts us
here today. 
The temperatures are up as high as 32°C today.
Bright. Sunny. Hot. Gee…suddenly we’re warmer than home. Just a nice simple
city tour today. I don’t usually like city tours stuck in a bus, rushing place
to place, missing everything because I’m not sitting at the front. This was
better. Very leisurely. Frequent stops for photos. (But quite a few out the
windows anyway if you’re gonna criticize.)
It’s a very nice city. I think it would be
a great place to retire to. Right outside the port gate are a couple of pieces
salvaged from the Graf Spee, a German pocket battleship scuttled in WWII.
Google it. Quite modern buildings. None of the obvious squalor of most of the
rest of S. America. Lots and lots and lots of beaches – all publically owned. A
big beachfront condo would run US$250.000.
There’s an amazing life sized sculpture of
a gaucho driving a team of oxen pulling a cart. The street art (graffiti) near
the legislature is all of popular artists (all deceased). Independence square
has one more of many, many monuments.
We’re quickly coming to the end. Buenos
Aires tomorrow. Start the long flight home the day after.
Hope all is well.
Best
Bob and Elizabeth
