South America 2019: Trip Notes # 7

South America 2019: Trip Notes # 7

Uruguay:

Following our Buenos Ares taxi experience, we arrived at the right port and, of course our ship. This is our third cruise on the "Explorer."

In our mind, we expected to see the same crew from past voyages. Not the case. Other than a few staff, everyone was different from the lowest level to the captain. In fact, this was almost a shakedown cruse as the crew had been rotated from other sister ships.

This was our second trip to Uruguay. Our first (repeat) stop was Punta de Este. 

We Had To  Use A Tender To Reach Land

We visited this part of Uruguay several years ago. Repeat visits are never a problem - in most cases, there is always something new to see.

Beach Art -  Always Fun  - A Large Hand

Argentine Residents Love Coming To The Uruguay Beaches

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 Uruguay has been involved with territorial disputes. Spain and Portugal as well as Argentina and Uruguay fought each other. During WWII (and in the same area) a large German battleship (Graf Spee) was seriously damaged by British naval ships and eventually scuttled. Throughout Punta de Este, there are parts of the ship placed in parks and along the beach as part of the remembrance of a significant WWII naval battle.

Graf Spee

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The Ralli Museum (one of five worldwide - two in Israel).  We have been here before but the exhibits rotate.

There were wonderful paintings ranging from the mid-17th to 21st Century as well as various types of sculptures.

It is always interesting to see how a museum presents its contemporary and modern collections.

A Little Humor 

Guess who?

Marc Chagall

We love Beryl Cook (Below). If there was time and space, we would have posted all the photos of her pieces that we took - they're great! 

There Must Have Been 20 Fun Pieces At The Museum 

Plenty Of Sculptures

The below piece is quite interesting. It must have taken the artist a long time to figure out how to present the different curves.

Modern Hebrew 

The Ralli museum is located in the "Beverly Hills" of Punta de Este. Large and interesting designed homes (often a second home) are tucked away behind woods or a lot of foliage.

A Little Windy

Back In Time On The Ship For Tea

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Montevideo:

The following day was quite interesting. Even though this was another return visit, other than a quick stop in the center of town, everything was different.

Downtown Theater

Typical Statue: Uruguay Hero

Typical Spanish/European Architecture

Government Offices

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By the way, for many years, historians could not figure out how Montevideo got its name. By accident, a historian was looking at some old maps and made a startling discovery. Hundreds of years ago, someone was surveying the area and wrote on a map which actually was a "code."

Monte (Hill) -- VI (Roman Numeral for 6) --  EO (East-West - a Spanish abbreviation for "Este" / East and "Oeste" / West ): The sixth hill running east to west

 

Recognize the similarity? The building on the left is Montevideo's telecommunication building. It was designed by "Ott." As part of a Dubai hotel design contest, Ott submitted drawings to what turned out to be a dishonest UAE government official. Ott forgot to sign the drawings - the designs were given to someone else to build. Ott lost out. 

                                     This Type Of Art Is Throughout The City

The Uruguay president chooses to live in a regular house in a modest neighborhood. There is one patrol car in front of the house for protection.

 Years ago, there was an unfortunate incident. Indians were blamed for something that they did not do. Following a massacre, four remaining Indians were carted off in cages to Europe as part of a "freak show exposition." 

The Monument Is A Reminder of What Occurred 

Our next stop was primarily an outdoor museum although there were some interesting marble pieces inside a building. 

                                                       The Area Is Huge! 

Marble Covered In Auto Paint 

                                                           Work In Process 

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Our final stop for the day was wine tasting, a lunch and a tango show. The wine was wonderful. The winery poured freely. We started with white and migrated to red. We drank almost two bottles! 

                                               We were feeling, good! 

One last picture of a fun day. There was a small, WHOOPS! This bunch of grapes fell of its branch. Oh well...

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The ship purchased two large projection screens that belonged to an old Jennifer Lopez show.  This evening's entertainment was based on the Jersey Boys - It was a well done, professional show.

Adios!