Feb 12, 2020 - Montevideo Jewish and City tour

We docked in Montevideo around 0800h. We had booked a private tour off the ship to give us a city tour with Jewish highlights. There were 8 of us, along with our guide and driver. Highlights of the sites. 1. Our first stop was in the Jewish section of the old city. Although the first Jews arrived after expulsion from Spain and Portugal, the majority came in the 20th century. They were largely Eastern Europeans, who made their living as peddlers. The Sephardic synagogue in the old city was built in the 1950s, but now only holds services at...

Nov 18, 2019 - Uruguay

We arrived in Montevideo at 8 in the morning on November 17. We only had until 5 in the port, but we had a taste of Uruguay. We went on a bus tour around the city of Montevideo; Uruguay has a mostly European population from Spain and Italy, and the architecture reflects that background. It is middle class and we heard that the average annual income is the highest in South America. On the day we were there there were crowds of people making their way to the stadium for a big match. Montevideo is at the estuary of the Plate River; it has...

Mar 15, 2019 - fly back to Florida

This is one of those days best seen in the rear view mirror. Our air was "free" with the tour and Antartica cruise and not what we would have selected for ourselves. We NEVER have a double connection with lots of waiting time in between. In another way we are lucky to be here at all. Some of our travel colleagues had their air arrangements cancelled due to the grounding of the 737 Max planes. I think they all got rebooked at less convenient times than originally scheduled. It caused lots of consternation last night when the emails from the...

Mar 14, 2019 - disembark Midnatsol, tour Montevideo

Uruguay is the second smallest country in South America with only three million people. Today it makes its living from agriculture, namely cattle with four cows for every person. Although there were certain periods in its history when it was embroiled in wars, coups, and native uprisings, compared to its much larger neighbors, it has a relatively peaceful history. It even remained neutral in World War II. The banking industry is important here. Many wealthy people from Brazil and Argentina bank here where there are less taxes, less...

Feb 22, 2019 - Punta del Este, Uruguay - wine tour

04 10 Feb. 22, 2019 Punta del Este, Uruguay - wine tour The ship was tendered in the middle of the harbor and we made our way down to the boat that crossed to land in less than 10 minutes. Before we left home, we had booked a tour of a Uruguay winery. It was set for 10:30 and our guide/driver, Ryan, met us at a landmark we could not miss. We squeezed into his new Citron and headed to a beach-side hotel to pick up a young couple who would also be joining this “wine educational experience” at a small, local establishment, Narbona. We tasted a...

Feb 21, 2019 - Montevideo, Uruguay and “Azamazing Evening”

04 10 Feb. 21, 2019 Montevideo, Uruguay and “Azamazing Evening” Carnival is a South American tradition and in Uruguay it is not just a single day celebration. It begins in January and extends through February. In one of the most beautiful performance theaters in the world, Azamara has commissioned a fifty minute spectacular “AzAmazing Evening” with 50 performers, wild lighting, and penetrating sound to chronicle the origins and spirit of carnival.

Oct 10, 2018 - Montevideo to Colonia de Sacramento

Today we leave Montevideo to travel by bus to Colonia de Sacramento. We catch a taxi from our Hotel to the bus terminal. When we arrive at the terminal we can get a ticket straightaway and the bus leaves within 5 minutes. The bus is comfortable, and we settle in for the 3 hour drive. We pass through quite a few small towns, stopping occasionally and at one stage a dozen school kids get on the bus for a few stops, but the time passes quickly. Once we reach Colonia we get in a taxi to go to our Hotel. We check in and then head out to have a...

Oct 9, 2018 - Punta del Este

Today we go on our all day tour to Punta del Este, the place the rich and famous from Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay go to for their summer holidays. We are picked up from our Hotel in a small bus and transferred to a bigger bus and there are 16 on the tour. We are the only English speakers. We drive down the remaining rambla to the edge of Montevideo. The rambla goes for 22 kms from north to south Montevideo. Then we pass through the countryside, very flat as Uruguay has only 5 hills and the highest of those is 250m, so no mountain climbing...

Oct 7, 2018 - Ferry from Buenos Aires to Montevideo Uruguay

Today we are up at 5am and a taxi collects us at 5.30 to get to Puerto Malderno to catch the ferry from Buenos Aires to Montevideo Uruguay. Our ticket say that we should be at the Port 2 hours before and we get there 1 3/4 hours before and someone forgot to tell the Burqueue staff because there were some passengers there but no staff. After about 20 minutes the check in staff wander in and we can then check in and then go through immigration and finally we can get a coffee while we wait to board. The ferry is only 1/4 full if that. It is a...

Apr 14, 2018 - Unlucky in Uruguay

2018 marks our 13th year of what I consider international travelling - you, know outside of the USA and not counting our packaged trips to Mexico. I guess we were due, and I sure hope it means we have many years sans misfortune ahead of us. one touristic thing to do in Buenos Aires is pop over to Colonial,Uruguay by ferry, and the packaged day trip is not much more that booking a return ticket. So, we were content to book the ferry ride, bus & walking tour and "two hours of time for yourself" - code for shopping - package. not much for...

Feb 3, 2018 - Montevideo, Uruguay

We spent the afternoon touring Montevideo, Uruguay. The entire country/city is nestled on the north shore of the River de la Plata. The best view of the city is from the top of town hall. The most prominent sites here are the statues of the country's heroes scattered throughout the town. The grandest of them all, a 30-ton equestrian statue, sits in Independence Square, while the others fill the local parks. It took me a few minutes to realize that most of the stores were closed because it was Sunday, but I was happy to see a number of...

Dec 21, 2017 - Montevideo, Uruguay

It's hot! A large group of people have joined us for the walking tour. Most are walking but a few of us opted to take taxis to the meeting place in Independence Square. The walking tour is free. Guides work for tips and the last time we were here our guide was excellent. This time it was no exception. Girardo was a hoot. Plus very knowledgeable. He loved Uruguay and started by telling us that the country was the first in South America to allow women to vote, to allow legalized abortion, gay marriage, and legal pot. Girardo pointed out the...