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<\/a><\/p>\nDuring this sea day we finally left Brazilian waters and not a minute too soon.\u00a0 We were notified when we boarded the ship that any purchases made on the ship, including wine, spirits, or anything from the shops onboard, were being charged an extra 25% fee payable to Brazil.\u00a0 I have no idea why, but this fee has been in place for cruise ships since 2014.<\/p>\n
Pulling into Montevideo I saw they were actively filling in a part of the harbor to expand their port facilities.<\/p>\n
After docking, directly outside our stateroom, was this ship\/boat graveyard.\u00a0 I’m surprised to see this in such a public setting.\u00a0 This is also an environmental hazard as these vessels will all end up leaking toxins into the bay.\u00a0 Curious as Uruguay is supposed to be extremely environmentally conscious.<\/p>\n We had a private tour with Gonzalo from Tours By Locals<\/a>, a company that consistently has some of the best tour guides no matter where we go!\u00a0 Gonzalo was excellent!\u00a0 Our first stop was the Port Market adjacent to the maritime area where we docked.\u00a0 It has several restaurants and shops, as well as this old four-faced clock imported from Liverpool, England and installed in 1897.\u00a0 Looks a bit like a miniature Big Ben.<\/p>\n Montevideo is a gorgeous city, extremely clean and has probably the most attractive people we’ve seen in South America.\u00a0 It has a very European feel to it and is considered the safest country in Latin America.\u00a0 We stopped in Zabala Square, where Gonzalo discussed Bruno Zabala, the Spanish military officer and governor who founded Montevideo in 1726 by expelling the Portuguese forces from the area.<\/p>\n It was here that Gonzalo explained how Montevideo got its name.\u00a0 The hill depicted here is the highest point in the city, which explains “Monte”, a theory held as true by everybody.<\/p>\n Gonzalo then laid out a hypothesis for the “video” portion, however, from doing my own research (which I always do…I don’t trust anybody!) it seems there are several interpretations for the “video” part, with the bulk of the belief being that a sailor on Magellan’s 1520 expedition stated “Monte vide eu”, which is Portuguese for “I see a mountain\/hill”.\u00a0 Gonzalo’s theory wasn’t even listed in the top 6!\u00a0 Oh well, perhaps it was trendy?<\/p>\n This Harris’ Hawk is apparently a regular in Zabala Square.<\/p>\n We then visited Plaza Matriz, founded in 1726 and the sight of the signing of Uruguay’s Constitution in 1830, immediately after obtaining independence from Brazil.\u00a0 I think it’s safe to say Montevideo has a lot of squares!<\/p>\n It was here we entered the Metropolitan Cathedral, Uruguay’s main catholic temple.\u00a0 That’s Gonzalo to the right of Kim.<\/p>\n Plenty of gold leaf adorn the altar area.<\/p>\n I really liked the colorful tile flooring in the church!<\/p>\n Yet another square, this one Independence Square, has a huge statue of Uruguay’s most important historical hero, Jose Artigas.\u00a0 Born in Montevideo, her grew up as a cowboy before joining the Spanish military in 1797.\u00a0 When the Spanish American wars of independence began he sided with Buenos Aires against Spain and accomplished key victories.\u00a0 While he ended up living his later years in exile in Paraguay, he laid the foundation for Uruguay’s struggle for independence and progressive ideals.<\/p>\n This building on Independence Square is Salvo Palace, one of the most recognizable landmarks in the city.\u00a0 Built between 1923 and 1928.\u00a0 At 344′ tall, it was briefly the tallest building in Latin America.\u00a0 Originally planned as a luxury hotel, it flopped due to lack of demand, and became a mix of apartments and office\/commercial spaces.\u00a0 It really stood out to me on the skyline as our ship neared the city.<\/p>\n This is a replica of the “Gateway to the Citadel”, when the city was surrounded by a fortified wall.<\/p>\n Just behind this is Uruguay’s Walk of Fame, with famous people represented by the sun from the Uruguay flag.<\/p>\n Here is Uruguay’s Parliament building, which houses their Senators.\u00a0 The Representatives are in a building directly adjacent, and connected with an underground tunnel.<\/p>\n Pretty cool architecture!\u00a0 The flag on the right is for the Netherlands, as they were apparently visiting while we were there.<\/p>\n Before we departed the city for our winery visit we stopped by Gonzalo’s place, as everybody wanted to see his dogs.\u00a0 It was right on the way, so why not!<\/p>\n We drove about 40 minutes to what Gonzalo feels is the best winery in Uruguay.\u00a0 Along the way he spotted this Burrowing Owl on the side of the road.\u00a0 They are often active during the day since they are diurnal.<\/p>\n We then pulled into the beautiful Marichal Winery!<\/p>\n We were greeted by the lovely Lorena, who got us out of the heat and into a tasting room.<\/p>\n We tried 5 wines.\u00a0 First up was their Sauvignon Blanc, which was decent.\u00a0 Next was their Albarino, which was excellent!\u00a0 I could have sworn it was from Spain!<\/p>\n I was looking for pricing on that wine via winesearcher.com and an unusual label came up, which I showed Lorena and she said “oh, we have to try that”.\u00a0 First however was their Pinot Noir, and as a Pinot aficionado, I have to say, it’s not going to beat California.\u00a0 Ok, onto the unusual wine, Ancellotta.\u00a0 Interesting “Where the Wild Things Are” label, but even better was the wine was awesome!\u00a0 Ancellotta is a rather rare Italian red varietal, and I was immediately drawn to it.<\/p>\n Last but not least was Uruguay’s most famous wine, Tannat.\u00a0 I found Marichal’s 2020 Tannat to be the perfect blend of body and fruit, and will only get better with age!\u00a0 This winery has some sweet stuff going on!\u00a0 I even purchased a 2005 to try it side by side with the 2020 and it was still exceptional!\u00a0 Yes, the wine in that glass is 26 years old….doesn’t look it!<\/p>\n Marichal is not some backwoods winery either, as they scored the 2020 #61 Wine for Wine Spectator for their 2018 Tannat!<\/p>\n We even took a short stroll in the vineyards, which are about a month away from harvest.\u00a0 Here is some Tannat ripening on the vine.<\/p>\n One last shot of the gang in the tasting 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