Friday, 2 January 2015
At Sea On the River — Rio de la Plata
Temps: Hi 73F (23C) / Lo 61F (16C)
Distance to Buenos Aires, Argentina — 137 NM (158 miles / 254 km)
A pink anchor in an industrial port? Just seems so out of place ;-)
Since we had already done the city stroll planned originally for today (post here), we joined new-friends Debbie and Darby (from Austin, Texas; fellow-Phaetonites … same model and year as ours, no less) and a Canadian family of four on a tour D&D had organized. The plan was to do a city tour through the neighborhoods of Montevideo, and eventually end up at a winery for lunch and wine tasting.
We probably didn’t follow the exact route depicted in the map, but close enough!
We joined our tour guide, Adriana, outside the port entrance, and with Gustavo at the helm of a spacious van that could have accommodated several more people easily, off we went to see what we could see. Our timing at each stop was planned well, with our arrival in several places coinciding with the departure of the big tour busses. A school teacher when she’s not guiding, Adriana was great — once again proving the impact a guide can have on the success or failure of a tour. She regaled us with tidbits of information as we drove about the city. She had a great sense of humor, joking with everyone throughout the day.
The only repeat stop of the tour was at Plaza Independencia — which separates the old city from the new. But even here we learned something new from Adriana — who knew that the palm trees around the plaza number 33 to represent the 33 Orientales who completed the road to independence, which was started by the country’s national hero, José Artigas.
Plaza Independencia looks bright and cheerful on this sunny morning.
Left: Mausoleum of José Artigas, Father of Uruguayan Nationhood.
Top Right: Palacio Estévez, once the working palace of the President; now a museum.
Bottom Right: The Executive Tower is where the President’s office is now located.
I’ll intersperse some of the tidbits Adriana shared with us amongst the photos from the city portion of the tour. Starting with the name of the country, which officially is: República Oriental del Uruguay. It translates as the Eastern Republic of Uruguay, a reference to its location east of the Uruguay River.
Palacio Legislativo is where the Uruguayan parliament meets. The building was inaugurated
in 1925 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the declaration of independence.
The national flag has nine stripes representing the original departments — states, if you will — at the time Uruguay gained its independence. The blue represents the sky and sea; the white represents peace; and the “Sun of May” represents the revolution.
The blue, white, and red striped flag in front of the Legislative Palace (above photo) was used by José Artigas during the fight for independence.
La Carreta [The Cart] is a bronze José Berloni sculpture that is now recognized as
a national monument. Depicting a cart pulled by yoked oxen, it was installed at
Parque Batlle in 1934. The sculpture recalls the classic means of transport
used by the country people prior to the introduction of trains and cars.
At a park overlooking Rio de la Plata, with the name of the city as a prop for photos, Adriana told us the two theories about how the city came to be named Montevideo.
One theory is based on the words uttered by a Portuguese sailor of yore — essentially meaning “I saw a mountain.” The other theory breaks down the name as a description of the area: monte [mountain] vi [six] deo [east to west] … the sixth mountain from east to west.
Now you see us at Letrero Montevideo [Montevideo signpost] …
… now you don’t see us … unless you look closely at the letters ;-)
The modern city of Montevideo is quite impressive with well-maintained neighborhoods. The waterfront — lined with high rise buildings — reminded me of Alsancak, the neighborhood I grew up in İzmir, Turkey. But with more public parks and green spaces everywhere.
At Plaza Virgilio, we find a monument to the men who died in the service of the country, and …
… a couple of Monk Parakeet [aka Quaker Parrot] feeding on the grass.
Anyone who has done an all day tour knows that a ‘comfort break’ is essential at some point. Usually, the driver will stop at a gas station — hopefully one that has clean restrooms. Adriana dismissed that idea, and took us to the Sofitel Montevideo Casino Carrasco & Spa instead. The restrooms were lovely, but I’ll share photos from the lobby instead ;-)
 |  |
Gorgeous skylight in the center of the lobby ceiling!
Next came the food and wine portion of our tour. Gustavo drove us to Canelones, about 30 miles [50 km] north of Montevideo. Our destination was the Viña Varela Zarranz, a family owned winery that has been in business since its establishment 30 years after the country became independent.
[scanned from the business card we picked up at the winery]
We were greeted by Victoria, whose great grandfather founded the winery. After brief introductions, she began the tour of the vineyard — they grow tannat grapes, which she described as being to Uruguay what malbec is to Argentina. She talked about the wines they make — primarily table wines, with some fine wines as well — and took us through the facilities as she explained the wine-making process. They export 20% of the wines — mostly to other South American countries; the bulk of it is sold in-country.
Victoria explains that the v-shaped trellises allow the grapes to
get sun from four sides, and improve the circulation of air as well.
After the grapes are crushed in the white tubs outside,
the product is pumped inside the building to be de-stemmed.
 |  |
 |  |
The wine produced at the winery is stored in vats and barrels.
 |  |
The sparkling wine bottles are turned a fraction by hand — each day. This serves to consolidate
the dead yeast cells — lees — in the neck of the bottle for eventual disgorgement.
The stability and health of the wine is tested in this lab before it is shipped for sale.
Vudu is the brand of jug (table) wine produced by the winery. The name is the acronym for
a producers’ cooperative — Viticultores Unidos del Uruguay [United Vintners of Uruguay].
The tour continued with lunch and wine tasting, which was held in the cellar near the old manor house. Entering the building, we went down a short flight of steps into a cozy room with thick-stone walls, the table set with cold cuts and crackers.
 |  |
In addition to the cold cuts and cheeses, we were served tartas [pies] — ham and cheese or leek were our choices. Dessert was Neapolitan ice cream sandwiches, drizzled with a very tasty wine reduction sauce.
The tasting included four varieties of wines — a white, not dissimilar to but drier than moscato (or so we were told … I wouldn’t know one from the other); two reds — one a blend of 50% tannat/30% cabernet/20% pinot, and one tannat-only; and finally, a bubbly — their version of champagne. I’m not much of a wine drinker, but I enjoyed the white and the bubbly … and even sipped at the reds. We had to take a pass on purchasing any bottles to take with us, however, as we still have a long trip ahead of us, and can’t afford the extra weight in our bags ;-)
 |  |
Salud!
Having taken note of a conversation revolving around dulce de leche, Adriana asked Gustavo to take us to a convenience store on our way back to the city. Dulce de leche roughly translates as milk jam — but it’s more like a sweet milk butter that has the consistency of peanut butter. The opportunity to buy a jar of this sweet treat was too much of a temptation for Mui, so we ended up getting a small jar to tuck away in our luggage; he’ll enjoy it when we get back home … if he can hold off that long ;-)
Adriana dropped us off at the port entrance, but not before pointing out the Mercado del Puerto [the port market] across the street and suggesting we check out the asado [barbecue] places inside. Too bad we were all full from our meal at the winery — the smoke-filled interior of the old building was redolent with the aroma of grilled meats and vegetables. It was very tempting, but we had to take a pass. Maybe next time.
 |  |
Hmmm, hmmm, good! But no thanks … this time.
We then did a quick wander through some of the same streets we walked yesterday. Restaurants were doing brisk business, as were the shops. Lively was the atmosphere with music and conversation spilling out all around us. And the clean-up of the new year’s eve celebration trash had begun, with considerable progress already made.
We returned to the ship shortly after 4:00p, an hour ahead of the scheduled sailaway. Surprise, surprise … Infinity left its berth on time for the first time on this cruise ;-) Could it be that the captain is anxious to get to our last port of call and disembarkation point?
