"Montevideo and Piriapolis" Sjl901's photos around Montevideo, Uruguay

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• published: 26 Feb 2011
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Preview of Sjl901's blog at TravelPod. Read the full blog here: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sjl901/1/1257219996/tpod.html This blog preview was made by TravelPod using the TripAdvisor™ TripWow slideshow creator. Entry from: Montevideo, Uruguay Entry Title: "Montevideo and Piriapolis" Entry: "We spent the day in Montevideo. Here we had hired a private van with driver and guide. Claudia, our guide spoke very good English and Pablo was a good driver. Both of them were very congenial and we were fortunate to be with them for the day. We saw just a little of downtown Montevideo with a stop at Plaza Independencia, visited the Legislative Palace, stopped at a park with a unique sculpture, and then headed out along the beaches of the River Plate or Rio de la Plata. We went through a castle that a rich man had built as his residence. It was not furnished original furniture, but it was period furniture. Then in Piriapolis we had a typical Uruguayan meal which was lots of fun as we had Claudia and Pablo join us. We all had a relaxing, good time together. They helped us order and Claudia explained things about what we were having which made it even more enjoyable. We ate at a bar-b-que restaurant, La Rotonda. We sat at a table outside, but when we went in to see how they cooked the meat they invited us behind the counter to take pictures. The restaurant staff were all very nice to us. We were having a good time and they joined in with our fun. They treated us like old friends rather than strangers from the US. We had an excellent meal with a variety of meats, salad, and deserts. We tried some things that were new to us and just enjoyed ourselves. We saw another small group from the ship, but they ate inside and I know they did not have as much fun during the meal as we did. After lunch we went to the top of a hill overlooking the town where we ate to see the view and to visit a shrine there. Then it was time to head back to the ship. There had been two different times given as to when we were due back on board. We were running tight on the earlier one and Pablo was driving hard. We were just a little late, but as it turned out the later time was the correct one. Once again we had enjoyed an interesting day in a land far from home where we met good people who made us feel at home in their land. If we were to return to Montevideo and could choose our guide and driver Claudia and Pablo would be my first choice. *************************** From the Log of the Cruise: "Montevideo Saturday 10th February 2007 Throughout the night we continued on our northeasterly track towards the approaches for Montevideo. We entered the approach channel at 0443 before picking up a local pilot for our arrival through the narrow dredged and buoyed channel from Rada Exterior to the Antepuerto inner anchorage. Once inside the port we made our way in through the inner breakwaters towards the swinging basin. Inside the basin the captain swung the vessel round to starboard before thrusting us alongside with the aid of one tug at the aft end. Our first line was ashore at 0732 and shortly after 0800 we were granted clearance to allow passengers ashore. Due to a delay in the pilots arriving, we let go of our lines at 1742, when we moved off the berth, and thrusted our way out until we were lined up to pass through the breakwaters. Once clear of the outer breakwaters at 1807 we retrace our tracks back out of the port, through the buoyed channel under pilotage. Shortly before 2000 we altered course to starboard to enter the channel towards Buenos Aires. The estuary is very shallow and the routes between ports are all through approach channels, so we remained under pilotage for the remainder of the night."" Read and see more at: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/sjl901/1/1257219996/tpod.html Photos from this trip: 1. "Montevideo, Uruguay" 2. "The World" 3. "Theater in Montevideo." 4. "Plaza Independencia and the statue of Jose Gervasi" 5. "Palacio Salvo or Salvo Palace." 6. "Characters in the park." 7. "The Legistlative Palace." 8. "Inside the Legislative Palace." 9. "On the steps of the Legislative Palace." 10. "The Legislative Palace." 11. "Estadio Centenario Football Stadium" 12. "La Carreta Sculpture" 13. "Birds" 14. "Piria's castle, Piriapolis, Uruguay." See this TripWow and more at http://tripwow.tripadvisor.com/tripwow/ta-00d4-8516-4007?ytv4=1