Fri, Oct 27 – Montevideo, Uruguay was established in 1724 by the Spanish.  It has consistently been rated as having the highest quality of life of any city in Latin America and  by 2015 it has held this rank every year during the last decade even with a population of over two million.    It is is known for its tech and financial centers.  It is the hub of commerce and higher education in Uruguay as well as its chief port.

It has existed under many different flags starting with the Spanish Empire from 1724–1807, the British Empire in 1807, the Spanish Empire from 1807-1814, Río de la Plata from 1814-1815, the Federal League from 1815-1817, United Kingdom of PBA from 1817-1822, the Empire of Brazil from 1822–1828 and  Uruguay from 1828–present

Montevideo has a surprising mix of neighborhoods. The Ciudad Vieja is the colonial heart. Long neglected, it has recently undergone a renaissance, restaurants, bars and clubs are opening in historic buildings that have been carefully restored. It is a bustling city.

We were up and heading out shortly after the gangplank was put down.  It was quite overcast and dripping a little, but not much.  We had been told that this city was very walkable and that is what we planned on doing.  We picked up a city map and a walking guide and headed on out.  The city has about a two mile long walking tour.  About every four blocks or so you come to a local plaza/park with statues and fountains.  The buildings are gorgeous, a lot of mixtures of different architecture.  We found lots of little cafes (kind of reminded me of Paris in that respect) and just very comfortable to walk about.

We had completed the first plaza when I realized that I was going to need my wide angle, so we headed back to the ship to get it.  When we came back out it was pouring so we stopped at the local pharmacy/tourist shop and picked up a couple of hats so that the rain would stay off of our faces and continued on.  We had rain coats with hoods, so the with hat and coat our upper bodies were staying pretty dry; can't say the same for the waist down.  We had scoped out a cute café/bakery on our way to the ship so we stopped in their and had several cups of espresso waiting patiently for the rain to stop; the owner was super sweet and really seemed to like it when I took his picture.   It looked like it was going to let up so we wandered on; we had passed Jacquie and Don - they were doing a guided walking tour - and they looked as soaked as we felt.  Ugh.  After several  hours of this we finally gave it up.   We can't take pictures, and we are soaked to the bone, so we might as well head back

This was the first time on this whole trip that the rain has kept us from touring.  We have really been very, very lucky, so I guess we can't complain that one day was a bummer.  But I would love to go back and tour this place on a sunny day.  It really did remind me of Europe; much more so than Buenos Aires, which is called the Paris of the South.

Our bathroom came with a clothes line - pulled out from the top of the tub and connected to the shower head.  We hung up our clothes and headed up to the Lido deck for something warm.  I felt sorry for the room stewards, they were going to cleaning a lot of soggy rooms that night.