February 8 – Montevideo, Uruguay

February 7, 2017 – At Sea
The ship was rolling pretty good today. I am not sure how high the swells were but we all looked funny when walking down hallways. I love how the rocking puts me to sleep at night. Just one more reason to cruise.
Today was the last day of lectures by the Antarctica team. They are getting off in Montevideo. Their lectures were all very interesting. Today we learned why whales can dive deep for a long time and not have the complications that other mammals (like man) have.
We got another pillow gift. It was a data bank for charging our phones and tablets. I may give mine to my room steward since I already have 3 at home.
February 8, 2017 – Montevideo, Uruguay
We docked at 10am and Linda and I were off the ship by 10:10am. We planned to go to the Carnaval Museum first but found out it didn’t open until 11am. We walked through the Mercado which is right outside the port. It is like a large beef barbecue food court. Grills are going in every corner with the smell of roasting beef permeating the air.
We made it out of the market and wandered around the old part of the city. We eventually got to the original gate to the old city. Across the street from the gate is Plaza Independencia. In the middle of the park is a statue of Jose Artigas. He is considered the father of Uruguay. Under the statue is a staircase that leads to a crypt where Artigas is buried, Two soldiers guard his grave. We found out that the changing of the guard would next take place at 1pm.
We walked to the Carnaval Museum. They have a variety of outfits that have been worn in the Carnaval parades.
After the museum we stopped for lunch. Linda had pizza and I had 2 empanadas. Both meals were very good. It was getting close to 12:45pm so we rushed back to the crypt to see the changing of the guard. It was very disappointing. Two soldiers marched in and switched places with the ones already there. That was it. We were expecting a little more.
We walked around a little more and then headed back to the ship.
Tomorrow we will be in Buenos Aires. I am going out to the Pampas for a gaucho show and beef barbeque. The last time Brian and I were here was 2008. I’ve decided to do things we didn’t do during any of our trips here.
We were given the Cruise Log for the first segment – Ft. Lauderdale to Buenos Aires. We have sailed 9736 nautical miles. The average daily fuel consumption is 16,000 gallons. We have 627 guests and a crew of 464.