Grand South America & Antarctica Voyage, Montevideo, Uruguay... Part 1 of 2

I was up to take sail-in pictures very early this morning... Our guide Gonzalo Mara and driver Salvatore met us at the port entrance gate. Ann, Cathy and I were in Montevideo in 2020 and had the same guide. We started our tour of Montevideo in the old city, with its charming colonial buildings and architecture. Since we had toured with Gonzalo previously, he wanted to change things up for us and show us some different things…he knew our desire to capture street art so early in the tour we focused on some street art. Our first stop was the Zabala Square in the heart of the old city, with a fountain and flowers of the park that was previously an old fort and named after a Spanish soldier, Bruno Mauricio de Zabala who discovered the area. From here we visited the National Post Office Tower and museum, a stunning building. We walked along Sarandi Street, the pedestrian mall to Constitution Square to see the beautiful neoclassical Metropolitan Cathedral and Old Town Hall. Our next stop was Independence Square, a prominent plaza with a statue at its center of General Artigas, the father of Uruguay. Prior to visiting the square, we went to the Radision Hotel adjacent to Independence Square for a break. Gonzales took us to the 25th Floor of the hotel to use the facilities and to our surprise he was privy to a boardroom overlooking the city where we were able to capture some great photos of the city scape and the Zaandam. We went underneath Independence Square statue to visit the mausoleum of Artigas. Once above ground there was a ceremony with honor guards recognizing Palestine. We had a great view of the many prominent buildings facing the square including the stunning Salvo Palace, Solis Theatre and the Presidential Tower. We entered Sarandi Street via the original City Gate Entrance from Independence Square. Making our way to the glass facade former medical building now known as the Mas Puro Bookstore we had a quick look around. Next, we went to Liberty Square with Supreme Court of Justice, a stunning building, followed by the Legislative Palace (Congress). We stopped at the Agricultural Market for a walk around and did some shopping and decided to have lunch. Lunch was delicious…we had Empanadas and Provoleta, grilled provolone cheese. Leaving the market, we went to the Juan Blanes Art Museum which was under renovation. In the backyard of the art museum was the Japanese garden of Montevideo. I have been to a number of Japanese gardens in my travels and this garden was lovely. A beautiful spot filled with bamboo trees, in bloom cherry blossoms, blended with Uruguayan national trees such as Ceibo. Oh yeah, also caught a bird or two.  A great stop! Our next stop was the first red church I have ever seen, the beautiful Church of the Hill of Victory. Returning to the port we drove along the Montevideo seafront known as La Rambla past to the Holocaust Memorial, Quarries of Rodo Park and the Montevideo Sign...Our driver and guide dropped us in the El Mercado Del Puerto (Port Market) area before returning to the ship. It was a great day and the weather turned out to be perfect. Thank you again Gonzalo for a wonderful tour and day in Montevideo.