Montevideo - Colonia Del Sacramento

     Up early this morning! Our tour met at 7:45! Our tour took us to Colonia Del Sacramento which was a 2 ½ hour bus ride each was. It is where the “original” settlement of the area took place. It had a fortified wall although most of it had been rebuilt in recent years. There was 1 rebuilt gate. The rest of this town had cobblestone streets and many old houses.   

Our guide, who spoke very good English, cond

Old Stree In Sacramento

ucted a very nice tour. She said that she had done this tour many times and was very familiar with the old town. There was influence from both the Spanish and Portuguese settlers. Most of the settlement started as early as the 1790's. The streets were built with a “v” in the middle to allow rain water to drain away from the houses. Many of the houses (buildings) now contain restaurants and artisan shops. Surprisingly there were very few tacky souvenirs shops. The church was very austere. It had been rebuilt after a fire ignited some

powder kegs that were hidden in the church. 

Old Lighthouse

Apparently the priest supported the revolution at that time. One of the most interesting sites was an old Ford coupe that has been converted into a 2 person table for a restaurant. Ruins of the military square, lighthouse, governor's house, etc. were scattered among the remaining structures.

    Lunch was served at nice restaurant in the main square. Wine was provided with the meal It was a local wine but it was not very good. The white was better than the red. The end of the meal marked the end of the tour except for the 2 ½ hour ride back to the ship. After the wine the bus was very quiet! I think they served the wine so that we would all sleep on the way back! 

Dinner In An Old Ford

We arrived just as they were getting ready to sail. We are just across the Plate River from Buenos Aires but it will be a long slow trip to the next port.

    We went to a magic show put on by a magician from Spain named Hector. It was very good. He did he card tricks, cutting the rope, girl in the box, floating table etc. Dinner was excellent again. After dinner, we were able to walk on deck as the temperatures are very summer like.

Humidity is running around 100%. We were ready for bed after the early morning

Old Wall

and long bus ride. Tomorrow is our last full day of the cruise. We do have a late morning tour scheduled.