MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY

In Montevideo, Uruguay, folks say the name of their country something like “your-way.” The Your-wayans are wonderful. The country is progressive, beautiful and has a healthy economy. The tower of the legislative office building is held up by twenty-four (granite) women! Palacio Salvo fascinates. We visited the central market (terribly upscale), the Presidential Museum (the memorabilia of another country’s Presidents aren’t terribly fascinating), many monuments to national heroes, and a famous bar restaurant called Facal. After lunch, we joined a group of about twenty folks gathered on the sidewalk to watch street tango. After “Don Juan” whirled his partner around, he looked to the audience and held out his hands. One of our group from the Whisper joined him to dance. She was amazingly talented (and surprise – a professional tango dancer from Argentina) and delighted everyone but Don’s original partner. Finally, we trooped through the Carnaval Museum (costumes, costumes, costumes) and the Port Market. We are really looking forward to the two sea days ahead. But last night our suite was filled with sacks of parkas, boots, etc. and the lecture schedule today is filled with things like “Intro to Expeditions” so we imagine our attention will shift from empanadas to ice bergs.