Montevideo, Cruise ship stop, 3rd March 2021

During the night, the Celebrity Eclipse had crossed the Rio de la Plata to arrive in the city of Montevideo, Uruguay. Its a very short journey- if we had missed our sailing we could have crossed the river by a ferry in 2 hours and 15 mins and got on board!

We woke to a view of the docks, the city of Montevideo is a very easy walk from the docks- and that's what we did. 

We were off the ship by 09.00 and after crossing a very busy, dangerous road walked up the quaint, cobbled streets towards the Plaza Zabala. The statue in the park had dedications to farm workers and Gauchos, not something you see very often. 

The ships walking tours were already in the park with the guides. Continuing along the streets we ended up by the Old City Gate and could see the Palacio Salvo. 

We were walking to the Museum of the Gaucho, it is located in a former place on 18 Av de Juilo. But when we got to it there was a small note on the door stating it was closed for renovation. 

We went back down to the Market del Puerto, and looked at all the amazing food being prepared. 

Next stop was The Orange Bike Company, easy to spot as there are lots of orange bikes parked outside the shop. We hired to old, rickety orange bikes for the day. 

The Rambla de Montevideo is flat and you can ride along away from the traffic.

We stopped at the Bar Tinkal for a Chivito, its a simple place with red plastic chairs and tables, a sea view and gorgeous Chivitos, basically a steak, bacon, egg and salad sandwich. 

We had a great day out on the orange bikes. As Montevideo is quite flat it was easy going, even with the old bikes. We went up as far Playa La Roncaolera. Even though the Orange Bikes were old, they were good value for money and the lady in the shop was really helpful, advising us where to go and giving us maps.

We passed the market again and I wished we had have had the time to sample the food at the market but The Celebrity Eclipse was due to leave at 19.00, so we were back on board by 18.45.

I had not had any expectations of Montevideo, but had really enjoyed the day, and as usual a port stop was to short and left me wanting to explore more of the city and Uruguay.