Punta Del Este, Uruguay. Cycling to the wavy bridge. 4th March 2020.

It is a 1 1/2 drive from Montevideo to Punta de Este, but we sailed through the night, arriving at this glitzy, seaside resort early in the morning. 

This would be our first experience at getting off the ship with tender boats. It turned out to be a very easy experience. The ships life boats were used as the tenders to ferry us to a pier, it took about 20 mins and the seas were calm.

I had looked on Google maps and saw that close to the pier was the office of 'Bike Tours Uruguay'. We followed the instructions and walked along a road, past a new casino and very new, posh apartment blocks, we did this a few times as we could not find this office. Dejected, we resigned ourselves to a day on the beach and walked back to the pier. 

At the pier we saw a van with pictures of bikes on it so asked the driver if he knew where we could find the office we had been looking for. It turned out he had a van full of bikes to rent! He had a choice of normal bikes and E Bikes. I tried an E Bike. 

Most of Punta de Estes sites are very close to each other. First of all we cycled up to the Lighthouse.

Then to the monument to the Battle of the River Plate, this anchor is suppose to be from HMS Ajax? 

Cycling past some gorgeous beaches and apartments we went to see this beach sculpture. 

Then we headed out along the coast past many beaches, and beach clubs. 

There was a lot of building going on; some by well know people!

As well as apartment blocks, there were many spectacular houses being built, the area looked very affluent. 

We were heading for a bridge, the Punta de la Barra, or wavy bridge. I hoped we were going in the right direction! luckily we were. 

We cycled over the bridge- just to see what it felt like! 

Then enjoyed another Chivito from this van who was parked next to the bridge. It was really good. 

I was glad of the E-Bike on the way back as we cycled into the wind. Also, the bikes has to be back by 14.30. After returning the bikes we walked along the beach to a shack selling cool drinks and chilled out.  

We got the last tender to the Celebrity Eclipse at 17.30 and the ship was due to sail at 18.00. Tomorrow is our first sea day, and we are ready for it as we have been so busy. 

Tonight is the first 'formal night', although on Celebrity it is called this is called 'Evening Chic' and its smart but not really dinner jacket style- this suites us.

Since our first night in the main dining room, we have got to know our waiters, and they - amazingly have got to know us and our preferences, (two baskets of bread a dips!!). The food has also been really good. So I looked forward to tonight's meal and after dinner entertainment.