We have been on a number of river cruises, admittedly in Europe, but this too has been a river cruise – after all, we went 900 miles up the Amazon River!  Going 900 miles was only about half way but the ship really couldn’t go any further.  Along the way we stopped at several ports but this will focus on Manaus – the City that Rubber Built.  It is the heart of the Amazonia and the cultural center of the upper Amazon region and an important river port with floating docks that can accommodate ocean going vessels including cruise ships. Surrounded by jungle, Manaus is the only major city in a 600-mile radius.

The city was founded in 1669 as the Fort of São José do Rio Negro at what is now the point where the Solimões and the Rio Negro rivers join becoming the Amazon River.  The city was formalized in 1848 with the final name of Manaus – named for the indigenous Manaós peoples who originally lived in the area.

Manaus was at the center of the Amazon region’s rubber boom during the late 19th century. For a time, it was “one of the gaudiest cities of the world”.  Historian Robin Furneaux wrote of this period, “No extravagance, however absurd, deterred” the rubber barons. “If one rubber baron bought a vast yacht, another would install a tame lion in his villa, and a third would water his horse on champagne.”   

Therefore, the baron’s idea was to build a theater, not a simple concert hall, but a majestic building that would bring Manaus closer to a European capital like Paris.  To carry out the work, not only professionals such as architects, builders, painters and sculptors were brought from Europe, but also various materials: Carrara marble, Murano chandeliers, pieces of worked iron from England and tiles from France. The construction started in 1881 and was completed in 1886.

During the rubber years, the monied class of the city built a grand opera house, with vast domes and gilded balconies using marble, glass, and crystal, imported from Europe. The construction of a theater became a requirement of that region, as it began to experience unprecedented economic and cultural growth due to the global interest in the sap of rubber trees in the Amazon rainforest. It was an elite theater for the wealthy society rubber had created.  

When the seeds of the rubber tree were smuggled out of the Amazon region and cultivated on plantations in Southeast Asia, Brazil and Peru lost their monopoly on the rubber production. The abrupt end of the rubber boom resulted in many people leaving its major cities, and Manaus fell into poverty and the opera house, called the Teatro Amazonas, was effectively closed for most of the 20th Century.  After a gap of almost 90 years, and a major restoration in 1997, the Opera House was re-opened and has continued to thrive.  Touring  the place, the opulence that was used for the building is apparent on every level.  

Manaus is a very large city but as with all large cities there are haves and have nots.  When we wandered around on shore, our first day in port, we walked through a number of small market areas and shops.  There was a surprising range of shops available –craft shops with thousands of handicraft items (beads being a big deal) to shoes, electronics, appliances and other commodities around.  There were also a number of open-air stalls with hand craft items available.

Meeting of the Waters – where the two rivers, Solimões and Rio Negro join, there is a distinct demarcation between the two.  The Rio Negro shows up as a clear black water while the Solimões is a muddy brown.  The flow (current) and the bio ph of the two rivers is distinctly different resulting in a clear separation between them as they flow together.  It takes several miles for them to finally mix – with the muddy brown becoming the characteristic of the Amazon River.  

The month of March is the rainiest month of the year but our trip was blessed with good weather the entire time.  However, with the amount of rain that occurs, both locally and up river, the level of the water rises some 25 to 30 feet!  Homes along the way either are built on stilts or built to float.  Those that are floating use balsa wood logs as their foundation.  These logs, some 3 or 4 feet in diameter will last a very long time – some as long as 50 years.  So, as the water rises so does your house.  An added benefit of having a floating house is that if you don’t like your neighbors you can easily move!

As the area is located along the equator, the temperature doesn’t fluctuate very much.  There are only two seasons – hot and hotter.  

Additionally, there clearly is an abundance of growth – things grow very quickly and become huge.  An example is the giant Lilly Pads we came through along the way.  A surprise was seeing corn growing and to learn it is one of the major exports of the area.  Strange place for sure.

Of course, there was some shopping available after our tour.

Our visit to Manaus was for a couple of days and quite enjoyable.  

In the middle of the 16^th Century, a Spanish conquistador Francisco de Orellana became the first European to sail the Amazon River travelling most of its length.  Legend has it that he battled 

fierce female warriors “doing as much fighting as ten men”.  He named the river “Amazonas”, after the Greek myth of warrior women.  Our journey along the river will cover almost 900 miles, or about half the full length of this might river.  

Today this is one of the widest and deepest rivers in the world.  In some places, the river is almost 300 feet deep and 50 miles wide.  The River begins as hundreds of tiny streams high in the Andes Mountain.  Some streams start less than 100 hundred miles from the Pacific Ocean but due to the Andes Mountains, they are forced to flow East to the Atlantic.  Tributaries continually merge and form ever larger streams and rivers.

Our journey up the river passes by a handful of small villages and a couple of large cities.  Where there are small settlements, these are usually the result of indigenous peoples who have staked a claim and just not wanted to move away.  The large cities are the result of large tracks of land that have been cleared making it possible to have large buildings and industry.  However, it is critical to note that the River can easily rise over 30 feet in the rainy season thus causing flooding if the areas are not properly constructed.

We stopped in the village of Boca Da Valeria – it has a population of between 75 and 100 and of course we far exceeded the local population by showing up.

The meeting of two rivers – merging streams the Rio Solimões and the Rio Negro at Manaus is where the Amazon formally begins the journey to the Atlantic Ocean.  

Where these two rivers meet, there is a significant color difference between them and this color change is maintained for many miles before the two river flows combine.  This “meeting of the rivers” is a celebrated trip which we will be taking in several days.  

The river is so deep that some large ships travel quite far upriver.  Oceangoing ships regularly visit Manaus, nearly 1,000 miles upstream.  

Our ship will be docked in Manaus for a couple of days along with lots of container ships and other large ocean-going vessels.  A bunch of shallow draft floating hotels can reach as far upriver as Iquitos Peru – another 750 miles or more – which would be an interesting adventure for sure.  

As the Amazon nears the eastern coast, the river becomes a tangled network of tributaries.  Any delta that the Amazon River ever had no longer exists as the currents in the Atlantic keep the outflow moving.  Instead, the river enters the Atlantic in a broad estuary 150 miles wide.  The drainage basin has gradually sloping terrain – the river falls about 2 inches for every mile or so and there are ocean tides that effect the river and its banks very far upstream

The Amazon Rainforest has the highest biodiversity of any region in the world.  New species of plants and animals are continually being discovered.  Rainforest structure consists of various levels – emergent, canopy, understory, shrub and ground layers.  The canopy itself can be more than 100 – 130 feet above the forest floor.  Below the canopy ceiling there are often multiple levels.  

The lowest part of the canopy may be 5 to 20 feet above the floor.  Walking through a rain forest isn’t a problem – you’re not swinging a machete to clear a path, that would be in a jungle environment.  

The Rainforest is mostly clear at ground level and trees are buttressed by massive root system to stabilize it in the soft shallow forest soil.

The Amazon Rainforest is home to at least 427 mammal species, 1,300 bird species, 378 species of reptiles and more than 400 species of amphibians.  The number of insects is not known – way too many to count.  One in 10 known species in the world lives in the Amazon rainforest.  

Our adventure, along the Amazon River, is the better part of a full week with stops at major ports and small villages.  I must give credit to Capt. Tom Anderson for his various enrichment talks during the cruise. Much of the information, and pictures, about the Amazon came from his talks. There is really something to be said about a visit to this part of the world – it really does bring you close to nature 

Construction of Marina began in August 2008 in Genoa Italy and was completed and placed in service in January 2011.  Coming in at 66,000 tons carrying 1,250 guests, it is a wonderful place to call home during our month-long voyage.   

Once we got on board, we found our way to our cabin, started to put stuff away and then wandered around to get some feel of the place.    

While wandering around I saw this picture of Mary Hart, from Entertainment Tonight Fame, she is the godmother of Marina.

There is a fitness center (yes, I’ve actually seen it!), a full spa treatment facility (Janeen has already had a mani-pedi) and various pools to relax in.  As yet we haven’t donned our bathing suits, but there is still time for sure.  There is a miniature golf course, shuffle board, paddle tennis, card games, bean bag toss along with various quiz events and scavenger hunt opportunities too.  Needless to say, lots of other things to occupy your time.  In the evenings there is usually some sort of diversion in the Marina Lounge – singers, dancers, magic shows and entertainment.  Yes, there is a casino but can only be open when we are out cruising the South Atlantic (not that I need to go in and lose any money).

One of the first enrichment programs we attended was by Captain Tom Anderson (USN Retired) in the Marina Lounge. He speaks periodically over the cruise.  The basic premise of his presentation was how much the geography of South America has influenced development.  For example, on the west coast, Chile is bounded by the Andes which run north to south and make it virtually impossible to cross west to east between Chile and Argentina.  

Thus, concentration of development is therefore restricted to the coastline.  Similar geography on the eastern side of the continent exists with mountains which restricted the expansion of various cities.  Rio de Janeiro is a good example.  Restricted on the west by mountains, the city is locked in, making expansion of the city virtually impossible.  These cities, while strong and doing well, are not really interlinked, thus making the transportation of goods and services difficult.  It was an interesting perspective of how South American has not had the kind of development similar to North America.  

As Oceania makes a big deal about it having “The Finest Cuisine at Sea” there are a variety of culinary opportunities – 4 specialty restaurants along with cooking classes.  Recently we participated in one of the cooking classes – “Pucker Up: Love and Lemons”.  

Joining with 24 fellow passengers we met in the Culinary Center with Chef Leah and began our preparations for a limoncello cake, risotto and escalloped chicken with capers and preserved lemon.  Risotto was prepared in stages teaching us the “secret” of creamy rice which absorbs the added flavorings as it slowly releases the starch crema.  We added lemon zest, preserved lemon (instead of salt) fresh peas and grated parmesan to our final dish. Meanwhile, our scone-like cakes were baking filled with air pockets and crunchy outer layer to absorb the lemon simple syrup later.  

Sou chefs measured the oils into our skillets and presented us with marinated, pre breaded chicken cutlets which we browned (80/20) removed to plate and fried capers to add to the plate before squeezing lemon juice over the meat.  Leah shared limoncello and sparkling wine flutes to drink with our chicken and risotto. The cakes having soaked up the syrup, we were ready to top them with lemon gelato prepared for us by sou chef Michelle. Recipe sheets were given out to make notes on for preparing at home.

On our second night, on the ship, it was Janeen’s birthday and we celebrated at the French specialty Restaurant – Jacques.  

This was a wonderful meal with truly a French character.  At the end of the meal, instead of offering us dessert, the staff arrived with a birthday cake for Janeen and proceeded to sing the Happy Birthday Song!  It was quite a wonderful surprise.

The Grand Dining Room is large with views off the stern of the ship.  

We have eaten there several times and always had attentive service and good food.  They do have a dress code – well, it is really ‘resort casual’,  no sandals for men.  The Terrace Dining Room is a buffet style but with lots of choices and attentive staff.  The do make a point that the guest doesn’t reach for the food, the staff places it on the plate for you.  Another dining option is Waves, located next to the pool on the 12^th deck, it offers burgers to order and other taste treats including ice cream and smoothies.  However, the place we go first, in the morning, and back throughout the day, is Baristas.  

This is first a coffee bar and second (later in the day) a drinks bar.  Pablo, who anchors the place, makes really nice lattes and cappuccinos to order.  

Of course, there is a library cozy with chairs to browse with lots of books, a puzzle table. .  Hidden away are various places to sit and read, relax and just take in the day.  At the top of the forward part of the ship is Horizons – with sweeping views ahead and a full-service bar.  It is also the spot for the Captain’s introduction of his team on one of the first nights.

Of course, there are Future Cruise Consultants on board ready to book your next adventure.  Since I already knew I was going to do that, I wandered in to meet with Cecelia to discuss what options there would be.  

She put together a nice package and helped us to book our shore excursions too.   We will be back on- board Marina in October for a Mediterranean adventure starting in Malta visiting Montenegro, Croatia, Greece and ending in Rome Italy.  Yes, there will be a blog when this happens.

There is lots more to come about the our adventure in South America – we still have another 2 weeks to go!

Founded in 1565 by the Portuguese, Rio de Janeiro was a domain of the Portuguese Empire. In 1763, it became the capital of the State of Brazil, and in 1808, the Portuguese Royal Court moved to Brazil, Rio de Janeiro became the seat of the court of Queen Maria I of Portugal. She subsequently, under the leadership of her son the prince regent John VI of Portugal, raised Brazil to the dignity of a kingdom, within the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil. Rio remained as the capital of the pluricontinental monarchy until 1822, when the Brazilian War of Independence began. Rio de Janeiro   served as the capital of the independent monarchy, the Empire of Brazil, until 1889, and then the capital of a republican Brazil until 1960 when the capital was transferred to Brasília.

Over the years we have all heard about Rio de Janeiro what with the beautiful beaches, the annual Carnival and of course the statue – Christ the Redeemer on the mountaintop.   Our visit was only for a day and we had booked a jeep tour taking us to Tijuca National Park and the Botanical Garden along with a motor trip through the City, past stadiums used for the 2016 Summer Olympics and along the vast beaches.

The Tijuca National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is an urban national park in the mountains that ring the city of Rio de Janeiro. The park is part of the Atlantic Forest Biosphere Preserve, and claims to be the world’s largest urban forest covering some 15.28 square miles.  With several beautiful waterfalls and an abundance of birds and other wildlife it was a beautiful spot to visit. The mountain air and the sounds of nature filled Janeen with good chi, she said. 

The views during our visit to the Tijuca National Park were wonderful. It truly was a beautiful day to visit this area of Rio.

We stopped at the Chinese Overlook – so named in order to honor the Chinese who brought the cultivation of tea to Brazil in the nineteenth century.  The gazebo was built in the early 1900’s in an oriental style and is strategically located in a clearing some 1250 feet high above the City.

While we were off “jeeping”, Sally was taking the Sugerloaf Mountain Cable Car.  The Cable Car is said to be the third-oldest cable car and goes to the top of the 1300 feet high mountain.  She took a couple of nice shots for sure.

Our adventure in Rio was only one day, there is so many beautiful pictures that I will continue our trip on the next blog.  

Once we left the Tijuca National Park we headed towards the Botanical Gardens.  As I may have mentioned in the past, whenever there is a Garden option for a tour, I have to sign us up as Janeen LOVES to visit gardens.  This place did not disappoint.

Founded in the early 1800’s the garden was opened to the public in 1822.  Covering about 350 acres, the park lies at the foot of the Corovado Mountain and contains more than 6,000 different species of tropical and subtropical plants and trees including 900 varieties of palm trees (no, I didn’t count all the ones we saw but we did see a lot of them).  With all the plants, naturally there are a bunch of birds – some 140 species of birds call the place home.  

Our guide seemed to know a lot about virtually everything in the Park and kept picking fruit off the various plants for us to sample.  

Back in the jeep we headed towards the water and drove past some of the most famous beaches in the world.  Sure, everyone has heard of Copacabana and Ipanema but there are several others of note – Joatinga, Barra da Tijuca and Flamengo to name a few.  

Many areas of the beaches are blocked off by the Hotels across the street and have umbrella’s ready for their guests, plus of course services available.  One of the interesting things we saw was the use of watering hoses to keep a pathway cool for walking from the pavement to the water.  

While I don’t normally do this, I would suggest reaching out to his tour company Jeep Tour Brasil should you see yourself in Rio de Janeiro 

Our time in Rio was limited but we packed a lot of sigh seeing into our day for sure. There is a good deal of wealth in the city but an equal amount of poverty too making the contrast between sections of the city very apparent. Given the opportunity we would certainly return to this place for more exploration.

Armação dos Búzios (or Búzios) was our stop on day 10 along our adventure.  Búzios is a Brazilian resort set on an ocean peninsula east of Rio de Janeiro. It’s known as an upscale vacation destination with numerous beaches. However, it has a long history going back to 1000 CE when the first indigenous population settled and created a small community.  In the 16^thcentury, the first Europeans arrived.  The next several hundred years had fisherman, pirates, African slaves, and various Porgugues, French, English, Spanish making inroads to the area.

Whales were also hunted to extract their oil, which was used both for lighting the city of Rio de Janeiro and for export. The bones of the captured animals were buried on a beach located next to Praia da Armação and has become one of the most famous beaches in Búzios today. Later, the area was used for farming and cattle raising as fishing has been prohibited on this stretch of coast. After prohibition ended, the local economy remained based on fishing and small-scale agriculture for a long period, until the middle of the 20th century when a famous actress, model and activist who started her career as a model, Brigitte Bardot took refuge in Búzios to get away from all the paparazzi who followed her everywhere.  

Búzios was a perfect spot to get away from them and while she had a very enjoyable stay, her presence soon spread around the world and tourism began to become the most important economic activity in the region.

Today Búzios has a stable population of about 30,000 but during summer the population more than triples.  It’s not easy to get to the area as you have to fly into Rio De Janeiro and transfer to the city. 

 Our ship was anchored off the city so our first views were of the beach areas and lovely city as it moved up the hillside.  Once ashore, we joined our tour group for a bus tour of the area with stops at various pictures spots and lots of information from our guide as we travelled along.

Santos, our port of call on day seven.  As we cruised into the dock, it was very clear this is a port with lots of shipping going on.  There were a number of freight terminals, what appeared to be grain towers and lots of ships waiting to get in and unload. 

Founded in 1546 by the Portuguese nobleman Brás Cubas, it is located mostly on the island of São Vicente, which is harbor to both the city of Santos and the city of São Vicente, and partially on the mainland. It has a population is 433,656.  

Before we event started our scheduled adventure, which was after lunch, we decided to go ashore and take the shuttle bus to the Praiamar Mall.  This shopping mall is huge and not unlike any other big mall we have been in over the years.  

Of course, there was a Starbucks and a Calvin Klein, Sleep Doctor, IPlace (really an Apple store) Lacoste, Levis and many more.  Our goal was to find some band aides for Janeen and a computer cable for David.   Without a location map and anyone speaking English it was a challenge but we were able to accomplish both tasks and get back to the Ship for lunch.  

After lunch we walked of the ship, found our way through the dockside throng of people and finally boarded our bus for the afternoon excursion.  Our guide Bianca gave some highlights about the city – seems all the grain silos we could see were for soy beans and a very large refrigerated building was for orange juice!  Santos is one of the largest shipping ports for coffee and there is a long history of coffee production and sales going back several hundred years.  The orange juice just struck me as being strange – large tanker trucks and ships are specifically designed to support the transportation of this juice from inland to the harbor.

Our first stop was to the Coffee Museum.  The Coffee Museum is housed in what used to be the Coffee Stock Exchange, where Brazilian coffee was weighed and traded before being sent through the Santos Port and overseas.  

The museum was Inaugurated in 1998 and quickly became one of the main touristic attractions of the City.  The concept was to preserve and make known the history of coffee in Brazil and in the world. Originally the building was the main auction house for coffee beans that would be shipped around the world.  

The evolution of the coffee culture and the political, economic and cultural development of the country are closely connected to coffee since the second half of the 18th century and up to current time.  Our group of  explored the  building at our leisure and of course had the opportunity to purchase coffee and other items at the end of the tour.

After the Coffee Museum, we walked through the old section of the City – many of the buildings having been abandoned and left to ruin – while others are being restored maintaining the historic fronts and building all new structures inside.  Our next stop was The Pele Museum.

One of the most highly regarded football players (soccer) know around the world is Pele.  It seems he has a connection to Santos and said if they (the city) would create a museum in his honor, he would donate all of his vast collection of all things football.  Opened in 2014, the site aims to highlight the success and the memory of the ” king of football.” For this, it exhibits a collection of items that tell Pele’s history.  The museum is filled with photos and various trophies and cups of the football star.  

After our visit to the Pele Museum we went to the botanical gardens which are located in the center of Santos.  This botanical garden covers more than 22 acres and has more than 300 catalogued plant species, divided into 20 botanical collections, such as Amazon and Atlantic Forest, hardwood, 65 species of palm trees and endangered species.  Work on the park began in 1925 in the old Municipal Nursery Gardens, located beside Santa Casa hospital, where City Hall gardeners planted the first seedlings and cuttings. In 1973, this work began to be carried out in the current grounds, in Bom Retiro, which then became the Botanical Gardens in 1994, when it started to offer conservation programs, especially for native Atlantic Forest species.  

Along with the various plants, there were a number of enclosures of various animals. While there were not many orchids in bloom, we did find a couple that were very beautiful.  

On the way back to the ship, we drove by the vast beach area – covering some 3 or 4 miles with various parks and biking paths.   According to the Guinness Book, Santos has the longest beach garden in the world.  It was a beautiful day and there were lots of people enjoying the beach and the various attractions along the way. During the summer season, Santos population increases by thousands because of their beautiful, well maintained beaches.

After our fun filled adventure in Montevideo, we sailed overnight to Punta Del Este – the final port for Uruguay.  Punta del Este is a seaside city and peninsula that started as a small town, it later became internationally known as a resort for the Latin and North American jet set and tourists. The city has been referred to as “the Monaco of the South”, “The Pearl of the Atlantic”, “the Hamptons of South America”, “the Miami Beach of South America”, or “the St. Tropez of South America”.  Surrounded by mountains, the city is built along the coastline with many tall buildings.

The beaches are said to be some of the best in the world with lovely sand and gentle breezes.  Generally, a resort town, it has several film festivals, wonderful restaurants and a growing art colony.   

We didn’t make it ashore here – way too much relaxing happening on board the ship.

Itajaí was our first port of call in Brazil. The city was founded on June 15, 1860, but the colonization of Itajaí had started in 1658 when the Paulista João Dias D’Arzão arrived in the region. In 1750, Portuguese colonists coming from Madeira and the Azores made this region their home. By 1823 it became a prominent region for Portuguese settlers and, at the end of the 19th century, received a great number of German immigrants.   Unfortunately, the seas were rough (I could certainly agree, as sleeping was less than wonderful due to the conditions) and as we had to use the tenders to go to shore ,the decision was made by the Captain that there would be no shore excursions.  A little disappointing as I had been looking forward to visiting the Bavarian Biergaten Pavillion where the biggest annual beer festival outside Germany happens every year.  

However, we had to stick around for several hours as everyone’s passports had to be checked and stamped.  After getting all the required clearances, the ship continued on to our next port – São Francisco do Sul.

São Francisco do Sul is another village founded by the Portuguese (1658) and has become quite an important part of the Brazilian infrastructure. It provides large bulk shipping facilities and is served by the major container shipping lines connecting with the South American east and west coasts, Africa, Asia, North and Central America, the Caribbean and Europe.  However, as we arrived on a Sunday there wasn’t much happening and we had not signed on for any excursions.  The 30 minute tender ride was the most exciting excursion of the day.

 

After our tour of Buenos Aires, and now onboard the ship, we moved into our cabin and immediately made-a-mess of the place.  Clearly it doesn’t take me long to spread out over every available surface.  However, once most of our stuff was put away, we gathered with the Bells and had a dinner at the Terrance Café.  Once back to our cabin we finished unpacking and put together our first load of laundry – as the clothing we had been wearing on the Iguazu Falls adventure never dried, and then, early bed.

While we slept, the ship headed out the Rio de la Plata estuary for Montevideo. Montevideo is the capital and largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2011 census, the city proper has a population of 1,319,108 (about one-third of the country’s total population) in an area of 78 sq miles. Montevideo is situated on the southern coast of the country, on the northeastern bank of the Río de la Plata.

A Portuguese garrison was established in 1723 near the place which is the city of Montevideo. The Portuguese garrison was expelled in February 1724 by a Spanish soldier, Bruno Mauricio de Zabala, as a strategic move amidst the Spanish-Portuguese dispute over the platine region. There is no official document establishing the foundation of the city, but the “Diario” of Bruno Mauricio de Zabala officially mentions the date of 24th of December of 1726 as the foundation, corroborated by witnesses. The complete independence from Buenos Aires as a real city was not reached until the 1st of January of 1730. Montevideo was also under brief British rule in 1807, but eventually the city was retaken by Spanish criollos who defeated the British invasions of the River Plata. Montevideo is the seat of the administrative headquarters of Mercosur and ALADI, Latin America’s leading trade blocs, a position that entailed comparisons to the role of Brussels in Europe.

The city has preserved European architecture, being considered one of the cities with the most art deco influence. It is the hub of commerce and higher education in Uruguay as well as its chief port. The city is also the financial hub of Uruguay and the cultural anchor of a metropolitan area with a population of around 2 million.

Our first adventure of the day, City Landmarks, Wine & Dance Performance, was via bus to a winery.   Upon arrival in the Cuchilla Pereira wine district, we stopped at Bodega Spinoglio.

  This winery is currently being operated by the 3^rd or 4^th generation of the family who are working towards improving the overall quality of the product and enhancing the property.  Now we have been to a lot of wineries in our travels and this was similar in design and character to many we have visited.  Of course, they had a number of older pieces of equipment on display and some interesting concrete/stone wine vats (that are now being turned into B&B style bedrooms). 

Situated with lots of vines around the Bodega, we were first offered a lovely chardonnay as a refreshing treat upon arrival.

Once we had all gathered together, our guide gave a quick tour of the vineyard and brought us into one of the large rooms where we took our seats around various tables. 

Then began another Tango presentation along with various wines and tasty snacks!  It was a authentic and interactive presentation and the wines were quite good.  They have a number of varieties including Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Sauvignon Blanc and Tannat.  

It was an interesting presentation of dance, wine and snacks.  Naturally, once all the entertainment was complete there was an opportunity to buy a bottle or two to take home.

Once back on the bus, we headed back into town and stopped in the main square to view the various significant buildings and afterwards did a drive through several significant districts of the city.  As we took in the key sights during our panoramic drive through downtown, we saw a number of landmarks including the Solis Theatre, Legislative Palace, historic Centenario Stadium (The stadium was built between 1929 and 1930 to host the inaugural 1930 FIFA World Cup).  

An impressive equestrian statue of José Gervasio Artigas , The Father of Uruguay , was one of the most significant ‘freedom fighters’ during Uruguay’s struggle for independence.   

Once back on board the ship, we relaxed for a bit and then met up with Sally and Jim at one of the specialty restaurants on board, Jacques – a French themed eatery.  

The dinner was clearly set to celebrate Janeen’s birthday with all the trimmings and attention to her needs as one could hope.  For dessert, a special cake had been ordered (thanks to Jessica our travel advisor!) which came as a wonderful surprise at the end of dinner – along with a rousing chorus of Happy Birthday to You sung by the wait staff. This was a lovely reminder of the song in German, Spanish and English which our grand girls serenaded Janeen earlier.  

When we returned to our cabin, after dinner, another birthday surprise greeted Janeen with balloons and ‘towel’ art on the bed.  All-in-all a very nice day to celebrate Janeen’s birthday.

While we had spent the previous night in Buenos Aires, we really didn’t tour much beyond the bus ride from the airport.  Buenos Aires is the capital city of Argentina having gained independence from Spain in the early 1800’s.  It is the largest city in Argentina, and has become quite cosmopolitan. Its center is the Plaza de Mayo, which is lined with stately 19th-century buildings including Casa Rosada, the iconic, balconied presidential palace (from which Eve Perón would wave to the people below). Other major attractions include Teatro Colón, a grand 1908 opera house with nearly 2,500 seats, and the modern MALBA museum, displaying Latin American art. 

It is known for its preserved eclectic European architecture and rich cultural life.  It is a multicultural city that is home to multiple ethnic and religious groups, contributing to its culture as well as to the dialect spoken in the city and in some other parts of the country. This is because since the 19th century, the city, and the country in general, has been a major recipient of millions of immigrants from all over the world, making it a melting pot where several ethnic groups live together. Thus, Buenos Aires is considered one of the most diverse cities of the Americas.

The following morning, back on the bus for a highlight tour of Buenos Aires, our first stop was to visit The La Recoleta Cemetery.  This cemetery holds the remains of many notable people including, several presidents of Argentina, Nobel Prize winners and lots of others. However, the tomb that is visited the most often, is for Eva Perón, the former first Lady of Argentina who died in 1952.   Her memorial isn’t grand or excessive but part of a Duarte family vault within the cemetery. She was revered by the lower economic classes and helped enact a number of reforms and policies to their benefit.  She also helped bring about the passage of Argentina’s women’s suffrage law. 

 There are many elaborate marble mausoleums, decorated with statues in a variety of architectural styles, including the honeymoon bride.  The Bride died while on her honeymoon and this was done to memorialize her for all time.

After the visit to the cemetery, we stopped for a coffee and pastry at La Biela – a historic eatery specializing in salads, sandwiches & classic Argentinean mains.  It was a nice stop under the old trees with delicious croissants. 

From there onto the bus for more highlights of the city.  Our first stop was at ‎Plaza de Mayo to view the various buildings including the presidential palace and Metropolitan Cathedral of Buenos Aires.  

If you look closely, below the horse statue there are hundreds of stones. These were placed there by loved ones as remembrance of those who died during the Pandemic.

You may recall that this was the home church for Pope Francis – who was the Archbishop of Buenos Aires prior to his elevation to Pope. 

After walking around and taking in the sites, went to La Ventana for lunch and a Tango Show.   The La Ventana is clearly the place to go in Buenos Aires to see a tango show. The cellar restaurant was packed to capacity with long family style tables (although we scored a table for four) and waitstaff juggled pasta, beef or chicken brought from stacking carriers. A dulce de leche was finished just as the lights dimmed and the curtain to the side opened on a grand piano, double bass, guitar and an accordion like instrument which set the rhythm for the dancers. Three pairs of dancers appeared with opening moves, gliding and twisting. When the tango singer set the mood, one couple at a time began their play of seductive moves to the music. 

Our guide, Sol, said that the beginnings of the tango are thought to have been brought over by African slaves, and then adapted to the favelas and brothels of the city. The arms and legs of the dancers twist and turn spin and kick as they glide together across the floor.  

 At the sound of drums, El Gaucho came on stage stamping his heels and eventually, both he and his companion Gaucha swung the bolos in rapid wheels, tapping the floor in a rhythm with the drums.

A solo male singer shared the songs of the barrios, and a single spotlighted woman shared “don’t cry for me Argentina” in Spanish. 

After the show, we motored around looking at various neighborhoods before heading to the harbor to board our ship, Oceana Marina!