Montevideo, Uraguay

I've been interested in Uraguay since 7th grade (1976) when I read the book Alive:  The Story of the Andes Survivors.  It's the story of the Uraguayan Rugby team whose airplane crashed in the mountains and they decided to resort to cannabalism to survive, 16 of 45 people survived for 72 days until rescued.  It's the first book I ever read cover to cover in one sitting.  So, I was excited to go to Montevideo yesterday.  I did the usual city tour in the morning, not too exciting but something I like to do the first time I go to  new place.  In the afternoon I walked around the market right by the port which was much more fun!  I love going to markets, you never know what you might see!  The number one industry in Uraguay is beef.  The photo above shows just one of the many restaurants in the market grilling tons of meat!  It smelled wonderful and was fun to watch.  The shopping was better here than some of the other stops so far, but I'm still pacing myself for all the places ahead!  Of course I bought a few things including a leather backpack.  I've looked for one for years, but never found just the right thing before!  We left Uraguay last night and have been at sea today.  I saw some sea lions this afternoon and am hoping to start seeing whales soon.  We are supposed to get to the Faukland Islands on Saturday.  I'm hoping we get to go there.  Right now the ship is in "code red".  Evidently that happens when a certain number of people on the ship get the stomach flu.  It's my understanding that if we stay in code red that the Faukland Islands people won't let us get off the ship there...we could make the penguins sick and wipe them out.  I'm hoping people will recover and we will be able to go there, especially since I booked the most sought after shore excursion to go see the best penguin place!  I'll let you know what happens Saturday...