Historical/Background Info:
Rio Grande means “large river” in English.
This is a port city in the very southern part of Brazil in the state of
Rio Grande do Sul. It is one of the oldest cities in the state and was
the former capital. It is the second busiest ports in Brazil. That
and the petroleum refinery here make it a very prosperous city. The city
was founded by the Portuquese in 1737 and a fort was built to defend Portugal’s
territory in the south.
Rio Grande is said to have the longest beach in the
world. It is approximately 160 miles long with sand dunes up and down the
coastline. The inland is very low with a maximum altitude of 33 feet
above sea level. As a result, it is savanna like in that it is made up of
fields of low vegetation. The average high temperature during summer
(Jan, Feb, & Mar) is 80F. During winter months it averages low 60’s.
There is a lot of agriculture here in southern Brazil which includes:
corn, soybeans, wheat, rice, cattle, and sheep for wool. In 2012 there
were a lot of new John Deere combines lined up on the dock. None this
year. The city actually has a population of nearly 200,000. I actually liked this
port! We were here in 2012 & 2016.
This from our tv, shows our position as we are approaching Rio Grande. Taken at 9:30 as we are to be anchored by noon today.
LAST EVENING
By the time I had finished and published yesterday's post, showered and dressed, it was 6pm and time to head down to the Meridian Lounge.
The Head Bartender, Tiho, stopped by to check on us. He claimed to know us but we can't remember him. Nimesh, the bartender (I call him my doctor), prepared my usual Manhattans. Rebecca finished off the rest of the Rombauer chardonnay from last night.
Mary Rose, Deputy Head Waiter, brought us the pigs-in-a-blanket to enjoy with our cocktails. I forgot to get a photo of them. Will later. Shortly after arriving in the lounge my phone died so I had to run it up and charge it while we enjoyed the lounge.
On our way to Compass Rose for our 7pm dinner with Georgiana, Food & Beverage Director, we ran up to the suite and got my phone.
We have known Georgiana for years. She has worked her way up through different positions and was recently received a well deserved promotion to F&B Director. She is responsible for everything to do with the bars and dining venues. She makes the provisioning orders to make sure they do not run out of booze, wine, and all the food. It is a huge responsibility. She is from Romania but now lives in southern Portugal. We had a great time visiting with her. Our waiter was Reymark but I neglected to get a photo of him. Last time we cruised with him he was an assistant waiter. Another well deserved promotion!
Kaz, was our sommelier for the evening. We have also known him for years. Grace, the Head Sommelier, brought us our bottle of La Crema chardonnay to start with. I order this wine to be put on the ship just for us. No extra charge for this. Spoiled, as usual!!! Kaz is presenting the Silver Oak cabernet sauvignon that Georgiana ordered special for us. It's listed on the connoisseur wine list for $160. There is some left over for me to have tonight!
I tasted the wine Kaz had just opened and suggested it needed to be chilled some and then decanted as it was very tannic. After chilling it he came back to decant. When our dinner entrees came the wine was perfect.
I actually started with two orders of escargot but forgot to get a photo. Rebecca started with some cream of asparagus soup. This is the entree we both ordered. Beijing-style roasted duck with fried rice and Chinese cabbage. I found the duck to be dry. Georgiani had the dover sole. Always very good choice!
I could not resist the molten chocolate sauce in a brownie cake with ice cream for dessert.
My back was hurting so bad when I made any movements that we did not attend the Captain's Welcome and show to follow it. I had to go to bed.
TODAY
We departed Punta del Este at 6pm last evening for our just over 300 mile cruise up to Rio Grande.
After another good night's sleep we were up at 7am. I headed down to get our usual coffees to start the morning.
Again we ordered room service breakfast for 7:30. Again it arrived at 7:45. Lin delivered it. We have known him from our Aug/Sept last year cruise on this ship. He was so excited as he will be going home when we arrive in Rio de Janeiro on the 24th. Another amazing crew member! I just had a chocolate chip muffin for my breakfast.
We passed several fishing boats this morning. Plus there are quite a few container cargo ships.
Rebecca doing her daily 40 minutes on the treadmill.
At 10am the pilot boat brought out our port pilot to aid the Captain upon arrival at the port for docking at the pier.
It was so nice I decided to sit out on our balcony and watch us sail into the harbor. I saw an occasional porpoise coming out of the water but could not get a photo of that.
This is the sea wall protecting the harbor.
This is our docking location. We lucked out as we will have a nice view from our balcony today.
A small band and some local dancers performing on the pier for our arrival and while the first tour groups left. Very nice!
There were 8 buses for the first of two tour groups. As I said only one tour available. There was a 12:10 and 3:40 departure.
We went up to La Veranda buffet for lunch at noon. Here are some photos of a few things offered.
There is something different every day at the carving station. Today is Brazilian roasted pork shoulder.
Dessert station.
Salad bar.
I started with some shrimp, anchovies, & blu cheese
Then some Brazilian beef & black bean stew, Brazilian squid with garlic sauce, mashed potatoes, and roasted veggies.
I asked Executive Chef John Pugh to stop by our table so I could show him a photo of how I wanted my veal parmesan to look. I made a special order last night for it to be served us in Compass Rose tonight. He laughed and said, "I know how you like it Rick, don't worry!" I think I'm infamous on veal parm preparation. John is from Bulgaria.
This is the photo I showed him.
I was scheduled to do a 3 hour "Sights of Rio Grande" (the only tour offered here today). I will not be going on it as it involves 2 hours of walking. My back will not handle that. I did this same tour back in 2012. When I reviewed that blog post it said the roads were very rough (not good for my back now).
Following are some photos I took back in 2012. I wanted to give you an idea about this port of call. I doubt much has changed!
Instead of taking the shuttle into town for another look I decided to stay onboard. My back is a problem again today. I worked on this blog post and we watched Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday's soap, Bold & Beautiful, on our Paramount + app. This is why she wanted internet streaming. She watched Young & Restless yesterday and Wednesday's this morning.
The ship is not sailing until 9pm. Tomorrow is a sea day sailing off the Brazilian coast. Usual plan for this evening with cocktail hour in the Meridian Lounge followed by dinner in Compass Rose. Tonight's guest entertainer at 9:30 in the theater will feature Stephane Webber. She is a singer from Wales. Never heard of her but plan on seeing her show. My back permitting!
After I initially published this post these two guys showed up at 4:15 to re-varnish our balcony rail.
Tonight's menu in Compass Rose
