Candombe drummers whose music is based on African Bantu rhythms and other European and tango influences.
Montevideo is our first port-of-call. On a warm, sunny day, four of us walk out of the ship into the tourist market area of the city. Architecture is old and ornate, much of it dilapidated. There are some newer buildings in the main business area. Tourist police are very visible. There are numerous street musicians (see photo above) and leather craft stands selling hair ornaments, belts, purses, and even funny leather faces.
We venture three blocks on, to the Gaucho and Mint Museums in a restored 1896 house showing French and Italian styles. It has wonderful woodwork (staircases and inlaid wooden floors), marble, ceiling paintings, and stained glass windows. The building was totally restored by the Banco Republica. Gauchos were the Argentine and Uruguayan cowboys. Display cases show a large collection of traditional silver gaucho spurs and horse trappings, long knives and belt buckles bigger than any from Texas. The variety of silver items made me think that perhaps the wealth of the cowboys was in the silver they collected and wore.
On our way back we have our own experience with a pick-pocket. A block away from the famous Plaza Independencia, Henry catches a young man's hand as he slips it into his pocket. The ladron pulls free and runs away. We report the incident to the tourist police and they catch up to us two more times, asking for more information, a description that they can use to identify him. We're not much help; it all happened so fast.
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