Day 14: Uruguay

Today was devoted to a day trip to Uruguay and we absolutely loved it. The ferry terminal is in easy walking distance from our hotel so we made our way there this morning and went through passport control and Uruguay immigration before getting on the enormous ferry. It takes an hour on the fast boat to cross the river (Rio de la Plata) which separates the two countries and which eventually feeds into the Atlantic Ocean.

The city we visited on the Uruguay side is called Colonia (full name actually Colonia del Sacramento) and is a common tourist destination for Argentinians since it is an easy ferry ride away.

To be Frank-like, here is a link to more info on Colonia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colonia_del_Sacramento

When we got off the ferry in Colonia, we found a tourist information center, armed ourselves with a map (which Chief Navigator Frank instantly committed to memory), and went straight to the historic area of the city, which is the most scenic.

We had lunch at a place all the way at the end of the main street in the historic district near the Bastion de Santa Rita. The restaurant was built into an old tower - which is where it got its name "Torreon" which means a "large fortified tower".




This is the Bastion de Santa Rita which was our view as we sat and ate lunch.




The historic area of Colonia was absolutely adorable. We spent the afternoon just strolling around the streets with me stopping every two seconds to take another picture of a stone house covered in bougainvillea.




This is the "Calle de los Suspiros" (the "Street of Sighs") which has its original pavement and drain running through the middle it. The street dates from when the Portuguese governed the area, and the houses on both sides date from that first colonial period.




This is a photo of the Bastion del Carmen taken from the Muelle 1866 ("1866 Wharf").




Here is a view of the end of the Wharf nearest the town - notice my artistic shot capturing a large planter of marigolds, a local artist sketching and an old-fashioned lamp post.




Here is one of Frank's famous "hold his arm out and take a picture of us" shots at the end of the wharf where we took a break to soak up some sun.




On our way back to the ferry terminal we got some ice cream and came across these old cars which I'm including for my father's benefit.




All in all, a fantastic day and a very peaceful getaway from the hubbub of the city life. Tomorrow is our last day in Buenos Aires - I can't believe how fast it went!

We want to dedicate today's blog to our friends Archana and Richard who are hiking the Inca Trail and will arrive in Machu Picchu tomorrow. They celebrated their 2nd wedding anniversary yesterday while passing through an area called Dead Woman's Pass - we hope to celebrate with them in better style in Santiago!

To answer some of our blog comments:

Dougie - I am doing alright with the Argentinian dialect although it is certainly different from the Spanish I'm used to. Luckily people have been very friendly and are willing to repeat themselves when necessary. And no, we didn't have a chance to go to the Biblioteca Nacional but I'll keep an eye out!

Maureen and Rudy - Sorry if the mannequins were unsettling...it was just a random photo op I found while wandering through the Once area. :-)

ILM