Due to an unexpected schedule change from GAP Adventures, we had an extra day in Buenos Aires. We had hit all the major sights, so our guide suggested we take a ferry over to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay.
It was about $65 each and a 1 hour ferry ride with Colonia Express, and we have a new stamp in our passport. The package included a short city tour of Colonia, but the Spanish speakers did their tour before our tour.
Colonia is a UNESCO World Heritage location because of it's important history and age of the buildings in town, which was founded in 1680. It is really quite a fun and neat little jewel of a town. We walked around on our own while waiting for the official tour and caught a glimpse of life in a small town.
It was Saturday, so there was a small informal market along one street where people were selling fruits & vegetables right out of their cars.
Walking up and down the streets, you got the impression this city could have been lost in time. Most of the cars were older than I was, and life passed by at a much slower pace.
We wandered back into a little cafe to grab a bite for breakfast before our city tour. These grilled cheese sandwiches with ham (I think) were a fairly popular breakfast item in Uruguay and Argentina. We made the mistake of ordering 2 orders so we had enough food for 5 people~
After the tour we walked around the town and along the waterfront of the peninsula. H wanted to go down and touch the water and play on the rocks- boys!
The gray clouds and periodic rain shower were really nice for keeping the weather cool. This sailboat was out on the Rio de la Plata, which is actually a very muddy river that forms more of an estuary between Argentina and Brazil. The neat baluster border above was a beautiful detail adorning a long portion of the seawall.
I'm a bit obsessed with a few things when I travel- flags and clocks being among them. So you will surely see many more pictures of those things, but in Colonia, I took a special liking to all their unique lanterns around town. I have a whole post of those!
I had a hard time understanding our guide, but I think there was some attempt in the 1970's at revitalization project in town, including several large sports venues and tourist attractions- like a casino. This abandoned and deteriorating bull fighting ring was part of the overly ambitious attempt to draw weekend crowds away from Buenos Aires.
We stopped for lunch at this quaint waterfront restaurant. They had a small outdoor kitchen and it was great to watch them cook your food on the grill. It was here that we discovered the joys of half-bottles of wine, especially joyful after a first full bottle!
This is a totally a joking around picture and my husband never looks like this, except for when he's being silly and excited about some ribs. We had a great time just finally relaxing for a bit, watching boats out on the water and life in a small city pass slowly before us as we sipped on wine and had a side of fries.
Thanks to a small wall and the self-timer on the camera, I love this picture of us. Not only does it have the bay, but the flag and the seawall along which we had our great lunch.
Next post- Historic Colonia
GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: About to get back on track with my running.
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