Day 204 - Buenos Aires to Colonia

  Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay
Monday, March 24, 2008

After lots of discussion last night, we decided to stick to our original schedule and have one night in Uruguay and then spend the next night on a night bus travelling the 20 hours up to the Igacu Falls.

So we finished our packing, paid our hostel bill (the hostel also managed to overcharge us but luckily we realised before leaving, the muppets), then got a taxi down to the ferry terminal.

I was nervous about us getting stuck at the back of a long queue, so we were there exactly an hour before departure, as requested. 

Predictably there was absolutely no-one else in the check-in queue, or the immigration/security lines, so we sailed through in 15 minutes flat. Katie was not impressed.

It was a stunning day today, with bright blue skies, 25 degrees C, just perfect.

We wondered if we were doing the right thing leaving BA on a day like this, but with hindsight we made the right call.

As we were pulling out of the port we had a great view of the BA business district over the water, especially before the big old engines kicked in and created a huge wake behind us.



 

When the powerful engines kicked in, so did the black smoke!



The boat itself was big & fast, so we made the (very flat) crossing in 50 minutes and after clearing customs had our first few minutes in our 15th country of our trip, with only Brazil left.

(I'd love to visit Paraguay for a couple of days but Katie is saying no chance, schedules schmedules...)

Welcome to Colonia, Uruguay!



It was a 10 minute walk with all our bags to the hotel and in those few minutes we realised that we'd made the right decision; Colonia was clearly a charming little place, especially on such a lovely day.

We checked-in, changed into something more comfortable (oh behaaave) and walked into the old town, which was a small area full of picturesque lanes, colourful buildings and cobbled streets.

 

There were also loads of trees around, so it looked very green too.



We had a good look around, which didn't take long because it's quite a small town, but it's a good size after staying in a metropolis like BA.



By now it was lunchtime, so we chose a place on one of the 'plazas' (squares) near the lighthouse.

 

Our meal was very good, we both enjoyed our pastas and the half bottle of Uruguayan Cab that we had with it.



After that we walked across the square to the lighthouse and climbed the 150 steps up to the top of it.

 

The views at the top were great, stretching over the old town...

 

...plus the new town, harbour, marina...



...and even across the Rio del Plate (or 'River Plate') all the way over to BA on the horizon.

This was really cool, even if you might have to squint a bit to make out the BA skyline!

 

Once down at ground level we walked back towards our hotel and got an ice cream from one of the 'heladeras' (ice cream parlours).
 
After this we continued our ambling, this time past the old town gate next to the river...

 

...past the old stone fort...



...and then over to the marina.

 

After a good old walk around we headed back to the hotel to relax, with me continuing to read my latest book which I'm really enjoying, called "Map of Bones" and Katie taking an hour's 'siesta'...

We both managed to not realise how quickly the sun was setting and therefore missed the sunset altogether (we were supposed to go and grab a beer to watch this by the river!), but it was nice to chill out in the room. 

Eventually the need for dinner kicked us out of bed and we found another really good place off a square by the church tower, which offered some tasty quasi-Japanese food.



We shared some sushi to start, which was great and then Katie went for a fish teriyaki while I went for the 'house chicken dish', which was a bit like dealer's choice, but I was feeling lucky...

...bad move, it was rank, covered in slimey mushrooms and a weird sauce. But at least the local wine was good, I can´t say that I've ever even seen Uruguayan wine for sale before, let alone tasted it?

We managed to avoid the temptation of another ice cream on the way home; Katie has just gone back to sleep while I finish off today's blog entry.

I'm just about over the disappointment of the United result and looking forward to the derby game this weekend and then the 3 consecutive games against Arsenal! Nice easy 4 games then ;)

I hope that all is well with you wherever you're reading this and do drop us a line if you get a free moment because we'd love to hear from any of you.

With "only" 5 weeks left until we land back in London we're starting to think about home again, so it would be really good to hear what you're up to!


lots of love,


Al & Katie xx