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Published: November 16th 2006
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Me and the bike
Check out the rough cobblestone road. The scooter blasted around these roads alike a champ Wow, has the time ever flown by! It seems like only yesterday that we arrived in Buenos Aires, to our little apartment, yet somehow three months have passed and my 90 day tourist Visa was set to expires. I would need to leave the country, thereby obtaining and exit stamp which would then permit me to re-enter Argentina and obtain a new 90 day Tourist Visa. Given that, I needed to head across the border and the River plate into the country of Uruguay, made famous by Homer Simpson. I was going alone on this trip and was looking forward to a little adventure by myself. Passing through customs early in the morning, while still in Bs.As. I made my way onto the antiquated vessel that would slowly makes it was across the river separating Argentina from Uruguay. While I would like to say that the crossing allowed for beautiful views of the city and scenery, I will be honest that there is little to look out and that the chocolate covered river is wide and featureless, making for a long ride.
Colonia was established by the Portuguese in the 1600’s as a base of sorts to keep an eye
on the activities of Buenos Aires and the kingdom of Spain. It is a beautiful little town that has been named a world heritage site because of its cobbled streets and old fort and buildings. I had decided to only make this visit a one day trip since the main goal for the tour was the renewal of my Argentinian tourist visa. After exiting the port, I passed a tiny vendor renting scooters for the day. Figuring that it had been a long time since I had been on a proper motorbike, I decided to rent a scooter for the day. Blasting away from the curb, I immediately recalled the sensation of being on a motorbike even though this scooter was half the power of a bike and lacked the style of the motorbike that I had ridden when I lived in Fort. St. John with my uncle Steve, Tarina his wife and Kyle my cousin.
Regardless of this, it was great touring around the country side at 60 kph, admiring the lunch green hillsides, small vineyards and countless fields filled with cows, sheep and horses. It was great being out of the city and into another country.
After completing a short trip into the surrounding hillsides of Colonia, I returned to the village to have a well deserved meal. I stopped at a busy street corner café and looked over a large menu. What caught my eye was the following:
CHIVITO - URUGUAY'S NATIONAL DISH
Steak topped with cheese, bacon, ham and a fried egg, accompanied with a salad, a Russian salad and a drink - Price ~about $5 CDN.
Sounded great and it was! Although I wonder if this is in fact the national dish or Uruguay or a clever trick to sell tourists an obscene amount and variety of food.
After this feast, I carried on my scooted tour of the village and the surrounding areas. I eventually found a secluded little beach on the River Plate, parked my bike and relaxed in the warm sunny weather on the shores of this mighty river. It was great and in all honesty, I could have stayed here all day but unfortunately a thunder storm was quickly approaching and I needed to get this little scooter back into town. I couldn’t imagine driving on the dirt roads I had taken to get to the beach,
if they were greasy with a fresh tropical rain. Passing the countless green field under darkened skies I was struck by the pastoral beauty of this area and thought how nice it would have been to have owned and run a cattle Estacias in the area at the start of the century. I say at the start of the century because more recently like Argentina, Uruguay has had many economic difficulties and the country remains poor and for the most part under developed.
Returning to the village just ahead of the storm, I managed to park the scooter, find a quaint little café, order a coffee and continue reading In Patagonia by Bruce Chatwin before a torrential rain started falling from the heavens. There is nothing like reading a book from behind old window panes that separate you from a tropical down pour. I love watching and listening to sound of the rain hitting the ground and the tin roofs of the surrounding houses.
Returning to the port, I passes through immigration and renewed my tourist Visa for the final part of my stay in Argentina. Like I said before, it is hard to believe that it is
Rockstar!
I particularly loved the helmet, it kept catching the wind and yanking my head back... already November and that we have been here for nearly three months. The time has been great and I am looking forward to the next chapter of this trip, which will be highlighted by the arrival of both my and Laurence’s parents. Geeez, I never had parents, only a great mom. It is great to think that with the coming wedding of my mom and her man Scott, that I will soon refer to them both as my parents! Still seems a little strange but I really welcome the addition of Scott into my immediate family that up to now has only been my mom and I. Should be a great time when each family arrives here in Argentina.
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Uncle Steve
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Nice wheels
Nice wheels Jason, it looks like fun and I wish I was there to go for a spin with you. It looks a lot nicer there than it does here right now, we have about 2 feet of snow and it is about -15C. I have enjoyed the blogs and have passed them on to a bunch of people. I am however a little confused about why you neded to go to Uruguay to renew your Argentinian tourist visa though.