Colonia in the sun

The next day I took the bus back from Montevideo to Colonia del Sacramento, feeling that I had experienced Montevideo as much as a traveler could without some local connections. With my friend Timmy from Switzerland, I took the city bus back to the long distance bus station, which incidentally is a shopping mall on the top floor and a bus terminal on the bottom, to catch our four hour ride to the small town. The view from the bus window was spectacular - the green and gold patches of plants over red earth, speckled with oddly shaped trees and cattle made a real impression on me as I listened to a variety of Cuban and Spanish music which seemed to fit the landscape perfectly.

Colonia seemed to be nearly a different city this time through. Bright, sunny, and bustling with people, nearly all of them tourists. We walked around the town seemingly in circles, finding new things to see all of the time. Nature here is beautiful, and the old, sometimes ruined buildings are well balanced by their surroundings. Sunset over the muddy river was a pretty sight.

Much of Monday was spent visiting all of the small museums (save the Spanish museum which was under renovations), climbing to the top of the lighthouse, wandering around some more, and above all, admiring the calm beauty around me and reflecting. After watching a cooking demonstration being filmed in a town square and garden, Timmy and I had pasta and a local wine for lunch over good conversation. He is a true traveler with an interesting perspective on Latin America. Time flew by and in the evening I rushed a little to catch my ferry back to Buenos Aires.

My short stay in Uruguay gave me the time to think some more about why I came here to South America to begin with - to explore life, gastronomy, how I want to live, and how I can make it happen. I am refreshed and recharged to tackle Buenos Aires and all of my upcoming challenges. Plus, Pablo comes to join me here tomorrow!!!

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Part of trip: Granjas en Argentina

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