Colonia del Sacramento - December 28, 2012

---

On December 28th we took the Buquebus ferry to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay for a day trip. The barrio histórico in Colonia is a UNESO World Heritage Site with narrow, cobbled streets and lots of charm. The Convento de San Francisco Lighthouse dominates the skyline of this little town, and offers nice views of the Río de la Plata and the ferries crossing back and forth from Buenos Aires.

We had lunch at El Rincón, a nice little spot where we ate under pine trees on a shaded cobbled street. The food was good, but pricey. 750 Uruguyan pesos for a litre of beer, small plate of pesto ravioli and a chovito plate. We spent practically all of our Uruguayan pesos we had exchanged when we got off the ferry. A ferry, which by the way, left 45 minutes late. Good thing we took the high speed scheduled for 8:45am. The high speed only takes one hour in comparison to the three hour regular (but cheaper) ferry. So we had more than enough time to explore the little town. Colonia was a nice escape from big, bustling, Buenos Aires, which can feel a bit overwhelming at first. However, I think I would have got bored if I had spent any longer there than we did.

After lunch, we walked to Playa El Álamo. It was nice to sit and relax on the beach with hardly anyone else around. I would have swam, but the water was pretty brown and there weren't many others swimming so I decided against it. There was a bulldozer on the beach ripping out a bunch of marsh grass, which struck me as pretty stupid. There was lots of nice sandy beach as it was, and that marsh grass probably protected the coast from damage during storms. I wouldn't be surprised if they have to replant it in another 10 or 20 years.

For dinner we ate for much cheaper than we had for lunch by venturing outside of the historic old town. We had pizza and a bottle of tannat wine, a variety of red niether of us had tried before. We bought some gourds and bombillas (stainless steel straws with filters) so we could drink yerba mate tea like the locals. People in Uruguay seem to love their mate even more than Porteños - so many walk around with their gourds in one hand, and a thermos of hot water under the arm. It's delicious, caffinated, and suppresses the appetite. A bombilla is an ingenious way to drink any type of tea though - no need for tea bags or other types of filters, and prevents teeth staining!

---