Blogs from Colonia del Sacramento, West, Uruguay, South America

We arrived in Colonia on Friday 22nd March after an 8 hour bus ride from Salto. The taxi from the estancia into town to catch the bus was quite an experience, the car was very old and with thick fog the dirt road was invisible, goodness knows how the driver got us there! On the bus we passed Fray Bentos (thats right where the pies were made), we didnt stop there but the old factory is now a museum, at the height of production they were getting through 2000 cattle a day! The signature product was actually the Oxo beef cube which has sustained many travellers and soldiers over the years. During its time this factory employed over 25,000 workers from 60 different countries. I cant help thinking of my Gran though who used to use ... read more

Eimal meh hät min Handywecker (Hot Chocolate – You sexy thing!) vo mim Papi sim alte Mobiltelifon gschället, a dem Tag hämmer müse früeh us de Fädere gumpe zum oises Tagesziil erreiche. Was für es hübsches Städtli. Colonia schiint gnau so wies tönt. Chlii, ruig, vil Wind. Find ich uf all Fäll =) Vo Buenos Aires gits täglich e Fähre und inre Stund ischmer scho in Uruguay, Colonia. Eini devo händ dLaura, de Florian, Francois, Mattheo und ich ois gschnappt. Da ich mit vier Franzose unterwägs gsi bi, hani mi zünftig müse is Füdli chlüübe, dasi die Cheibe verstah! ;) aber ich find das tiptop! De Sprachmix zwüsche änglisch, spanisch, französisch und dütsch isch no ganz amüsant..ich forme sogar Sätzli mit allne Sprache drin! De Tag in Colonia hämmer más o menos (= meh oder weniger, ... read more

Šiandien po senamiesti nutariu pavaikštinėti pėsčiomis, apžiūrėti netoli namų esančias apylinkes. Taigi pavaikštau po senamiestį ir einu link uosto, pakeliui prieinu traukinių stotį. Iš išorės atrodo apleista, visos durys ir langai uždaryti, ši stotis apleista ir neveikianti, nors kaip vėliau sužinojau ji uždaryta gal tik prieš 20 metų. Labai norėtūsi įlysti į vidų ir pašniukštinėti, bet visi įmanomi įėjimai uždaryti. Apeinu aplink visą stotį ir netrukus prieinu naująjį terminalą. Naujas ir modernus terminalas, nors ir labai nedidelis, tačiau traukiniai atrodo labai seni ir pavargę, nepanašu, kad būtų labai dažnai naudojami, o ir žmonių stotyje vos vienas kitas. Už naujosios stoties, didelis stiklinis dangoraižis. Eidamas toliau, pamatau didelį ir grąžų seną pastatą, nueinu jo apžiūrėti, panašu į kažkokį parlamentą. Šiandi... read more

First experience of Uruguay was a visit to the hot springs resort at Salto, for a relaxing back massage and a slow steam in the hot pools. Another long coach ride dropped us at the capital city of Montevideo, with its lively atmosphere but slightly tatty and frayed streets with graffiti-clad walls. A stormy day exploring the city with stops for tea and cake was followed by great food and giant bottles of local Pilsen beer (v good) in the pedestrianised centre. Final stop was the beautiful colonial town of Colonia del Sacramento - fought over by the Spanish and Portuguese. We ate ice cream and wandered through cobbled streets with old churches, and mountain biked to deserted beaches before watching a stunning sunset. Buenos Aires update to follow - wishing everyone back home a very ... read more

Probably the title needs some explanation on my side. Why I wanted to visit Uruguay since like forever. It is not because we hear so much about beauty of this small country right? The reason will make you laugh for sure and I don’t expect you to understand but it is the way it is. Well, then I need to go back as far as ’90 and explain that during this time Poland and Easters Europe for that matter was bombarded with many Latin-American soap operas. As a child/teenager I was never curious about the reasons why but nevertheless the nation watched them. There was one soap opera in particular that I learnt to love and watched it probably 4-5 ... read more