We were up early for our transfer - not that we had much choice as the ibis nesting around the farm made far more noise than the cockerel, and driven into town, for a 4 hour bus ride to montevideo. Doesn't look like a south american city - there are plane trees, and mixture of european architectural styles, (it's small, too). There is, of course lots of drab concrete, but it could be europe 10 years ago - especially with the types of cars on the streets. We went for a walk through the old town, to mercado del puerto - [View Full Entry]

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Nach gut 1 1/2 Wochen in Buenos Aires. Muss ich villeicht wieder einmal meine Meinung ueber Grossstaedte revidieren. Buenos Aires ist super nett. Die Stadt lebt und zieht einem einfach mit. Die Leute sind aeusserst freundlich und von der Arroganz die man den Porteños (Einwohner von BA) nachsagt, habe ich nicht viel gemerkt. BA hat nicht viele sensationelle Sehenswuerdigkeiten, aber es gibt immer wieder einmal etwas zu entdecken und durch die Stadt spazieren bringt viele spannende Erlebnisse mit sich. Wieder einmal empfand ich den botanischen Garten als eines der Highligths. Gestern waren wir d [View Full Entry]

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After spending sometime in Argentina we decided to hop on a boat and take a 1 hour ferry to the country of Uruguay. Our first stop was Colonia del Sacramento. This cozy town sits on the Rio Plata and still has its cobble stone streets and quaint houses. It wasnt a very big town but a nice break from the hussle and bustle of the Big City. [View Full Entry]

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Got up early (too early, Uruguay "sprung forward" last night for their DST) and went to the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Colonia de Sacremento. It really feels like a town frozen in time. I had parilla today for lunch! Mmmmmm.... My cholesterol just went up a few notches. I left there on the fast ferry to Buenos Aries (back in Standard time, Argentina doesn't "spring forward" till October 18th) It was very cool to be on a big ship that clocks 50 kilometers per hour. See pics. Until tomorrow... [View Full Entry]

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The long and winding road to Rosario didnt quite lead us to what we were promised. Our first bus arrived over an hour late. Im actually convinced that the bus left without us and they had to put a replacement one in service to take us. We were the only two people on the bus, the bus was cold, dark and had no onboard entertainment. It was a miserable 7 hours or so. And just as we had resigned ourselves to not being fed and were half asleep, we were kicked off the bus and on to another one, despite being [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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I took a Buquebus ferry across the river to Uruguay, to the town of Colonia del Sacremento, a small city founded by the Portuguese as a smuggling port, and found it a world away from Buenos Aires. Yes it is kept up as a tourist destination, particularly for local tourists, but even on a cold, rainy, and dark day it keeps its charm, right down to the groups of children on their way home from class stopping into the doorways of shops to say hi to their friends parents. Even though it is nearly spring here, the colors and smell remind [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Colonia in the evening. The boat docked and we all collected our bags, but realised you couldn't take certain foods in. We had a HUGE block of cheese which was about to be chucked by the non too happy looking Uruguayan customs! Not having that, so the 4 of us stood at customs and demolished a monster slab of cheese in about 40 seconds. Had the full on cheese sweats after that, but worth it! We walked out of the harbour into the darkness to be greeted by no taxi's which is really odd! Plodded about for a [View Full Entry]

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Los geht unser Trip. Gestartet sind wir am Mittwoch in Montevideo. Mit dem Bus gings nach Colonia del Sacramento. Nach dem wir unser tolles Hostel bezogen haben, sind wir losgezogen uns dieses Unesco Weltkulturerbe mal anzusehen. Es ist soooo schoen. Die alten erhaltenen Haeuser sind echt toll. Steffi hat sich mindestens ein Dutzend Haeuser ausgesucht die sie spaeter kaufen will. Allerdings wird das wohnen in einem Freilichtmuseum wohl nicht ohne weiteres bezahlbar sein. Abends gab es den besten Chivito der Welt fuer Steffi und Steak fuer Philipp. Da hat der Regen auch nicht mehr sooo gestoert [View Full Entry]

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Colonia del Sacramento - 24th to 26th of June 2009 With only a few weeks left before we leave South America, our visit to Uruguay was short. We got our stamps to enter while at the ferry port in Argentina, making it the easiest border crossing we´ve had. After an hour on the ferry, we arrived to a very sunny but cool day in Colonia del Sacramento. Colonia is the oldest European settlement in Uruguay and because of its strategic location, the Spanish and the Portuguese argued over it for a long time. Its Barrio Histórico (historic quarter) section is UNESCO [View Full Entry]

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