Remember my passport...

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Remember my passport, remember my passport, remember my passport. Instead of counting sheep I chanted myself to sleep with that mantra. We are off to a foreign country today and I won’t get very far without it. For some ungodly reason we have to be at the ferry boat dock at 7:30 in the AM. I am getting used to sleeping in til 9 or later so setting my alarm for 6 is an unnatural experience. We decide to take a taxi today and forego our normal subte experience. There are tons of taxis around except when it rains. Then they melt away like sugar. And they are cheap. You can go all the way across town for less than 10 bucks. They are driving by our apartment constantly and today is no different. We hop in the first one we see. I mumble some directions which he surprisingly understands and we are off. Fortunately I know enough about BA to know when we are on the wrong street when he pulls over to pick up our friend at her apartment on the way to the ferry port. After a few minutes of my best Spanglish he gets the point and with heart felt “permissos” he finds the right street. We then get to the ferry port…I know caus I see it on the other side of the road. But he wants to drop us off across a divided highway at the casino. Foreigners with suitcases must go to the casino at 7 in the morning a lot here. We finally convince him to make a U turn and put us in the ferry boat parking lot. End of story…aren’t you glad I shared? At least the traffic was light and he was not the normal kamikaze driver we have had to play chicken with crossing the street on our daily walks.

The ferry is a hydro foil affair so it only takes us about 1 hour to get across the Plate River to Uruguay. Now that is one big river if it takes an hour but remember this is an estuary so it is a little wider than up river. We go through the normal immigration hassle. Someday we need to look into how Europe does things and get rid of all these ridiculous bureaucratic machinations. Fortunately the visa process is as easy for Uruguay where you get an automatic 90 days for free. Now if you want to run up to Brazil it will cost you a cool 100 bucks for a visa. But for now all we have to do is wait in a line. Matter of fact there are lots of lines here. Lines for the post office (nothing new there) but for you who do not shop at the commissary there is a long line for groceries and hopefully we never have to go talk to a live person in the bank.

Colonia del Sacramento has a rich swash buckling history being first settled by the Portuguese, ceded to Spain which was resisted by the locals and later used as a base for British smuggling operations. Then it was formed as a buffer state between Argentina and Brazil so us Americanos could find a place to spend our money without the 100 dollar entrance fee. The Barrio Historico has a lock on the charm of the place. We made our way through the 1745 gateway to the Plaza Mayor. We ran out of digital space on our camera at the photogenic “street of sighs.” There are varying rumors on the origination of this name but I like the one where this is the sound the sailors made walking back to their ships after partaking in the brothels in the hood. This was probably the tipping point on the UNESCO decision about culturallity of the place to make this a world cultural heritage site. We relaxed after power shopping with an afternoon meal at the Art Gallery Restaurant. The wine flowed, the food was abundant, conversation was stimulating and we missed the afternoon tour that was set up for us. This restaurant was a good intro to Carlos Paez Vilaro and Casapueblo as a relative was running the place. More to come on this. But for now we get to sleep in a place where it is relatively quiet.

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Comments

[Linda & Rich]

"A relative was running the place?...."
We need more info. I agree with the person on the previous blog who said that they envy you, your experience. I more than second that. All I can add to your wonderful blog, is that it is cold here right now in GA. Linda