Don´t Cry For Me...Uruguay?

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I just got back from a day trip to Uruguay, to a small town directly across Rio de la Plata from Buenos Aires called Colonia del Sacramento. After yesterday´s excursion flopped, I was hesitant to commit to another, but (a) I had already bought the ticket, and (b) I wanted the passport stamp. Anyhow, I´m glad I went because it was a great little town. I arrived around 12:30. The first stop in the package I booked was a fixed menu lunch in a restaurant in town. The meal was spinach ravioli with bolognese sauce. I swear to gawd their sauce is EXACTLY the same recipe that Lelli´s (one of the all around best pasta restaurants in the world in Auburn Hills, MI) uses. Anyhow, after that I got a city tour. When that was over, I had two and a half hours to explore before I had to get back to the boat, which was exactly the perfect amount of time. I had been warned not to do this as an overnight, as there´s nothing that can´t be seen in a few hours. Anyhow, I decided to climb the lighthouse for what everybody says is an incredible view.

And by climb, I mean climb. There is no elevator. None. It´s a narrow twisty staircase where the stairs twisting above you are VERY close to your head (and I´m short, I can only imagine how tall people are able to get all the way up there. Anyhow, it´s said to be the equivalent of an 8 story building, but I´m not so sure. I´d say 5 or 6 is more like it. At any rate, that was my workout today.

And yes, the view was worth it. 360 panorama of the entire town, and you could make out scant little bumps on the horizon that indicate the Buenos Aires skyline. My camera didn´t catch it, but I could see it. I´m told at night it´s fantastic, because it lights up. How they know this is a good question, because the lighthouse does not stay open that late.

The town itself was adorable. It was founded in the 16th century as a place basically to smuggle contraband into Buenos Aires. Anyhow, much of the origional architecture in the Barrio Histórico has been preserved, including part of the wall. It´s very touristy, so I was not able to glean any sort of cultural differences between the two countries. The only Uruguayan (?) I had any sort of prolonged conversation with was the guide. She gave us a detailed and informative tour, but of course I´m very spoiled when it comes to this sort of thing 😉

Another cool thing today was the boat itself. There are two options, and I chose one on the way there and the other to return. There is a classical ferry that takes 3 hours to get there, and a high speed ferry that does it in one. As both arrived the same time, I chose to take the fast boat there (hmm, have to be at the terminal at 8 am or get to sleep two extra hours, tough choice). Anyhow, I took the slower one home, as I had heard it was all kinds of spectacular inside. It kind of reminded me of a cruise ship without all the rooms. The lobby looked like a cruise lobby (twisty stairs with brass banisters, and duty free shops all around the main entrance). The upstairs had a bar in the middle, and had a view of a two story window to the front. I managed to get a table right by the window, and got to see the city lights approach.

Well tomorrow it´s off to the Parana River Delta!

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