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Published: December 25th 2005
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Flag of Uruguay
Uruguayan sun peeks through its stripes. ¡Hola!
We left BsAs this morning straight to the ferrylineas station without our big bags. The objective was to get to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay as soon as possible. I thought they had services at least once an hour, but it turned out we *just* missed the 9 o´clock Aquebus service. The next ferry to Colonia after the 9 o´clock was 11:15 am, so we managed to get two tickets before the line got crowded with Argentines and tourists visiting Uruguay for the day.
Immigration is on the Argentine side, and it went smoothly. After securing our spots on the ferry which felt like airplane settings, we walked around the ferry to check it out. Many of the passengers seemed to be regular visitors, either Argentines or Uruguayans (often call themselves as "Orientales", as the full name of the country is República Oriental del Uruguay - Eastern Republic of Uruguay). The ferry ride took an hour across Rio de la Plata, and we had to across one time zone from BsAs.
Colonia del Sacramento is one of the many UNESCO protected heritage sites in the world, and it´s famous for its cobble streets and colonial architecture. It was
Welcome to Uruguay
Me standing in front of the welcoming sign of Uruguay. occupied and fought for by Portuguese and Spanish, and its approximate location to Buenos Aires made Colonia an excellent port for smuggling. The old part of town is very walkable, in fact, too convenient, that everything is reachable by foot in minutes. The best view to see it from above is from the Foro lighthouse, which has a narrow circular staircase to the top. I wasn´t too fond with the strong wind on top, even though the view was awesome.
We also managed to check out the Plaza de Toros, a bullfight arena, which looks like a miniature of Colosseum in Rome. Our taxi driver was very friendly, and he showed us the way to get inside of the arena, through the protective fence. Like the rest of the crowd we´ve met so far, he doesn´t speak a word in English, but he´s very friendly and curious about the visitors. We talked a little bit in our tarzan language, mix of English, Italian, and Spanish, about siesta and work. Then I realized that today is Christmas Eve, and this guy had to work through siesta, perhaps having his family back in his house. Maybe it became a pang of
Colonia del Sacramento
A fortress that serves as a restaurant. guilt that I gave him a humongous amount of tips.
We caught a 6 o´clock bus ride to Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, which is 2.5 hrs away from Colonia. Sun still up high in the sky, and the weather has been perfect here in Uruguay. It stays around 85F (around 23ºC) through our stay so far, and no humidity whatsoever. A perfect winter for me, eh? Perhaps that is the result of having a sun as part of the national flag, as Argentina does.
Montevideo is very quiet so far, perhaps because tonight is Christmas Eve. We managed to walk to our hostel from the bus station, which took us about 40 minutes. So far, people are friendly and helpful. We couldn´t spot any church, so we had to skip a Christmas mass. But anyway, Merry Christmas for all.
¡Feliz Navidad!
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Angie H.
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MERRY CHRISTMAS HALEF!!!