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Published: April 19th 2008
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Colonia Architecture
Dates back to the Spanish colonial period. Sat, April 12
Margaret and I took the Buquebus ferry to Colonia, Uruguay. The Buquebus is a very large car and passenger ferry. It crosses the Rio de la Plata which apparently is the widest river in the world. http://www.buquebus.com/cache/HomeARG.html
I had a bit of trouble leaving the country with no entry stamp to Argentina (since I have a replacement passport), but luckily had my police report, so eventually got a passport stamp. Now I think it will be easier for me to leave when I return to Seattle.
We had lunch then toured Colonia, a very old Spanish and Portuguese colonial town in Uruguay. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site and a very beautiful spot.
http://www.guiacolonia.com.uy/Colonia/index.htm
Then we took a bus to Montevideo, which took 3 hours, arriving around 9:00 pm. We checked into our hotel, Europa, and went to dinner at El Fogon, where we had a wonderful meal. We had hoped to go dancing but were too tired.
Sun April 13
We got up and went to church at a Methodist church, la Iglesia Metodista Central.
The people were so warm and welcoming it was really wonderful. I was able to
The Ferry
This is the ferry we took to Colonia - El Buquebus. understand the sermon really easily and in fact translated it for Margaret. They invited us to stay for lunch (a church potluck!) The only difference between it and our potlucks is that everyone brings their own plate and silverware (cubiertos), and that everyone rushes the tables when it’s time to eat rather than standing in an organized line.
After lunch, we went on a tour of the city of Montevideo by bus, which was interesting.
http://www.rau.edu.uy/uruguay/generalidades/mvd.htm
It is a lovely, clean city of about 1 million people with what seems to be a relatively advantaged population - we saw lots of beautiful homes. The beaches are fabulous. The only downside was the weather - it was cold and windy. I was glad to be on the bus. The trip back was a challenge. First, we had a hard time getting the cab driver to take us to the port. The first cab driver took us to the bus station, because that’s what the bus boy at the hotel told him. He refused to listen to me when I told him we wanted the ferry, just told us that we were in the right place and to
Calle de los Suspiros
If you pray while walking down this street on your knees, the legend is that your prayer will be answered. get out - we were there! We then had to find another cab to get to the port. Once on the boat (at 8:00 pm), it was a very rough crossing. About a fifth of the people seemed seasick and a lot of people threw up. The crossing took 3 ½ hours. Margaret and I didn’t get sick luckily, but we got tired of watching soccer on the TV monitor - it was too rough to do anything else. Once we arrived, it was nearly midnight and very cold and there were no taxis. So we took off walking and eventually hailed a cab. I got to bed after 1:00. It was hard to go to sleep because it was so cold. I think it was about 4 or 5 degrees C. It has stayed cold most of the week (a polar wave).
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Bill Roach
non-member comment
Greetings from Philadelphia
Hi, Catherine: I am sitting in my daughter Kate's house in Philadelphia. We just got back from fly fishing in Central Pennsylvania over the weekend. Tomorrow is the primary here. Big stuff!! It was great to get your blog and see Colonia and Montevideo finally. Sorry we couldn't be there with you! Seeing you in the Church potluck reminded me of some information I got from National Geographic. Did you know that Uruguay has the lowest church participation in either North or South American. Only 30%! they call their Christmas holiday "Summer Holiday" and Easter has another non-religious name. Is that your understanding? What are the views of Argentines towards Uruguaionos? Could you let us know? I'm lookng forward to seeing you in May! Bill