Friday, November 15, 2024
We made the group decision to flee Argentina, at least for a little while, by taking the one hour ferry boat ride across the expansive Río de la Plata to the quaint city of Colonia del Sacramento.
Please do not confuse this UNESCO World Heritage site with the more familiar Colonia de Oxnard in California.
Two polar opposite communities to be sure.
Colonia del Sacramento is located
Argentina's neighboring country of Uruguay
Uruguay is a small country of 3.4 million people wedged between Brazil and Argentina.
By comparison, the Buenos Aires metropolitan area has a population of 16.6 million people!
In turn, Colonia del Sacramento is home to a mere 26,300 souls.
Rather than row across the Río de
la Plata in a dugout canoe as I wanted to,
I acquiesced to taking the Colonia Express
As advertised, one hour later
we were in Uruguay
A nice ferry terminal greeted us to
the third country of our
South American Tour
Tourist Information Center
We were ready to roll!
We would focus our visit on the small,
historic center of Colonia del Sacramento
The people at Colonia Express offered us a one hour walking tour in English of the historic center, so we took them up on the deal.
Part of the repurposed
old train station complex
Back in the day railroad engines
would roll onto this turntable to get
reorientated in the opposite direction
Train tracks to nowhere today
I'm quite sure that many a steam
engine received its life blood of water
from this venerable tank
The old Colonia Train Station
Laurie and her newest hat
This Train Station was built in 1901
While train service stopped here in 1985, in 2004 this spot was ceded to the Instituto de Hoteleria and Gastronomia.
Ceibo
The National Flower of Uruguay
Since we were part of a walking tour,
we thankfully did not have time to
stop in this paseo with high end stores
Colorful Laurie, Colorful Mural
The Complete Mural
The view towards the Río de la Plata
One could grow to like living here
Entering the Old Town via
an ancient City Gate
Defending that same City Gate
Now that we are inside the City Gate, let's talk a bit more about Colonia del Sacramento's Barrio Histórico.
This area is a typical colonial era city with narrow cobbled streets that occupy a small peninsula that juts into the river. Colonia del Sacramento's charm draws thousands of visitors daily from nearby Buenos Aires just like us.
The city was founded in 1680 by Manuel Lobo, the Portuguese governor of Río de Janeiro.
The town grew in strategic importance as a source of smuggled trade goods for the Portuguese, thus undercutting Spain's jealously guarded trade monopoly in the New World.
This provoked repeated sieges and battles between Portugal and Spain. Finally, in 1777, Spain took full control of the city.
Today, this peaceful Barrio Histórico is filled with nothing but picturesque venues everywhere one looks.
Calle de los Suspiros
Suspiros are sighs. Back in the day many a working girl on this calle elicited suspiros from the men of the city.
Koreen definitely got into the spirit
of things on Calle de los Suspiros
And I definitely sighed.
Today, not so much
The still working 19th-century
Lighthouse towers over the
Barrio Histórico
A clearer look at the Lighthouse
We were told that a tiled roof means that
this was originally a Portuguese domicile
Well, what do you know, our
guide was spot on!
"We MUST defend this house!"
A Uruguayan parrilla/steak house
Nice lamp
Of course, a watering can as a logo
Why didn't anyone think of this sooner?
Funky sign and shadow effect
Cobblestones made walking
a tad treacherous
I love it!
Now, can someone explain its meaning to me?
Hmmm . . .
Lush, verdant view on what
had become a hot and humid day
Barrio Histórico's mandatory
Catholic Church
I planned to enter it after our walking tour ended.
Our tour ended by this stately
government building
Thank goodness for these
lush shade trees!
We were hungry
Our Lonely Planet Guidebook
recommended this spot
This simple street-side stand is renowned for its chivitos sandwiches.
Four chivitos sandwiches it was then!
Our chivitos sandwiches came on a soft bun with ham, melted cheese, a thin strip beef steak and a fried egg as its base.
Toppings and trimmings were added to taste.
Speaking of taste, they were FANTASTIC!
I, for one, loved our waitress!
Sated and free of the walking tour,
the shopping frenzy began modestly
With Uruguay's cool flag
Social Security for Nurses Association
A good looking, repurposed edifice
I said that I would enter the Barrio
Histórico's Catholic Church and I did
This looked like a good spot to
beat the heat while dining al fresco
So did this spot
I wonder if they serve a good chivito sandwich?
All that from a simple cup of coffee?
Blue tiles mean Portuguese influence
This is going to be a happening
place tonight but we'll be back
in Buenos Aires by then
An antique dealer's shop
Who doesn't love a lion
themed arm rest?
If more airlines had them, the world would be a much better place.
Koreen can be so convoluted at times
The Río de la Plata is WIDE!
This is in large part because it is so shallow at only 9 to 15 feet in the upper regions and 30 to 60 feet in the outer regions.
The Río de la Plata is 320 kilometers/200 miles long and a staggering 230 kilometers/143 miles wide at its mouth when it reaches the Atlantic Ocean!
Koreen enjoying the river view
Riverside property is always
both trendy and pricey
Why don't more people have whale
bones in their back yards?
Back to Calle de los Suspiros
Trinkets bartered from the natives in hand, we needed to fnd a spot on this street to unwind before returning to Buenos Aires.
It looked interesting
We were all feeling the effects from walking in the merciless Sun, so we ducked into this shaded wine cellar fit for a hobbit
to recharge both ourselves and our precious bodily fluids.
Our genial server
MUCH BETTER!
In Vino Veritas
Our wine cellar was part of a
Portuguese style house built in 1720
More rustic buildings . . .
. . . with traditional Portuguese
tiles and colors
A good corner indeed!
Again, Hmmm . . .
Aimed straight at the vessel
taking us back to Buenos Aires
It's a Colonia del Sacramento
fixer-upper
We could have had it for a song.
No, we had not visited the
grotto with indigenous fish
Our ride back across the
Río de la Plata awaited us
Did anyone see anything of the ferry
boat crossing back to Argentina?
Upon arrival in Buenos Aires, Brian made the solid call for us to get something to eat before heading back to the flat.
The Yelp app led us to a highly rated pizzeria near the port.
Apparently, we were not the only
ones using Yelp
We joined the queue of about 150 people on the side walk outside of this 90 year old Buenos Aires hot spot known as El Cuartito La Buena Pizza.
After about 15 minutes of waiting in the exact same spot with the only movement coming when the couple in front of us quit the queue, we decided to find somewhere else to dine tonight.
It was literally right next
door to the pizzeria
The prices were good . . .
. . . and, as I said, we were hungry!
Lots of atmosphere in this gauchos
themed dining spot
Notice the bolos dangling beneath the clock.
Rustic place settings
While Laurie went for the flavorful Pastel de Papa, an Argentinian version of a Shepherd's Pie, the rest of opted for a variety of well made empanadas.
We were all happy with our choices.
A gaucho must have a proper
rope to do his job
Cool sign
This group of stay in place guitarists
and singers gently added to our, as
always, shared dining experience
This delightful spot was a great
and unexpected surprise
I think that we all felt rather glad that the popular pizzeria did not work out for us.
With lots of time spent sitting
and sleeping on a ferry boat today,
I was happy to get past the coveted
10,000 step barrier
I promise to do better tomorrow.
All in all, it was another GREAT day in South America!
Stay tuned . . .
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