Southern Exposure

Sunday, April 19

Today we planned on visiting our 14th country of the trip, by taking a 30 minute boat ride across Rio de la Plata to Uruguay’s Colonia.

After breakfast at home, Fernando gave us a ride to the ferry terminal where we purchased our tickets (for some reason the price was cheaper at the terminal than buying online), went through the customs procedure, and boarded our large and comfy ferry. The boat was quite plush, it had two seating salons, a cafeteria, a play room with two Wii play stations, and a duty free store.

Crossing Rio de la Plata took about 30 minutes. It is amazing that at one point you feel like you are in the middle of a bronze colored ocean, because you see neither Argentinean nor the Uruguayan shores, just the brown waters of the river.

I have to mention a few words about Uruguay. It is a tiny country, probably smaller than some Buenos Aires provinces, and has been forever living in the shadow of Argentina, though it shares a longer border with Brazil. Aside from a decade of dictatorship 30 years ago Uruguay has been the longest standing democratic state in South America, and its citizens enjoy some of the region’s freest conditions for labour and politics. Despite that, Uruguay could not avoid the economic downfall and a crushing recession in tandem with the economic problems faced by Argentina and Brazil, and it is taking longer to recover from the recession than its neighbors.

Colonia’s main attractions are restored colonial and Neocolonial buildings, cobbled streets, shopping boutiques, cafes and restaurants. There is really not much more to do than wonder around the old part of town, taking in the vibes of the city. Interestingly, the town’s colonial legacy is not wholly Spanish, for it were the Portuguese who founded it in 1680. Spaniards took over the city a century later destroying most of it, but while they were busy building up Buenos Aires, the English exploited it until Uruguay was created in 1828 as a buffer state between Argentina and Brazil.

We got off the boat and headed towards Barrio Historico, the old part of town. We passed through a cool colonial gateway surrounded by fortified walls and found one of the most photographed streets of the city. Other than that there wasn’t much to do or see around there. We have definitely been spoiled by colonial cities we visited in Mexico, Guatemala, Peru and Ecuador, so Colonia did not impress us much.

It was pleasant however to just wonder around the labyrinth of streets, walk down to the water, check out some old classic cars that still roam the city streets, and pop into a few boutiques. The town is known for its knit wear, so I found a cute little knitted beret for my grandma.

The fashion fad of “Vanilla Ice” pants is apparently popular in Uruguay too. I spotted a pair in one of the stores and had a good laugh threatening Matt to buy them for myself.

We found a great spot to have lunch at. Judging from the press clippings posted next to the menu outside the restaurant, their chef was a famous culinary expert, and although the place had not had a single customer inside, I was set on trying their pumpkin curry soup. The meal did not dissappoint. Matt had succulent braised lamb and I indulged in a fatty piece of Black Hake, a kind of Chilean Sea Bass, I had had once before in Santiago, which was absolutely delicious and incredibly flavorful.

After lunch we did some more walking and before we knew it it was time to go back to the ferry terminal to catch our boat back to BA. When we arrived to BA it was already dark. We walked along the paseo in Puerto Madero and treated ourselves to the famous Freddo’s ice cream. We thought about going to a tango show, but we felt tired and ready to go home. We booked a remise (kind of like a taxi, but cheaper and suited mainly for longer distances) at the ferry terminal, which took us to the house. After another tasty dinner with Adela and Fernando we retired to our upstairs quarters, and while Matt wrote the blog, I watched the movie late into the night.