Uruguay
Visited Uruguay for about 3 days in the middle of our stay in BA. The ferry crossing between BA and Colonia is a popular one, and you can visit the charming town of Colonia as a day trip. It’s all pretty easy really! Colonia del Sacramento was originally a Portuguese colonial town, and retains a very strong Portuguese feel, despite being taken over by the Spaniards hundreds of years ago. It was weird to hear Spanish being spoken in a place that felt so Portuguese.
Some serious cobblestones!
The town square.
We saw lots of beautiful derelict old buildings like this in the little we saw of Uruguay. Just wanted to buy one and move in!
…and old cars too. I noticed quite a big difference in affluence between the little I saw of Uruguay, and BA in particular. Argentina is well known for being one of the wealthier S American countries, and I could see that on the streets. Uruguay was charming though, and felt a little like going back in time; particularly with lots of old cars, people on rattly old bicycles and horses and carts going down main streets of the towns we went to.
This was a lovely little restaurant in Colonia that we had one of those very long lunches at…maybe 4 hours??! That’s what holidays are about! But Uruguay had such a laid back feel about it. No one’s in a rush, like in BA. It was a welcome change of pace.
This guy played the most beautiful tango on his guitar for a good while during our leisurely lunch, really adding to the laid back atmosphere and holiday vibe. Still love listening to his CD.
This is actually the Uruguayan side of the Rio de la Plata, almost opposite to BA. This was at the second town we visited, Carmelo. Seemed to be a pretty popular holiday spot for families. Again, very chilled out, and very pleasant.
Carmelo was a quiet place. It reminded me of the little town I lived in in Portugal, so I liked it lots! We stayed there one or two nights. The river running through it is it’s main feature, and it’s where you can get the ferry back to Argentina, arriving back in Tigre (North of BA). It was interesting to watch the different ways people live along the river, with more posh motor boats the closer we got to Argentina.
A rower training in the peace and quiet of Carmelo.
The parting shots are of the river trip back to Argentina.
Some blokes having a barbie.
Two rivers converge to become the mighty Rio de la Plata.
Adios!
