Colonia, Uruguay

Monday 5th May

Today's Lesson - Session Two on how to visit a country in 4 hours......

After getting up at 0800, we headed out in search of brekkie and came across a fab little cafe called Madera Seca just behind Galeria Pacifico on Calle Viamonte, where we had cafe con leche, medialunas, and wholemeal toast with jam and some kind of fresh cultured dairy spread (that was like a cross between cream cheese and sour cream, but very yummy) - all for Arg$15!

With our appetites satisfied (at least for a few hours) we began walking towards the river delta area (where the ferry terminal is located) - Puerto Madero. Puerto Madero is quite similar to Ahuriri in many ways, as it used to be the main port for BA, and then was neglected for many years before being restored to its former glory and is now home to lots of restaurants, offices and apartments. The old port consisted of 4 docks which were segregated by locks which can be opened and closed to allow the passage of boats. On the city side the docks are lined with fantastic old, red brick buildings which used to be huge grain stores, but have now been restored and house many restaurants and apartments (the ambiance of the area is only let down by the "Hooters" bar in the middle). Across the other side of the river are huge skyscrapers filled with offices and more apartments. The contrast between the two sides of the river was quite striking - old vs new.

We walked back to the ferry terminal at about 1030 and went through check-in and immigration (Argentinian and Uruguayan immigration were both together making it very easy), and then boarded the ferry at 1120. Unfortunately the smog over the delta was pretty bad, so we didn't really get to see much of the view on the trip over which was a shame. We docked at Colonia at 1300 and headed in the direction of the historic neighbourhood to find some lunch and wander around.

Barrio Historico was gorgeous with all the colonial buildings, plane trees lining the streets and colourful wisteria and bougainvilleas climbing all over the place. Uruguay was invaded by both the Portuguese and Spanish, so it was interesting to see the contrast in architectural style between the different eras. We saw the old city gate and boundary wall, several fortifications, a monastery and lots of historic houses.

On the way back to the ferry we had delicious ice cream at a heladeria - dulce de leche with choc chips and vanilla with caramel and biscuit pieces. Uruguay is known for its fabulous dairy products - and this was definitely some of the best ice cream we had in SA. We got back to BA in the dark at about 1900 and walked back to the hostal.

We decided to go back to La Casona del Nonno for our celebratory final dinner in SA, as the food was so good last time we were there. We ordered a paradilla of Patagonaian Lamb with Provencal seasoning and potatoes (and a bottle of red wine). The lamb was so tender, and full of flavour - just delicious. And of course the meal wouldn't be complete without dessert, so we both ordered the Volcan Chocolate (and I ended up finishing off Andrew's too!). All in all a fabulous end to a fabulous day.