Traveling Gals: Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay

WOW! A few hours outside of BA and we were truly relaxed. We caught the Buquebus (the ferry company) across the “river of silver” to Uruguay for one night. Once at the ferry station, we were shuttled like salmon up a river into the terminal where the adventure begins. The journey was only an hour yet these ferry folks were serious about the ride: picnics opened up, mate was poured, duty-free shopping was done and tons of pictures were taken of family relaxing on this boat ride. And, relaxing it was. Christie snoozed and missed out on the amazing views of this murky brown river. Hmpfh.

Once in Colonia, we were stunned by all the pounding we heard and saw. Passports? Stamp, stamp, stamp! Tickets? Stamp, stamp, stamp! The other ticket? Stamp, stamp, stamp! These Uruguayans are very fond of stamps and inkpads. Once approved for entry, we caught a Taxi to Casa de los Limoneros (House of Lemons) for our one night stay. We arrived and were immediately charmed beyond belief that we landed in our own fantasy island! It was perfect and beautiful!! The house seemed old and charming and the hostess who welcomed us spoke no English yet we managed to understand that this place was “muy tranquil”. Ponds, “perros”, daffodils, chirping birds, lemon groves, a pool, garden benches and flying green parrots. We then walked out to the pool and relaxed for a while and immediately decided one night would not be enough. We set off to the house to check about extending our stay. No problemo!

We then set out to explore Colonia del Sacramento which is a protected World Heritage Site by UNESCO. We hit the streets hard and fell in love with this town, full of old world charm: tree lined cobble-stoned streets, old American cars, lampposts, brightly painted buildings, cafes, old motos and beautiful views of the river. We did this each day of our Colonia del Sacramento adventure and never grew tired of it. And each night, since there was no TV, no radio, no English, nor bookshops, we drank wine, noshed on cheese and salami, practiced our Spanish and wrote poetry. Seriously. We did. Albeit terrible poetry yet we felt special. We fell asleep to the sound of rain tapping on the tin roof of the patio. Es muy bien!

Our trip to Colonia was not complete without our host Sergio and Coco, the lost “perro” of Buenos Aires. We learned a lot about Sergio, Coco and Buenos Aires. First, Sergio loves Coco who is his soul mate. A woman from BA, however, claims to be his mommy and this suggestion has greatly upset Sergio. Second. Coco is adorable yet was not allowed to play with the other perros of the property. Third. Gay men in Buenos Aires party hard!

So. There you have it. We loved our stay in Uruguay! Muchas gracias!