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- Waves crashing in Colonia
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- Lighthouse in Colonia
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- Entrance to Barrio Historico
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- Angela in Colonia
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- It is windy
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- Lighthouse in Colonia
Today is our 30th day in Buenos Aires, but contrary to the name of this blog, we actually have two more days left after today.We finally made it to Uruguay after bagging the 8:30AM ferry and settling for the 12:00PM ride over.
We arrived to the Buquebus terminal at around 11:00 and we’re happy we showed up early. Although the building is very modern in its architecture and technology, the processes of the company were a bit flawed. We waited in one line to reserve our ticket, then went about 15 yards to the right to pay for the ticket. Finally, we were sent to the left of the original line to get stamped before going upstairs to the ferry. The process took as almost an hour and didn’t leave us much time to spare.
The ride over was smooth and seamless. The ferry made us feel like we were in a cruise ship or a casino (sans the slot machines). We purchased food and checked out the duty free store during the one hour trip from Argentina to Colonia Del Sacramento, Uruguay (referred to as Colonia). As we were exited the ship, we met a couple from Ottawa, Ontario and spent our day in Colonia with them.
Our first stop was to get some food in our bellies. All we’ve heard about the cuisine in Colonia is that there’s really only one choice for a first time visiter – El Drugstore. The decor in this restaurant is kitschy and eclectic. The kitchen is fully exposed so you can watch the chef cook any of the what seems like 100 meals on the menu. The menu itself was an adventure as each page is constructed with a different drawing that would make Andy Warhol jealous. It didn’t take long for us to assume that the reason the restaurant is named El Drugstore is because if you were high on drugs, the restaurant experience would be quite the trip. Either way, the food was very good and we had a fun time getting to know our new Canuck friends.
After lunch we started to explore this small colonial town. The town itself is small, population only 20,000. It was founded in 1860 by the Portuguese, making it the oldest city in Uruguay. For years, the Portuguese and Spanish fought over it until Uruguay finally won it over. The Barrio Historico, which is the main area of Colonia, is recognized as a World Heritage Site.
The barrio is filled with little shops, bars, restaurants and museums that made for some great site-seeing. In addition, even though the coast is pretty much non-existent in Buenos Aires, it is everywhere in Colonia. This was not a day, however, that we were going to be able to lay out and get some sun.
When we arrived in Colonia, the temperature was in the high 50′s and it was sprinkling rain. Two hours later, the winds had picked up to what we would estimate at 60 miles per hour, the rain picked up and the temperature dropped dramatically. It felt like a hurricane. It was about this time that we decided we would try to get on the 5:00 ferry rather than wait until the 8:30 that we had intended on. If it were a nice day we would have had plenty to keep us busy, but the inclement weather took away some of our options. We raced to the ferry station and made it on with about one minute to spare.
It didn’t take long for us to question if we should have just waited for the 8:30 ferry. About ten minutes into our trip back to Buenos Aires, the choppy waters started to rock the boat back and forth so hard we thought for sure we would capsize. Three indications that things were hairy – dishes twice falling from the cupboards and shattering in the kitchen, at least one person putting on their life jacket, and the ferry attendants coming around with barf bags for everybody. The mood in the ferry changed quickly. While many people started the trip off sleeping, everybody was now alert and talking to each other, but even though many were speaking a different language we could tell it was the nervous chatter to keep their mind off what was happening.
Fortunately, the waters calmed about 20 minutes later and put everybody at ease. We got back to Buenos Aires at 6:00 as expected and returned home to relax before dinner. Around 9:30, we arrived at Campo Bravo in the Las Canitas barrio for dinner.
Las Canitas is an area we probably should have spent more time in. It is extremely clean with a lot of restaurants, bars and shops. The story has it that mean local celebrities – actors, musicians, athletes – live and hang out in this area.
Campo Bravo was great. Fifteen minutes after we arrived, we took a look around and noticed the place was jam packed even though it was a Tuesday. The restaurant hours are until 4:00AM every night of the week and legend has it that it goes past this time most nights. The food, service and ambience were all top notch. We started with the customary provoleta, likely getting our last taste of this cheesy delight. Angela ordered bife de lomo kabobs and I had the bife de chorizo. We shared some papa fritas, dulce de leche and two bottles of Trapiche Malbec before cashing out around midnight.
