Libertad o Muerte, But Let's Eat First!!!!!

Hey all,

How have you all been since I talked at you last?  It's been busy, crazy and fulfilling here in Buenos Aires.  This is one of my favorite cities so far.

Today's blog is about one of the places we just visited.  Not Buenos Aires but a fun daytrip just a ferry ride away.  

URUGUAY!!!!

It was a great time and while we would have loved to see more of the country by going on a road trip we only had a weekend, so we had to stay close.  We chose two cities to visit with a road trip in between.

We started in Colonia del Sacramento, a small colonial town about an hour's ferry ride away from Buenos Aires.  We took the early morning ferry, which was so easy-peasy.  Even going through immigration was a piece of cake.  The Argentine official stamped our passport to leave the country then handed it to the person sitting next to him.  Who just happened to be the Uruguayan official.  She stamped the passport to go into Uruguay and we were done!  EASIEST IMMIGRATION EVER!!!!

Once we got to Colonia, we got off the boat, picked up our rental car and drove around the city.  The part we were interested in--the older part--was so small we saw it by car in about five minutes.  LOL  But wanting a closer look, we parked and wandered.  It was a lovely little town with a lighthouse, several museums, pubs and restaurants.  The old buildings were my favorites.  I could have spent hours taking pictures of all the beautiful sights.  Here are a few to enjoy.

The Old City Gate--Refurbished, but still absolutely beautiful. 

One of the streets in Colonia.  The cobblestones are ridiculously hard to walk on.  

 

The lighthouse and the ruins from the old Franciscan convent.

The view from the top of the old lighthouse.  And yes, the river is that pale brown.

One of the old houses in Colonia.  They do love their colors and trailing plants.

 The cathedral and another one of the streets in town.  More cobblestones.

This tiny street is called Calle de los Suspiros (the Street of Sighs)  No one knows why it's called that.

Once we were done in Colonia, we jumped in the car and headed out to Montevideo.  We drove through the pampas--their countryside-waving at vacas (cows) and actually saw a few gauchos (cowboys) as well.

Montevideo is the biggest city in Uruguay and was supposed to have a beautiful old city flavor to it and we were really looking forward to it.  We got into town about an hour before sunset, so we were able to wander around a bit, then take the drive along the coastal route following the VERY long boardwalk called Las Rambles.  It circled the city from the port all around the peninsula.  I was impressed  It was beautiful.

The next day we got up early and headed out after breakfast to visit the Old City area.  Unfortunately, it was pouring down rain, but we learned a long time ago not to worry about such trivial things.  Enjoy the day, rain or not.

So we did.  Some of the city was quite impressive, but there were places that were pretty run down and scary looking.  It wasn't the prettiest or most interesting city we've visited, but it did have it's moments.  Check my favorite places below.

 The Las Ramblas Boardwalk

Sunset over the Rio de la Plata and Montevideo

City Gate Into Old City Montevideo

 Montevideo Metropolitan Cathedral from Constitution Square

 Inside the Cathedral

 José Gervasio (The Father of Uruguay) Artigas Tomb and Monument

Statue of the General over the monument.

 The Original Bank of Uruguay

The Teatro Solis - A beautiful original theater.

 

While it wasn't my favorite weekend trip we've done on our tour, it was definitely an interesting place to visit.  And since I love old architecture and colonial buildings, I was very happy in our choice.

Anyway, on my next blog I'll have a topic, near and dear to my heart.  So until next time...Have an awesome week!

Hugs,

CJ England

Follow Your Dreams
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