Uruguay

We spent the weekend in Uruguay. Two nights, two cities, a bit of a whirlwind. And when we arrived back in Buenos Aires late last night, both of us felt very happy that we were home and heading back to our crappy, basement apartment.

There is a ferry that travels from Buenos Aires to Colonia, Uruguay several times a day. It is a huge modern affair, and there is live entertainment half-way through the trip. We were treated to a dance competition and a guy singing ballads.

Colonia is one of the prettiest towns we had ever been to. We couldn't think of one colonial town in the Americas we had seen that was more perfectly restored and preserved. It is a very small city, founded in the 1500s by the Portuguese. It sits on a peninsula out in the Rio de la Plata, which is an enormous river mouth that you can't see across. It was very warm while we were there, and we walked around in the sun, enjoying the light, the flowers, the water, the sunset, etc. We sat outside at romantic cafes with candles on the tables on cobblestone streets. It was endlessly pleasant. And very expensive. Uruguay is a destination for rich Argentinians and Brazilians. It is surrounded by the large, South American super-powers and receives a lot of their money and tourism. We could not have stayed there much longer, as we were continually shocked by the prices.

Montevideo, the capital of Uruguay, could not be any different than Colonia. It is not perfectly restored whatsoever. It has an aesthetically awful (in many instances) combination of 60s era modern, ugly buildings set next to colonial buildings. And it has an eerily abandoned feeling. Joe and I walked around and sat in parks and plazas, with the aim of watching people and life go by, as we do in every place we visit, but there were hardly any people to watch! We were often nearly alone in these public places! But we liked it there anyway. It had a good vibe: relaxed and friendly and real.

And now we are back in Buenos Aires for another week before taking a trip to Chile and Western Argentina.