Uruguay for an Afternoon

One not-so-lazy Sunday my friends and I decided to take a day trip to Uruguay because it’s a mere 76 km across Río de la Plata from Buenos Aires, and I received a new stamp in my passport that I otherwise would not have.

Colonia del Sacramento sits on the southwestern corner of Uruguay and receives the daily ferries from Buenos Aires. The small city, formally a Portuguese port, is charming in all its cobblestoned glory.

We spent the day almost entirely in the historic district, which is right on the water and appeals to the tourists because of its colonial (or at least pre-modern) feel. All of the cars I saw were colorful old models from the mid-twentieth century. Each restaurant and café was painted a different color from white to pink to blue. The streets were bumpy and uneven and stray cats or dogs sauntered among all of them, protecting their city from the American tourists.

Because it was Sunday, much of the consumer scene was closed. With this in mind and in an effort to save pesos, my friends and I packed picnic lunches, blankets, and mate. It was too chilly to swim, but we did sit on the beach sipping mate and enjoying water that looked more blue than brown.

At the end of the day, we had a long and early supper at a restaurant and then wandered to the shoreline to watch the sunset. Once it got dark, it was time to head back to the ferry station and return to Argentina for Monday morning class.