I left the next day to go back to Buenos Aires and catch a ferry to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay. I thought the trip to Iguazu was long, but this one was almost unbearable. The bus ride back to BA was almost 19 hours long. Luckily, the ferry ride was only about an hour and by the time I got to Colonia, there was still a little bit of daylight. I found my hostel ok and took a much needed shower. Unfortunately, at that time, all the banks were closed and I couldn´t exchange any of my money. So, I ate my trail mix that Dina and Christine gave me before I left for dinner.
At this time, I sat down at one of the computers and wrote everything that I had done since being in Villa General Belgrano. Twice. And both times, the computer deleted everything that I had written. Hence is why I´m finally starting to catch up on everything right now! Anyway, after giving up on it the second time, I started talking with some other travelers that were hanging out in the room and one guy from Boston offered to let me borrow some cash until the next day so that I could go out and get a real dinner with him. YES! The trail mix can only hold you over for so long.
The next day, I was finally able to get a sense of what Colonia was all about. This town is absolutely beautiful. It has a really interesting past because it was fought over by the Portuguese and Spanish for so long and the influence, especially of the Portuguese, is especially evident. The city is so well preserved and there are still a whole lot of original building and cobblestone streets. I spent the whole day walking up and down all of the charming streets taking pictures of everything.
At one point, I was drawn to a little restaurant by the riverfront because of the old jazz music they were playing. I was just poking my head in for a look and the owner came out and started talking to me. I couldn´t understand anything he said and lucky for me started speaking in english. He invited me to come in and wander around while he gave me the low down on the building. Apparently, the port used to be right in front of this building and the building used to be a whorehouse. "A welcome sign for anyone arriving at the port," he said. Anyway, now building is a really charming restaurant decked out in antiques with a whole bunch of small rooms with 1 to 4 tables in each.
After this, I decided that it was about time for an ice cream break, my daily ritual since I discovered how awesome ice cream is here. The place I went to in Colonia did not fail me. After walking around again and actually purchasing my first mate cup and straw, I decided to go for a run. This was one of the only places I have been since I´ve been down here in South America that actually inspired me to go out running. I ran along the river into the newer area of town while the sun was setting. It was gorgeous.
That night, I talked with one of my roommates and found out that she purchased the same bus ticket that I did into Montevideo and as luck would have it, she had the seat next to me... crazy, right? So, my new friend, Eva, and I took the bus together the next day and ended up spending the whole day in Montevideo together. There isn´t really much I can say about Montevideo except that it is another really big city. I didn´t get to see as much as I had wanted to because Eva convinced me to take a much needed beach trip to Punta del Este the next day. I wish I could have stayed in Punta del Este for a few days, but I needed to get back to BA to meet up with my friend Jeff who came to visit. YAY!!
So, I took a bus back to Montevideo and then yet another night bus back to BA. Lucky for people traveling through Argentina and Uruguay, the buses here are supreme. They have "cama" buses with seats that recline alomst all the way down into a bed and they are so comfy! It´s almost better to sleep in a bus than it is to sleep in a hostel. This is part of the reason why I have probably slept in a bus for almost half of my nights here. The other reason is that I don´t want to waste away my whole day in a bus when I can just sleep my night away in one. I usually end up in the next town in the morning, ready to find a new hostel.
