Colonia, Uruguay

Thursday 3^rd March

Goodbye Argentina, Hello Uruguay

It’s a cool cloudy day. Taxi at 8.00 to the Buquebus ferry terminal was 118 pesos. Quick efficient check in and immigration. At immigration two women in the cubicle, first one stamps me out of Argentina, passes my passport and boarding pass to the second woman who stamps me into Uruguay. Why can't all immigration, at least for land borders and ferry crossings be handled like this? The terminal is modern and well designed, to the point that you hardly realise that you have left the terminal and are on the ship. The Eladia Isabel is a big car ferry and quite comfortable. It's a slow ship, 3 hours compared with 1 on some of the others, but it's half the price, only 472 pesos, and there is an open deck. There is a cafe where I had a couple of sweet media lunas, a piece of dulce de Leche and coffee out of the machine for 90 pesos.

Eladia Isabel

Then settled in to a comfy reclining seat in the main lounge where the gentle movement and throbbing of faraway engines soon sent me to sleep. Later I had a look up on deck but nothing to see but an endless expanse of muddy brown water. Buenos Aires is just an irregularity on the horizon in one direcction and the distant coast of Uruguay is a dark horizontal smudge in the other. The ferry isn't very busy, much less than half full. I am in tourist class, the first class lounge looks almost empty; it doesn't seem to offer anything except not having to mingle with the hoi poloi. I can't see into "Especial Classe" upstairs, maybe that's a gin palace with dancing girls? There's a Duty Free shop but nothing I want. Also a money changer but there's a huge spread between buying and selling rates so hope I can do better in Colonia.

We arrived on time in Colonia, which also has a modern ferry terminal but it's separated from the ferry by a long, narrow, covered walkway. Picked up my bag which then went through an X-ray before I could walk out and find my way to Posada Rio. Since the room wasn’t free until 2pm, went into Avenida General Flores, the main commercial street, where I found the bank offering an even worse rate for Argentine pesos than on the ship. Buying offer only 1.5 while selling want 2.7. The spread on dollars and Euros is quite normal so it seems odd that the currency of the neighbouring country across the water is treated with such suspicion. I found a nearby restaurant offering a better rate of 1.7 so had a milanesa and salad there, along with a Zillertal Uruguay beer. There’s no magic culinary border between Argentina and Uruguay; food to fill you up but not to titillate your taste buds. Eating to the sounds of 10Ccc "I'm not in love" etc.  As a plus the food came with a tiny cup of seriously potent coffee. And a second plus: by the time I came out the sun was shining.

Back at the Posada Rio hotel got into the room which is fairly basic but fine. It's in a great location just one block from the river and one from Avenida General Flores, and at the edge of the historic centre. It's also across the road from the Radisson Hotel and Casino although don't have any plans to gamble the night away.

Outside again wandered round the old part of the town which is delightful, all you could wish for. Unlike Cordoba, the ambience has been preserved and I am also amazed at how quiet it is. Possibly because it isn't the weekend when, I suspect, it fills up with people from Buenos Aires and Montevideo. Of course, it's touristy with lots of cafes, restaurants and souvenir shops but that is what has preserved it. Paid 18 pesos to go up the lighthouse which provides a good view, looked into the church which is surprisingly plain and simple, found the old railway station and the tourist office nearby where I picked up a better map. But mostly just wandering around enjoying the pretty streets and warm sunshine. Found the bus station and got timetables for the buses to Montevideo, which run every hour and cost 330 Uruguay pesos, about 45 to the £. Bit the bullet and changed some Argentine pesos at the ferry terminal which is at least better than the bank.

The oldest of the streets in Colonia

One of the original, Portuguese era, houses

Typical Colonia Street

Typical Colonia Street

Typical Colonia Street

Lighthouse

View of the Church from the Lighthouse

Looking down from the Lighthouse

Remains of the British built Railway
Run by British Company until 1949
The turntable was built in Carlisle in 1900

Plenty of Bars and Restaurants 

 By about seven decided to stop for a glass of wine to watch the sun go down and later went out to one of the restaurants along Avandia General Flores where I had ravioli and a beer.

Friday 4th March.

Simple breakfast at sister hotel round the corner, juice, bread or toast, spreads, small croissant. No ham or cheese but coffee was OK. Down to the bus station to buy my ticket to Montevideo for tomorrow, 347 U pesos; all very simple. Changed the balance of my Argentine pesos at the ferry terminal, explored the main commercial street Avenida General Flores and bought cards and stamps. Impressed that, even in the less historic areas, the new buildings blend in and make the streets very pleasant to walk along. After continuing my wander, stopped off at a pretty restaurant for an apple pie and ice cream, and a coffee. 

House near the Main Square

Another House near the Main Square

Even the more Modern Buildings Look Pretty

Many Old Cars around but Something Fishy About This One

In the Basement of the Social Security Office.
Which file were you looking for? 

Apple Pie and Ice Cream

Then visited some of the museums, all housed in old buildings close to the Plaza Mayor. First was the naval museum which provided lots of technical details on different types of cannon, muzzle loading and later breach loading. All in Spanish only. Then the main municipal museum, very much in the old style with glass cases filled with lots of stuffed animals, pinned butterflies and some fossils of extinct megafauna. It provides information on the successive changes of rulers in Colonia, Portuguese to Spanish and back again many times. It also points to interesting features of the building's construction. 

Lots of Stuffed Birds

And Broken Plates

The Portuguese House shows three rooms of a Portuguese built house as they would have been furnished. The Indigenous museum contains artefacts, mainly hundreds of stones, most of which look like ones you could pick up on any pebble beach, displayed in glass cases. I think they are claimed to be indigenous people’s tools. There are several articles and histories but all in Spanish. From what I have read elsewhere, the indigenous people, the Charrúa were effectively exterminated in the 1830’s as a result of confrontation with settlers and the deliberate Salsipuedes Genocide led by Uruguay’s first president. 

http://theprisma.co.uk/2011/03/28/uruguay-and-the-memory-of-the-charrua/

Considering the historical interest of Colonia and its dominant tourist trade, I am surprised the municipality hasn’t invested in a better museum. There is a large new tourist centre, next to the old railway station, which is mostly empty space.

In the evening looked at a restaurant a guy had given me a flier to earlier in the day but it was empty. Most of the other places were quiet too. Found a pizza place on the main street which was busy and which did a reasonable pizza. It seemed to attract lots of people with young children so it was quite noisy; the solid bare brick walls functioning as an echo chamber didn't help.