Lovely Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay

“What, you went to Argentina for only 2 days?”, you may ask. And the answer, of course, is no. We will be going back to Argentina soon, but the proximity of Buenos Aires to the country of Uruguay, which we had never visited, was tempting enough for me to take a hop here, while we were still in its proximity. The problem with traveling with stops in various countries is, of course, that a new COVID test is required each and every time you cross a border, and the tests have to adhere to rigorous guidelines, which causes a bit of unwanted stress. For one, the test must be a PCR, and it must be taken within 48 hours of traveling. Now, most clinics that do PCR tests do not guarantee that your results will arrive in time for your departure, so one must often pursue more expensive test sites. So far, we have spent more on COVID testing than the cost of a single round-trip ticket to Argentina, and a lot more will be due, as we continue on our journey. I guess we’ll just do what we have to do, but traveling in the pandemic era IS indeed more stressful.

That said, we are in Uruguay!

By 6:15 this morning we were already at the boat terminal in Buenos Aires, and by 9:30 we had already arrived at the colonial town of Colonia del Sacramento, across the Mar de la Plata on the Uruguayan vessel Colonia Express. In a previous blog I had said that Uruguay was across the Parana’ River, which it is, but the crossing we took sails in open sea, and not river water. Colonia is a UNESCO heritage site. A small town overall, which makes up in charm what it lacks in size. The old town was built partly by the Portuguese and partly by the Spaniards, as the place was fought over for centuries by the two colonial powers. We very much enjoyed our leisurely stroll, and the town reminded us of a place in El Salvador called Suchitoto, which you may recall from earlier blogs.

Arriving at Colonia

Enjoying a bit of shade

The Cathedral

Lunch spot

After a lunch in the old city, we ventured to Plaza de Toros, where we spent a good part of the afternoon learning the history of Colonia’s bull-fighting past. I don’t want to go on too long with details, but we took a guided tour of the arena, which has historical roots dating to the 1800s, and is undergoing an impressive renovation. You could clearly see the difference between the rebuilt section and the original crumbling structure left in place for history sakes but closed to the public. Bullfighting is no longer a thing here. The arena is now being used for musical events.

The arena

Torero's outfit from 1910. Gilded in real gold threads.

Since we had a fairly long drive to Montevideo, the country’s capital, and we had been suffering in the stifling heat (107F, 42C), we were all too happy to get back into our VW rental car with air conditioning. The landscape was nothing special (it strongly reminded me of Central Texas), but it made clear that Uruguay is a sparsely populated country. Only 3 million people live here, whereas 12 million live in Buenos Aires alone. The radio announced that, on account of the heat and the drought, several wildfires were beginning to blaze throughout the nation, and within 15 minutes we had a glimpse of one happening nearby.

At last we reached our destination. Tomorrow we’ll enjoy the city. For now though, I leave you with this image of this capital taken from the renown Rambla, a 25 kilometer seashore sidewalk that is the pride of Montevideans, the unmissable license plate, the country's flag, and what their money looks like. CIAO!!