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The mouth of the Rio de la Plata (River Plate) is 100km wide apparently, which might explain why the ferry took 3 hours. It was a very calm crossing. And a very boring crossing - sailing directly into the sun (that's east, sun followers) with very little to see.....
Uruguay - mysterious Uruguay - pronounced "ooroo-gwhy" as opposed to "euro - gwhy" - a land of 3.3m people and 12m cows - a land famous for its beef and barbecues - it looks a relatively small country on a map of South America, but is in fact about 176,000 sq km (roughly twice the size of Portugal).
Famous Uruguayans then - hmmm - well, there's the chap who designed the Burj-al Arab hotel in Dubai (there's a copy in Montevideo); the chap who wrote that famous Tango tune (anthem?); South America's top football commentator (although he now broadcasts in Argentina) - there must be others....* the Uruguayan author Mario Benedetti sadly died on May 17th
Colonia is the oldest city in Uruguay - founded by the Portuguese in 1680 and then losted by the Portuguese as the Spanish attacked the city - the Portuguese nabbed it back and then the Spanish re-took it....
Montevideo, the capital, is a relatively young city - founded in the in 1724 by the Spanish and for a time Uruguay was a province of Argentina until the Brazilians annexed it in 1821. The Uruguayan national hero Jose Artigas declared independence in 1825 and this became a reality in 1828 - thanks, believe it or not, to support from the British :-)
Montevideo is a small city by South American standards - "just" 1.4m people - so doesn't have the glitz & glamour of Buenos Aires or Rio - and is probably all the better for it. It does have a certain charm - but it's a poor city in much need of renovation - still, it seems unhurried & the traffic moves calmly - albeit slowly - and that counts for a lot these days...
I stayed in a NH hotel - a German chain - with nice clear views over the river.... - the hotel itself was pretty unexciting and i've stayed at NH hotels in Germany - usually in Dusseldorf for Prowein.......
So that was Thursday 12th - on Friday 13th i took a coach to Colonia - from the very organised & efficient central bus station in Montevideo. The journey took about 2 hours and was mostly motorway. In Colonia i was met by a driver & taken to the hotel Don Antonio - a very charming hotel built around an upper courtyard with swimming pool. In the afternoon the lovely Alessandria guided me around the city. Colonia really is very nice indeed. Alessandria is a teacher and her husband is a Coast Guard. It is becoming difficult for the local people to buy houses in Colonia as so many rich Argentinians & Brazilians are buying holiday homes here. As are rich Americans & Europeans. Fortunately the old town is a UNESCO World Heritage site and so remains unspoilt. In addition to the old Portuguese and Spanish buildings there are tree lined cobbled streets - the trees being London Plane trees, would you believe....
The tourists drive around in golf buggies - although quite why they feel the need to drive anything is a mystery as it isn't a big town and it is so nice to walk around. Colonia is set on a peninsula and so is surrounded by the Rio de la Plata on three sides. Despite the water being a very murky looking chocolate brown (because of the sediment) the locals insists it is really very clean & swim in it......
I would certainly recommend a visit to Colonia - to Uruguay in fact - very friendly, safe and quiet by today's standards...........
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