Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
We took the one hour ferry from Buenos Aires over to Colonia de Sacramento, Uruguay.When we got to Colonia it was actually a little chilly/breezy - a big difference from the heat of Iguazu!We rented bicycles & rode them along the beach to the end of the peninsula where we saw the ruins of the last bull fighting ring in S. America.We also ended up at a little beach by the Sheraton where we saw some birds and got eaten my mosquitoes!!We saw another great sunset then got to see a small group that was playing bongos w/ people dancing in front of them going right past our posada!We had an excellent dinner at El Drugstore, recommended by Diana's friend.There was live music and you could even eat inside a car if you wanted to! (See pic.)
The next day we got a great tour of the old city.It was very interesting to find out how the Portuguese had walled-in the peninsula & how the Spanish kept invading it.We saw the reconstruction of the original wall entrance as well as the ruins of a monastery and a modern lighthouse. They say the city was between la espada y la pluma because the Spanish kept taking it w/ a sword & the Portuguese kept taking it back w/ diplomacy (pen, paperwork).It became "permanently" Spanish in 1777 but the Portuguese still came back in 1816 for a while before Uruguay's independence. We learned a few stories about the Calle de los suspiros (street of sighs) and saw some original Portuguese & Spanish streets.Many houses retain some of the original walls - 80cm thick to compensate for the lack of foundation due to all of the rocks in the soil.We also saw the Portuguese museum & a recreation of a Portuguese house & some more artifacts, including dinosaur remains.
- comments