The differences between Uruguay and Argentina, despite being close neighbors, have always been noticeable but the change from big city Buenos Aires to small town Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay is most welcome for a day. The trip to Colonia across the Rio de la Plata takes one hour by the BuqueBus high speed ferry which leaves from the busy port area in Buenos Aires. The ferry boats carry cars as well as passengers. You are asked to arrive an hour early in order to check in and go through immigration which is all well organized. Once seated on the ferry, it's a quick trip until you get to Colonia, a quiet town across the river. Colonia was declared a Unesco World Heritage Site in 1996.
Colonia del Sacramento, as it was called when it was originally established as a settlement on the river by the Portuguese in 1680, has become a respite for tourists from Buenos Aires as well as wealthy Argentines wanting to get away to the beach. The ferry boat, Atlantida III, was full and yet many of the passengers were going on by land BuqueBus to Montevideo and Punta del Este and other cities in Uruguay. Colonia is on the western side of Uruguay whereas the ocean beaches that are famous are on the eastern coast, another 180 km. away.
Arriving in Colonia you notice the quiet. There is a fresh breeze coming from the river with trees that shade the old cobblestone streets and you breathe the air and find yourself slowing down. Despite the guidebook recommendations to head to the old city and the museums, we found ourselves drawn to the bicycles lined up across the street. Within a half hour, we had had a nice chat with Mercedes who runs a bike shop, rented two brand new mountain bikes with 20 gears for a mere $9 for both of us for two hours. Armed with a map of Colonia we headed out of town to the Rambla Costanera, the wide street that follows the coastline. The terrain is flat with just a few slight inclines and very little traffic on this road that follows a bay. In fact there are no stop and go lights at all in Colonia and only a few faded Pare (Stop) signs here and there near the center of the city. Once on the Rambla you just ride and ride. We passed Spanish style homes overlooking the river made of white stucco with red tiled roofs and well kept gardens with lots of pampa grass like plumes that sway gracefully in the breeze. There are several new looking Posadas or hotels as you ride along but it's all very wide open with a great sense of space.
As we biked along on a perfect sunny day without a cloud in the sky, there was some road work and we found a wide sidewalk area that we ended up using as a bike path which seemed safer. Many tall eucalyptus trees line the Rambla on the beach side and as I sailed past them, I caught a whiff of their pungent odor which always reminds me of my early years in Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay. As we sailed along we had views of the white sand beaches which are very clean. Much of the white sand is trucked in because river beaches have a darker mix of sand that is not so aesthetically pleasing. Where you expect to see blue sparkling water you see brown river water instead. Many people swim in the Rio de la Plata, and we did as children in Buenos Aires. Today they say swimming in the river is fine in Uruguay but not in and around Buenos Aires as it is no longer clean.
At the end of the Rambla Costanera we came to a new development of large vacation homes built around a golf course and a large, fancy Sheraton Hotel which opened in 2005 and sits on a point in the river. From there you can look across to the town of Colonia. A capuccino in the elegant coffee shop of the Sheraton and a quick look around at the vacationers lazing by the pool and we were on our way again biking back to the port area. Turning in our bicycles after an exhilarating morning, we walked the six blocks to the Old City of Colonia.
I kept an eye out spotting a few old cars here and there. I remember living in Uruguay for a year, in 1969 and there were old cars everywhere that were kept running by creative mechanics. No new cars were made or imported into the country then. Now, many years later, automobile collectors around the world have bought and taken them away and except for a few here and there, there are not many left. . I spotted a red VW bug just like my 1970 one that I drove in Vermont, in perfect condition parked on a street in Colonia.
The Old City of Colonia, which the guidebooks say has changed little since colonial days, is a charming area to walk around. Streets wind up and down towards the river and you have to watch your step on the old cobblestones but there is very little traffic. Several of the small plazas are charming with flowering bougainvillea and more of the palo borrachos with the pink blossoms that you see in Buenos Aires this time of year. The town is full of tourists of all nationalities, many outdoor restaurants, arts and crafts stores, and small museums. We settled into an outdoor restaurant to order fresh fish and salad for lunch and a have a rest.
Being in Colonia reminded me so much of why I loved Uruguay. The people are different from Argentines and especially the portenos (the city people from Buenos Aires). Uruguayans are friendlier, more down to earth, less sophisticated, and more humble. I found myself watching and listening to them as we walked the streets. They sip mate (strong herbal brew) just as the Argentines do and they are simply happy with a slower pace of life. Going into a few shops in Colonia including my favorite store from Montevideo called Manos del Uruguay (a woman's cooperative that has been in business for 44 years) the shop girl just wanted to please.
Back at the port, we checked in again for the ferry boat to return to Buenos Aires. Art misplaced his entry ticket from the morning and the lady at immigration simply shrugged, smiled in a friendly way and said "no importa", which I took to be the Uruguayan way.
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