As May came to an end and my three-month anniversary with Buenos Aires came closer, I had to leave the country for a day to renew my tourist visa. Meredith and I woke up earlier than I have in months, caught the first ferry of the day, and suffered through a rocky, hour-long ride from Buenos Aires to Colonia. Despite warnings from several people that Colonia was a small town with nothing to do we decided to spend the afternoon there. We could have easily gotten our passports stamped and immediately returned to Buenos Aires, but we figured if we'd paid the fare to get there we might as well get to know the city. And thank God we did because I absolutely fell in love it.
(Sidenote: the number one thing I've learned about traveling thus far - get all the advice you can from other travelers, but never take anything as an absolute truth. Though they are fellow travelers, everyone experiences every place in a different way.)
The morning had been cold and overcast, causing the ferry ride to be rocky and nauseating. Therefore, our first mission was to find somewhere to eat and grab something to settle our stomachs. What was supposed to be a quick bite turned into an hour-and-a-half meal. Though my lifestyle certainly isn't strenuous in Buenos Aires, it was still nice to relax over a lunch outside of the city, knowing I didn't have one thing to do for the rest of the day besides explore a new place.
As we are two Floridians, accustomed to being driving distance from some of the most beautiful beaches in the world, it took us about 2 seconds to decide that the first thing we wanted to see was the coast. There is a river in Buenos Aires and beautiful places to go enjoy the water, but there isn't a coast and there isn't a lot of green. We started walking down the tree-lined, cobblestone streets in the direction of the nearest shore. At the end of the road we found green fields, palm trees, and the water. Though we weren't on a beach and the water wasn't crystal blue, I still felt closer to home there than in any other place since I arrived here.
We spent the rest of the afternoon walking around the city's center. We found that Colonia is a small, antique city filled with ruins, museums and gift shops. It can be explored in full in less than a few hours. This definitely isn't the place for someone looking for a party or an excitement-filled afternoon. However, there is a peaceful nature about it that seems to spread throughout the entire city. Everyone was friendly, calm, and slow moving. We heard "hola" more often than we heard the honking of a car horn. People smiled more and stared less. It was a nice change from the big-city feel of Buenos Aires.
After a total of 6 hours in Uruguay, we were on our way back to Buenos Aires. Our passports were stamped, so we had another 90 days to live legally in Argentina, but I have a feeling I'd like to escape to Colonia - or another small, beach town similar to it - sooner than that.
This street still has the original pavement and houses from the first colonial period.
Ruinas del Convento de San Francisco y Faro. The ruins are of a convent that was built in 1694 and burned down in 1704. The lighthouse was completed in 1857.
Cultural Center
No comments:
Post a Comment