Eating, Shopping and More Sightseeing

After wandering the streets of Colonia, we stopped at the Yacht Club for a bite.  The Club sits right on the water and we were mesmerized watching the boats and waves blown by the wind. The day of our visit it was freezing and most people were indoors by their firesides not out and about. We feasted on lenguado, a local fish, cooked in the Mediterranean way, with olives, tomatoes and capers…divine.

Porch at Yacht Club

Dining room at Yacht Club

View from Yacht Club

View from Yacht Club

After lunch we took in some shopping;  everything was  within walking distance from the Yacht Club.  We loved the variety of handmade goods and items of natural beauty;  Uruguay is known for its’ wools, colorful mate ( a type of tea) cups, which almost everyone seems to drink from all day long, and gorgeous purple amethysts.  As we walked we marvelled at the gorgeous blue and white Portuguese ceramic signs.

Blue & white sign on house

Mate cups

Wool in all colors and of extraordinary softness

Handmade sweaters; some are alpaca

Geodes containing amethysts

Before heading back to Buenos Aires, we wanted to see what the newer part of Colonia was like.  Our two precious and personable guides took us along the beach road to new houses that were being constructed with  to die for views of the beach.

Our guides

Many new homes overlook this beach

New construction

Road to house above

And the next time we return to Colonia, we will certainly stay at this hotel and partake of the Colonia night life.

Hotel Colonia

Courtyard at Hotel Colonia

Dogs and cars of Colonia

Dogs and cars, an odd combination?  Both have a story in Colonia.  First to the dogs…The dog of Uruguay is the Cimarrón and is the mascot of the National Army of Uruguay. It descended  from European dogs brought by early colonizers.  A great variety of dogs live in the streets of Colonia;  they are tame, petted and fed by local dog lovers,  but  not owned by anyone.  Below are a few of our four legged new best friends.

Cimarrón Uruguayo

And a friend

And now the cars…Because for years there was no car manufacturing plant in Uruguay, new cars were a rarity.  Today there are many interesting vintage cars on the streets.

Vintage white car

Vintage black car

Complete with bar

More about Colonia

Among the many old buildings in Colonia is El Faro, the lighthouse constructed in 1857 over the ruins of a 1682 Portuguese convent, the San Francisco.  It is possible to (and we did) climb up many stairs for a view of the city and the harbor.  The Iglesia Matriz , the oldest church in Uruguay, dating from 1695,  is open to the public and worth the visit;  the whitewashed walls exude grace, serenity and peace.

El Faro

View of Colonia from El Faro

Iglesia Matriz

Return to Buenos Aires

This summer we made another shopping pilgrimage to Buenos Aires  in search of the unexpected and the beautiful. We are so excited by all the incredible and interesting pieces we found!  Not to mention that the ship is on the water and soon to arrive in New Orleans. Before it gets here though, we would like to share some of our recent experiences there.

Always on the hunt for new adventure, from Buenos Aires we took a one hour Buquebus ride across the Rio de la Plata (the widest river in the world)  to Colonia  del Sacremento, the oldest town in Uruguay.  It was founded by the Portuguese in 1680 and is utterly charming…   In its early days it changed rulers often, going back and forth between between the Spanish and the Portuguese until it was incorporated into Brazil in 1816 and then in 1828 became part of the independent country of Uruguay.

The Barrio Historico is the oldest section of the city. This is where the colonial history of the city can be seen in the architecture.  Winding streets of 17th century cobblestone are  laid out in the Portuguese style,  a pattern different from the perpendicularly laid out streets found in Spanish colonial cities.  Ancient homes of colorful weathered adobe and of stone are everywhere.   When the first settlers built their houses, one could distinguish the wealthier owners by the thickness of their roofs;  the more layers of tile a roof had, the wealthier the owner.  Below are some pictures of the houses and streets of the old quarter.

Roof with 3 layers of tile

Roof with 2 layers of tile

Notice the absence of sidewalks. The street goes all the way to the house.

This street has a sidewalk and is lined with beautiful sycamore trees.

Gloriously painted pink house

Gargoyle rain spout

Amongst the charming ancient houses are areas of verdant green space concealed behind thick walls and dotted with huge old sycamores.  One imagines that once upon a time cows, sheep or goats grazed here.  There are also charming courtyards glimpsed through iron gates or open archways…Of equal interest is the fact that it was in the dead of winter when these pictures were shot!  Can you believe how green everything is?  Look at the oranges on the trees in the square (last picture).

Walled green space behind a house.

Look at the beautiful green front garden behind the gate.

Here is a lush court yard.

Light house overlooking the main square. Note the orange trees!