Colonia - Pretty Colonial Town

Park in Colonia
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Arrived in Colonia, Uraguay yesterday afternoon. Its a very pretty little colonial city as the brochures will tell you. Also there is plenty of local tourism (in addition to the gringos) which is quite pronounced. Its apparently the oldest city in Uraguay (1680) and was originally founded by the Portugese who used it to try and stop the Spanish expansion. Colonia has a static population of around 20,000. There are tons of quaint little posadas (B&Bs), restaurants and there's a beach on the southern side I plan to walk to shortly. Don't think Rio type beach here, as its at the mouth of the river on a bay, its more like Hervey Bay from what I can see from here. We went up the lighthouse on the bank of the river yesterday and could see Buenos Aires in the distance. It reminded me of being able to see Surfers Paradise from Mt Tambourine (tho maybe a little further than that). Lots of tall skyscrapers over the bay, which we are heading to later this evening by ferry.

Part of the fortress ruins guarding Colonia
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Colonia is also very green, with a variety of vegetation and a number of city parks, and yes plenty of gums. I actually asked the guide in Montevideo about the eucalypts and she said they were all introduced round 80 years ago or so, and man have they taken over! Anyway you can see from some of the photos how pretty the town itself is. I will take some more shots of it shortly and beam them back when I get to Buenos Aires.

Colonia - Pretty Colonial Town

Park near the ruins and lighthouse
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Last night we went to a restaurant called El Drugstore (see the photos!) What an amazing dinner, and see how chic it is! It was a little more on the expensive side because it was to celebrate the 24th birthday of the Scottish lass, Christina. Anyway I had this Mexican chicken dish which consisted of peas and carrots on the rim of the plate surrounding rice and chicken in a spicy salsa sauce. (Check the pic out, it looks rather suggestive, but you be the judge!) Anyway for starters we had this fondue thing with an array of vegetables, including palm hearts, crusty bread bites, pate (yes I ate it, and hoped like hell it was prepared well!), and chopped herbed tomatoes served with this warm cheese dipping sauce. For dessert four of us chipped together and shared a chocolate fondue with a fruit medley (peach, strawberry, orange, banana, kiwifruit, apple - think thats about it), and for someone who doesn't normally eat dessert, it was amazing! A few bottles of local wine polished off between 4 or 5 bought my end bill to about USD$28. Way over budget but I guess you need to do these things every now and again.

The lighthouse in Colonia (which still works)
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In Uraguay (at least) you also have to pay service charges, and also for the knife and fork and spoon. URG 50 pesos for that doesn't seem much (USD$1 = URG peso 23.7), but as you can see it all adds up! I felt pretty guilty about it coz I cant really afford to do that too often during this trip. Also in future will take a calculator to make sure it hovers around the USD$20 mark and I don't get gypped by people who don't pay their share. You do really have to be on the ball about that kind of thing when there are a number of people eating and sharing. Working the bill out last night for 15 people took more than 30 mintues and Jose (the GAP guide) even had a calculator! All the bits just continue to add up I guess, but man by the end it was sure frustrating... "I had third of a dessert", "She had quarter of a bottle of white", "He had half a starter" ... sheesh!

View from the lighthouse over Colonia
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Anyway here I sit in this little internet place in the main street of Colonia about to go have some lunch before walking about 1k to the beach for a looksee. About 7 tonight we are catching the ferry to Buenos Aires and will arrive there round about 11:00pm I think. Its cost me about USD$2 (for 1.5 hours or so) for the internet, but its not that more the sitting here not being out and about I'll have to manage I think. Tho if this is only updated every 5 to 7 days, not too bad eh?

Cafe district in Colonia near the lighthouse
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PS .. Photos to come when i get to Buenos Aires.... stay posted!