Today visited Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay. It is across the Rio de la Plata from Buenos Aires and the easiest way to get there is the Buquebus, a large ferry that crosses about 5 times a day.
We needed our passports in order to purchase tickets since we were leaving the country so we waited until that morning to buy them. Of course there were no more "tourist / coach" class available so we had to purchase first class tickets which was $25 more per person. Interestingly if you are a foreigner you can't pay with Argentine pesos, you have to pay with credit card. They want you to get the regular exchange rate -- Argentina wants more of the tourist dollars.
Colonia is a very old city and the historic quarter is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It has part of the old wall fortifications for the city that separated the Spanish part of the city from the Portuguese part of the city.
We climbed to the top of the light house and got a great view of the Rio de la Plata as well as the old city of Colonia. The streets of the old historic quarter were cobblestone and challenging to walk on. There were lots of shops, museums and a church.
We ate lunch at a cafe by the water call "La Tratorria" and had calzones and pizza.
Jim and the girls really wanted to see the beach which was north of the old part of the city so we left the old part and walked into the city, up the coast line to the beach.
It was about 3 miles but lots of interesting sites along the way. We saw some more interesting street art as well as street lined with trees that created great shade.
It was striking how much quieter it was here than in Buenos Aires. We all felt more relaxed and able to enjoy the scenery because we didn't feel like we need to watch out for cars, buses and dog on the street or worry about someone trying to steal your camera.
We got back to the ferry to discover that we were in coach class instead of first class. It was not as plush but it was certainly adequate. I was just concerned that I had paid the first-rate for the morning but they said our ticket for the return was not. I guess I will never know if I got ripped off.
We were pretty exhausted after the full day but we wanted to eat at a parrilla, a type of steak house which is famous in BA. So we cleaned up and went out for dinner at Don Julios. Katie had researched it and heard it was great. The two gals we met the night before said it was wonderful so we took a cab.
Our cab driver asked us if we planned to see a tango show while in BA. We didn't have specific plans to do so but he said he sings in a tango show so Jim asked him to sing for us. The video below is what he sang for us while in the cab and some images from out visit to Don Julios.