Across the River to Colonia

The ferry slowly pulled out of the docks at Buenos Aires to cross the Rio Plate to Uruguay, a 3 hour journey to Colonia del Sacramento. As the ferry left the smog surrounding the city, invisible within the city limits, suddenly became noticeable and the taller buildings of the city faded together as the boat moved farther out into the river. Of course I took the slow boat since it was cheaper so there really wasn´t anything to see for the next 2 hours until we got within viewing distance of the Uruguay shoreline.

It was off-season so the town was pretty much empty and very quiet. It was very pretty with the cobblestone streets lined with tall trees and the historic buildings of the old district on either side. The water front area was covered with lush vegetation and some colorful flowers. The old city was dominated by a lighthouse with superb views of the town around. There were also the remnants of the old city wall and gated entrace. But, after a few hours of walking around I had seen everything of interest and as it was a bit too cold to go to the beach I went back to the hostel and waited for dark as it seemed like the old city would be very picturesque at night with all the street lights attached to the buildings.

Walking around at night was like walking in a ghost town. Half of the restaurants were closed and the other half that were open were almost completely empty. I passed maybe a handful of people on the streets but otherwise it was still and silent, almost a bit too quiet if it weren´t such a safe and touristy neighborhood. The lighting at night was not quite as I expected but it was still pretty, although the lack of anything to do helped me to decide on leaving to Montevideo the next morning rather than staying another day as I had previously planned. Perhaps in high season the town is much busier but in the off-season I enjoyed its tranquil atmosphere and empty streets, definitely a drastic change from Buenos Aires.