Uruguayan Adventures

Hello!

I just got back this morning and can't yet force myself to confront the looming pile of homework, so I decided to update the blog as a relatively useful way of procrastinating. I went on a four-day trip to Uruguay this weekend, had a really incredible time and became somewhat of a lighthouse consieur. It was really relaxing to get away from the hubub of Buenos Aires one last time before super crunch time in November. Here's a summary...

We (my friend Carolyn and I) left Thursday in the middle of the night on a ferry headed across the Rio de Plata for the city of Colonia in Uruguay. Colonia is an old city the Portuguese built in the 18th century to smuggle goods into Buenos Aires. It has a really beautiful and well-preserved old quarter that was recently declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We got there at about 3:30 in the morning, spent the rest of the night in a hostel and then ate some fruit and bread on the beach for breakfast after getting a few hours of sleep. We spent the day wandering around the old quarter. We went to a bunch of old museums with old Portuguese art and artifacts. My favorite exhibit was of a lot of the old maps of how they used to think the world looked. We saw some really pretty old buildings, churches and the old wharf. We also climbed up the lighthouse to get a better view of the city. My favorite was a street called the "Street of Sighs," which is a street with the original Portuguese cobbling and beautiful red and yellow buildings, and a nice view of the water. After a nice nap, we cooked at the hostel for dinner then went to a cool bar called the Drugstore for some wine a live guitar music.

Friday morning, we caught an early bus from Colonia to Montevideo (Uruguay's capital). In Montevideo, we spent the day exploring around the part of the city called Ciudad Vieja (old city). First, we went to the Mercado del Puerto, a really pretty old building that holds a lot of parilla restaurants (barbeque). We were lucky to be there on Saturday, the most popular time of week for the Mercado, and we sat at the bar and watched them grill our meat (delicious). Then, we walked along the waterfront to the Plaza Independencia (main square of Ciudad Vieja). From there, we saw the presidential residence, some cool old buildings, palaces, museums and a cathedral. We wandered through a flea market in a plaza and found lots of cool old books. After another quick little nap, we watched the sunset into the water from the wharf. We went to dinner and to watch a band at an Irish Bar with a few guys we met from the hostel (although we were looking for something a bit more authentic, the woman at the hostel assured us that the Irish Bar was the best place to go). We slept as much as we could, considering that we were sharing our hostel (and our door room) with a Brazilian rugby team.

Early Sunday morning, Carolyn caught a bus back to Buenos Aires and I continued on up to the coast to a little beach town called La Paloma. The bus ride was really beautiful, the Uruguayan countryside is very green and full of cows. Gauchos kept climbing on the bus along the way. La Paloma is on a point on the eastern shore of Uruguay. As it's still late spring/early summer here, there weren't alot of turists in La Paloma so it was really peaceful. The weather was absolutely beautiful, so after checking into a hostel, I took a little nap in the sun on the beach. Then I took a little walk down the point to the lighthouse (biggest in Uruguay). I climbed up the lighthouse for a really pretty view of the point and the Atlantic Ocean. As the lighthouse is on the tip of the point, the Atlantic surrounds it on 3 sides. After the lighthouse, I found a spot on the rocks with the waves crashing and read for a while. In the evening, I grabbed some dinner and watched an absolutely incredible sunset from the beach.

Monday morning, I caught a 5:45 bus from La Paloma to Cabo Polonio. Although I was pretty tired, it was cool to watch the sunrise from the bus. Cabo Polonio is a little town nestled between sand dunes and an enormous seal colony, accessible only by foot or a 4x4 truck ride. I caught the first truck at 7:30 and went on a rough but very beautiful ride across the dunes to Cabo. Cabo was even smaller than I expected, consisting of nothing more than a collection of little houses, shops and shacks to get food. There is definitely a very hippy attitude- the town doesn't have running water (because it would be too difficult to lay pipes) or power (because the residents prefer not to have electricity). I scrambled across the rock beach to the seal colony, where I watched the seals swim, sleep, snuggle, and fight for a while. I was the only person there and it was really cool to be there with just me and the seals. Next, I climbed up lighthouse #3. At the top, I met a young Uruguayan navy guy painting the lighthouse. He took a break to teach me about the seals, explain the lack of whales (unfortunately I missed them by a few weeks), and the history of the town. He also showed me how to light the lighthouse. Next, I walked through the town and then along the beach to the dunes (accompanied by a very friendly local dog). The dunes were beautiful, but with the wind the sand really hurt my skin so I didn't stay for long. I hung out on the beach for while, then got fish for lunch at a little shack and hung out with a women selling bracelets and sandles. Finally, I caught the 4x4 truck down to the road for the trip back to Buenos Aires. Although I loved all the places I visited, something about Cabo Polonio was extra special and I hope to return someday.

After a long series of bus and ferry rides, I got back to Buenos Aires at about 8 am this morning. I plan to spend the next couple of weeks trying to somehow get all my work done, then travel in Patagonia for two weeks before one final week here in Buenos Aires. I can't believe I'm leaving so soon- it still seems like I just got here. I've avoided picking up the ever-present smoking but gotten hooked on drinking mate, and although I'm looking forward to getting home will definitely miss the city a lot.

Hope you're all well! All my love, Melanie

PICTURES FROM TRIP TO URUGUAY