Living and travelling in South America from our base in Chile since 1997. I have personally experienced the extremes here, living in a shed without a bathroom in a poor dangerous part of town to the other extreme of having an elegant dinner with the President at the palace. This blog is about things that I have done or that have caught my attention here as well as travel information that may be useful.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Lighthouse of Colonia - Uruguay
Everyone seems to get drawn to the lighthouse at Colonia del Sacramento like a magnet. Built 1857 over the ruins of the San Francisco convent, it has some amazing views if you don't mind trekking up the 118 narrow steps.
One of the most photographed parts of Colonia del Sacramento is the Calle de los Suspiros literally translated as The Street of Sighs.
The street lamp in the photo to the left is typical of the old part of the city as is the blue and white sign naming the street which is made out of tiles.
To see more photos and to discover out possible theories as to why it is called this, check out our Street of Sighs page.
The historic sector of Colonia was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO in December 1995. It's cobble-stoned streets and Portuguese-influenced architecture make photo opportunities appear around every corner.
We have now created a page with all of the things you can do in Colonia with loads of details from our own experience of being there: Colonia del Sacramento.
How to get from Buenos Aires to Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay
Uruguay is just a stone’s throw from Buenos Aires and one of the quickest and easiest ways to do it is across the Río de la Plata (River Plate). The two main entrance points via ferry are Montevideo, the Uruguayan capital, and a small city called Colonia del Sacramento, commonly called Colonia.
To get to Colonia, which is the closest Uruguayan city to Buenos Aires, there are two options: an express ferry that takes an hour to get there and another that takes 3 hours. The 3-hour one is of course a lot cheaper, in fact almost half the price, but you will find it eats into your day and there isn’t much to see from the boat other than lots of water. Most people take the 1-hour ride.
We hadn’t reserved any tickets beforehand, just turned up an hour and a half before the ship was due to leave and we managed to get return tickets for that day without a problem. Not bad considering it was a long weekend. By the way, same day return tickets are cheaper than staying the night and coming back the next day. There are some special offers of return tickets plus a tour and lunch thrown in but unless you like being herded along like sheep, I found the tour not to be necessary. The old part of Colonia is relatively small and can easily done by yourself at your own pace and with time to spare. We came back on the last boat just after 8pm so had time to relax on a patch of lawn and what the sunset over the harbour.
For more information about how to get from Buenos Aires to Colonia del Sacramento via the ferry, including photos of the terminal and where to purchase your tickets once there, check out: Buquebus Ferry. You’ll even see what it’s like inside the boats before you go!
I have been travelling a lot the last month both inside of Chile and in neighbouring countries both for work and pleasure, and then a bit more work.
On Monday my wife and I got back from a 5-day investigative trip of Buenos Aires, the sprawling capital of Argentina. We had already been there in 2006 with a group of friends to watch an international rugby match, unfortunately the weather wasn't on our side that time. This time we had blue skies the entire time and since there was only the two of us, we could get a lot more done instead of having to do group consultations every half hour about the next move.
Buenos Aires is huge with so many things to keep you entertained and where you can easily get into a lot of trouble (in a good sense). In 5 days we took 648 photos so expect to see some appearing on this blog but mainly in the pages that we will be creating about What to see and do in Buenos Aires.
Here is one for starters:
On the way back from Buenos Aires we heard that Santiago had been hit by heavy rain and cloaked in cold the whole time we were away... great timing!
It took a while to do put it's now ready... we have just finished writing about the national anthems of the South American countries along with their translation in English. Oh, and we have thrown in a bit of history about them too. Check them out:
Another page is now ready for everyone about Montevideo, the Capital of Uruguay. You will find lots of things to see and do and where to eat and sleep while there.
Also the odd curiosity like: Montevideo has South America's first monument on the subject of promoting sexual diversity.
