Monday, November 3, 2014

Montevideo to Colonia: still in Uruguay

Wet, wet, wet.

We sloshed through the puddles to find the nearby historic Café Misiones. Even in the rain it has a pretty facade: a lovely lime green antique-tiled frontage. We were lucky: the cafe was just opening; we didn't have a lot of time as we had to return to our B&B to collect our bags & hail a taxi to go to the bus station for our journey to Colonia. But we enjoyed coffees, a couple of bizcochos (sweet or savoury pastries) and a sandwich caliente (toasted ham and cheese croissants); Kathryn had a spectacular hot chocolate which came as a glass of hot milk to which she added 2 bars of chocolate. Yum.



We are now in the Turil bus enroute to Colonia del Sacramento (founded in 1680). The historic quarter, Barrío Historico, was named a UNESCO heritage site in 1995 and has cobblestoned streets & Portuguese style of houses which have been restored & painted in bright colours. The charm of the city derives from its paved streets, the yellow lanterns hanging in the doors, the flowerpots in the windows & a lonely lighthouse looking over the river which surrounds the old city.

It was still wet when we arrived in Colonia - in fact, it was very wet. So we went to lunch at the place across the road from our posada in the Plaza Mayo (the central square). By the time lunch was over, the rain had miraculously cleared & the sun was weakly trying to peek through the clouds. We enjoyed a lovely walk through the old town, along cobbled streets, along the promenade by the Rio de la Plata, along the original city wall & visited numerous shops - it is very touristy here; and eventually ended up enjoying a wine and cerveza (beer) at a nice cafe down by the water. The weather stayed mostly clear & we enjoyed the warmth of what sun there was; but eventually a cool misty rain came in from the sea in the early evening.


Just when we thought we couldn't eat any more, we discovered a wonderful wine bar, El Buen Suspiro. We were lucky that, on arrival, the proprietor organised a table for us; afterwards we saw several groups of people being turned away. We ordered a bottle of tannat plus a cheese platter that came with chorizo, salami, tartas de verdura; followed by the most amazing desserts (postres) and grappas.


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