March 02nd
We arrived in Montevideo Airport with a taxi waiting for us with our name on a paquard … talk about a great service. We booked this service online through Remise, a private cab. It cost $37.00USD, which is better then what the hotel was going to charge, $55.00USD.
We got settled in after midnight and ready to start our next day.
March 03rd
Had a super breakfast which was included in the cost of the room. It is so good to have fresh fruit and homemade fruit cocktail again.
We got ourselves ready, checked the weather and decided we better go to Colonia del Sacramento as the following two days has a chance of thunder showers in that area. Colonia del Sacramento is recognized as a UNESCO world heritage site since 1995.
Instead of paying about $110.00CDN to do a tour of this region, we took a taxi to the Bus Terminal Tres Cruces Mall. The taxi cost 180.00UPS and at the bus terminal there are two bus lines that will take you to Colonia del Sacramento, which is about 3 hours away, and costs 323.00UPS. We took the bus through the company COT. The two bus companies charge the same amount, but this company had a bus leaving in half an hour. The bus has lots of leg room, is very comfortable and has free WiFI!
We were able to get a bus leaving at 11:30am which would get us there at approximately 2:20pm. We decided when we got to Colonia del Sacramento that we better purchase a return ticket because of the possibility of the bus being full upon our return. We were so glad that we did this as many people had to stand on the bus for quite a distance.
You enter through the ancient gate. What I like about this historic site is that they put in copper nails along the wall where the original wall and base are that separates from the restored wall that was rebuilt 1968 -1971.
We walked around the old cobblestoned streets and observed some parts of structures that were built in the 1600’s up to the 1800’s and were in great shape. From old walls, a gate, some buildings and even an original Portuguese street. The photo below shows this original Portuguese street called Street of Sighs.
We were impressed with some of the structures, but also surprised at how many buildings were abandoned in this area as well. Various interesting structures including the Basilica of the Holy Sacrament.
We found some strange doorways that were very narrow ...
... and very short.
A lot of the old buildings had lanterns placed to give the appearance of old, but also would create quite the ambiance at night.
We stopped at this restaurant and tried a local dish we heard about and was suggested we try. The dish was called Chivito Canadian and was a type of sandwich with many types of meat and vegetables.
When the waitress took our order, I mentioned that we were going to share it. I then ordered “Dos Cervesa’s”. I was ordering 2 one litre beer called Pilsen. Well, the look on her face suggested that maybe we should just order one. We all laughed about this, including the waitress. When she brought the beer it was a lot bigger than I thought, but I know we could have handled the two bottles. LOL
After enjoying the Chivito Canadian and the one litre beer, the waitress came up and mentioned that she was off work in a few minutes. I asked for the bill, so she would get the tip as she was a great waitress and full of fun. After paying the bill, I shook her hand and she leaned over and gave a Uruguayan kiss on the cheek. I just love the openness and kindness of South American people. I don’t think it is customary for the waitresses to kiss their patrons on the cheek, but it certainly put a smile on my face. Such a joy … I just love this part of the world.
We had booked our bus tickets to return to Montevideo leaving at 8pm. We are certainly glad we did not book a later bus ride as many of the businesses in this area were closing at 6pm, and this was Saturday! We were looking for a place to drink a cold one, as it was over 29 degrees Celsius today. A couple of the places we were interested in visiting had just closed. We ended up having a cold one at the bus terminal. Not the ambiance we were looking for, but the beer was good. LOL
