un día en Colonia, Uruguay / a day in Colonia, Uruguay

Last week I hopped on an hour-long ferry to Colonia, Uruguay for the day...

The day before I bought my ferry tickets, arrived forty-five minutes before the ferry was supposed to depart, went through passport control for Argentina/customs for Uruguay, and hopped on the boat. After a much needed hour long nap, I woke up in Colonia, Uruguay with my friend Emily! 

Buenos Aires, Argentina --> Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay

The purpose of this quick trip was two-fold: get to see Colonia and "renew" my tourist visa. Obtaining a work visa in Argentina is quite complicated so I am on a tourist visa which lasts for three months. Therefore, I have to leave the country every three months. Since Colonia is the most affordable option of doing so, I hopped over to Uruguay! Colonia is a small town, full of cobblestone roads, beautiful landscapes, and a quiet lifestyle. We walked around the old town in the morning,

 and then found the "faro", or lighthouse, which we ascended to see the views from the top!

After that we wandered around the old city, checked out the views of the water, the old gate of the city (where we met a group of school children on a field trip), artisan shops, and were even offered free wine and cheese from one of the restuarants! From our very few interactions with "Uruguayos", they seem much more laid back than Argentinians. We saw many sitting on benches with maté gourds and thermoses of hot water, when you entered a store they didn´t rush up to greet you but instead would say something like welcome, take your time looking around, and at restaurants/cafés, we had to ask the waiters if we wanted something, otherwise they would be fine with you sitting there for hours without ordering anything. In Spanish, I would use the word "tranquilo" to describe them, meaning very calm, relaxed, and laid-back. It was wonderful getting out of the hustle and bustle of the city for the day and wandering around in this "tranquilo" environment. 

While we were at lunch, huge clouds started rolling in. By the time we were boarding our ferry back to Buenos Aires, it was downpouring!

Thankfully we had a beautiful morning and got to explore Colonia before the rain began. We returned to Buenos Aires with our "new tourist visa" which is valid for another three months...it was a successful day!

ps. Uruguay is one hour ahead in time zones so we left at 6PM Uruguay time and arrived at 6PM Buenos Aires time...AWESOME!