Breakfast at seven seemed like a good idea last night but three hours sleep later it didn’t look so good. We were forced to get up due to the fact that check out was 10. We went down and checked out and decided not to mop around the hotel for the day so we went for a last visit to the beautiful Montevideo.
Today was Sunday and Montevideo like all South American cities shuts down all of it’s shops for the day. We headed down towards the old city. We really didn’t know what to expect from the old city. As we entered the old city we were met by groups of entertainers and street performers. Unusual women danced with trees while the band performed traditional Uruguayan music. We entered a building to be met by female dancers performing to a band. The dance had the crowd in a trance, drawing the spectators into them with their swift and beautiful movement. As we walked around the square we were surrounded by street stalls and lads performing spinning tricks with footballs. The old town had so much entertainment that we all could have spent the day in the square but Colonia was our next stop.
After a two and a half hour bus journey we arrived in Colonia del Sacramento, west of Montevideo. Colonia was the first city of Uruguay. It was a very big trade area. The streets are cobble but it’s not as bumpy as the ones in Paraty. Colonia is an old town of historic importance. A friendly atmosphere can also be felt. The hotel we are staying in is old fashioned and has a pier at the rear. The hotel was in the style of a courtyard with the rooms surrounding it. Andy and Mike are sharing a room with me, so there might be a bit of snoring! After settling into our rooms, we all decided to take a walk of the city. Carlos, Andy, Brett, Julie and Jennifer decided to go on Golf buggies……taking the easy way out. After they revved their engines, we started our walk along the coast, and as usual had to pose for our daily group photos.
We took in the view from the beautiful River Plate. Mike got a bit lazy and decided to jump onto the golf buggies brigade. A beautiful Lighthouse greeted us as the sun was beating down on our heads. Unfortunately the Lighthouse was closed for the day so we couldn’t get a view of Colonia from the top of the lighthouse. A fort was the next port of call and we felt like we were in a scene from a pirate film with the draw bridge. As the sun was about to set we took our places by the edge of the River Plate. I have never really bothered seeing the sun set before but our view of a far off island made this a very picturesque scene with the sun disappearing behind the island like Shergar (where are you??). In fairness to Tom he took a nice shot of this and he is always on the ball with the camera! After a few akward silences as we gazed at the glorious sun set we decided to eat by the River in an old converted lighthouse. Inside it was like a castle and we even had our own room. We had the usual craic at the meal with Mike being the usual topic of conversation (Miiiiiiikkkkkkkkkkkeeeeee). The food was delicious and we were all set for bed after one too many nights of partying. Tomorrow its Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aires which we have heard lots of great things about and maybe we will see Mike do the Tango.
Thanks for stopping by,
Gary
Today was Sunday and Montevideo like all South American cities shuts down all of it’s shops for the day. We headed down towards the old city. We really didn’t know what to expect from the old city. As we entered the old city we were met by groups of entertainers and street performers. Unusual women danced with trees while the band performed traditional Uruguayan music. We entered a building to be met by female dancers performing to a band. The dance had the crowd in a trance, drawing the spectators into them with their swift and beautiful movement. As we walked around the square we were surrounded by street stalls and lads performing spinning tricks with footballs. The old town had so much entertainment that we all could have spent the day in the square but Colonia was our next stop.
After a two and a half hour bus journey we arrived in Colonia del Sacramento, west of Montevideo. Colonia was the first city of Uruguay. It was a very big trade area. The streets are cobble but it’s not as bumpy as the ones in Paraty. Colonia is an old town of historic importance. A friendly atmosphere can also be felt. The hotel we are staying in is old fashioned and has a pier at the rear. The hotel was in the style of a courtyard with the rooms surrounding it. Andy and Mike are sharing a room with me, so there might be a bit of snoring! After settling into our rooms, we all decided to take a walk of the city. Carlos, Andy, Brett, Julie and Jennifer decided to go on Golf buggies……taking the easy way out. After they revved their engines, we started our walk along the coast, and as usual had to pose for our daily group photos.
We took in the view from the beautiful River Plate. Mike got a bit lazy and decided to jump onto the golf buggies brigade. A beautiful Lighthouse greeted us as the sun was beating down on our heads. Unfortunately the Lighthouse was closed for the day so we couldn’t get a view of Colonia from the top of the lighthouse. A fort was the next port of call and we felt like we were in a scene from a pirate film with the draw bridge. As the sun was about to set we took our places by the edge of the River Plate. I have never really bothered seeing the sun set before but our view of a far off island made this a very picturesque scene with the sun disappearing behind the island like Shergar (where are you??). In fairness to Tom he took a nice shot of this and he is always on the ball with the camera! After a few akward silences as we gazed at the glorious sun set we decided to eat by the River in an old converted lighthouse. Inside it was like a castle and we even had our own room. We had the usual craic at the meal with Mike being the usual topic of conversation (Miiiiiiikkkkkkkkkkkeeeeee). The food was delicious and we were all set for bed after one too many nights of partying. Tomorrow its Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aires which we have heard lots of great things about and maybe we will see Mike do the Tango.
Thanks for stopping by,
Gary
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