After the travel hell of the last few days, we didn’t get to bed until after 3am. Not ideal. Nevertheless, we set the alarm for 1027am in order to make it to breakfast before they shut it down at 11. There wasn’t a ton to choose from, but we managed. It was infinitely more food available than Avianca provides these days. We had scheduled the Buquebus ferry to Uruguay at 1215, so we didn’t have a lot of time before we took an Uber to the ferry docks about 8 minutes away. It was very crowded onboard and despite the ferry being multiple levels and able to accommodate cars and probably hundreds of people, there were no seats to be found for two people. Being introverts, we tucked behind a TV display next to a window and hid out in our little nook for the roughly hour long ferry to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay.
It was a slightly chaotic exit as hundreds of people rushed to go . . .somewhere that wasn’t Colonia. I think some people hopped on buses to Montevideo. Others were maybe making it a beach day. Those actually going into the old town of Colonia were very few. In fact, it felt a bit like a ghost town.
It is a typical old Spanish colonial town with cobblestone streets and aesthetically appealing old buildings which are deteriorating in the most pleasant way. We ate lunch near the shore in a cafe ventilated by just a few fans. It was hot out today — about 98º, but between the natural breeze from the wind and a few fans, it became manageable. We shared queso fundido (basically just a big bowl of melted cheese with some tomatoes mixed in), which Nicole had misinterpreted as a cheese and tomato sandwich.
We spent the next couple of hours walking around the old town of Colonia, stopping to take a few pictures here and there while also popping into a few shops — lingering a bit longer in the ones that had good air conditioning. We ended up getting an Uruguayan flag pin for Nicole’s bag, a magnet, and I also got a national team jersey for Uruguay. All in all, a pretty successful outing.
We thought our ferry back to Buenos Aires was at 515pm, so we were leisurely progressing through the customs line around 445pm without much concern. As it turned out, everyone in line around us had ferry tickets for a different company called Colonia Express, not the Buquebus like us. A keen-eyed (and very helpful) employee noticed that our tickets were different and started fast-tracking us through the customs for both Uruguay’s exit and Argentina’s arrival desk. We cut off a lot of people in line as we did this.
We didn’t fully understand what all the fuss was about until we apparently confused our departure time by about fifteen minutes. The ferry was actually set to leave at 5:01pm, not 5:15. As it was now about 455pm, we could appreciate their hustle. A few minutes after boarding, they pulled the gangplank and we were off — a rather efficient way to be processed and also spend a bit more time in Colonia in the end. If we had been more responsible individuals and arrived ahead of time, we would have probably spent at least forty minutes in the various check-in and customs lines. There’s a lesson to be learned in all this, but I’m not entirely sure what it is.
After our hour ferry back to Buenos Aires, we disembarked back into Argentina and took an Uber back to the Hilton Curio collection. Tango was happening in the plaza outside the hotel, as if this is just a normal thing. There are places around here that sell very upscale dinner shows for upwards of $75 per person to watch tango, but we can just see it happening on the streets outside our window for free. It also seemed slightly more authentic. We then took a walk around the San Telmo neighborhood. After walking for about ten minutes, I recognized a direction sign to a plaza that sounded familiar. I did a quick google search and discovered that said plaza was known for Eva Peron’s balcony appearances.
The architecture and also the general layout of this part of the city had more sweeping boulevards and plazas which were reminiscent of Paris. We slowly walked back to the hotel to have Nicole’s first margherita pizza of the trip under the strung lights and pleasant outdoor atmosphere of the Curio collection’s central patio.
Tomorrow we do have to go back to an airport, but this time it will be the closer Jorge Newbery airport, which is not far from the ferry dock. We are scheduled to take a domestic flight down to El Calafate, the Argentinian entry point to the Patagonia region. There aren’t a huge amount of seats, so hopefully it all works out ok. Navigating Newbery airport is a bit like a tango itself, but without all the sophistication and sensibilities. Maybe it’s not like tango at all. Maybe it’s just a bad airport. We will all find out tomorrow. 💃
passports & pepto bismol 