Today was a highly anticipated day for thetwinsontour because we got to throw in a surpise bonus country on our trip. Well it wasn’t really a surprise. Months and months ago we found out that Uruguay was only a one hour ferry ride from Buenos Aires. From that moment, we knew it was destined to be our 63rd country!

Once again the Argentians proved their love of a good line (or a mob of chaos loosely disguised as a line) at the ferry terminal. The website says you have to arrive 2 hours early for the ferry. We got there a little late at 6:25 for our 8:15 ferry. But you know what we couldn’t do? Get in line to check in! They only check in one boat at a time. We had to wander around and wait for the opportunity to wait in line. They didn’t start that process until 7:00, and that was just at one of the windows. By the time I realized it (like 7:00 and 30 seconds) the line was wrapped all the way around the waiting hall. Then they opened a 2nd window, so we hopped in that much shorter line. What a mistake! It was more a mass than a line, and people formed lines off of lines and refused to merge because they were adamant that they were the ones in line. Anyways that much shorter line took significantly longer than the line wrapped around the building. Everyone around us was getting worried about missing the boat because it was taking so long. I even sent my sister to another line to see how fast it was. We finally made it through the check in and thought we were in the clear with just enough time to spare. But guess what? We had to wait in another line at passport control! That one moved much faster though. Then we thought we would be able to jump on the ferry right in time for the 8:15 departure, but there was another line! They didn’t start boarding anyone until after 8:15. I have no idea if that is normal operating procedure or if they were just late that day.

Visiting Uruguay was worth the effort because we have never been there and also because it was a beautiful old town that dates back hundreds of years to the Portuguese, then to the Spanish, and back to the Portuguese a couple of more times. I’m pretty sure the old town was also a UNESCO world heritage sight, so you know it has to be good. You can tell who built the buildings by the materials used. The Portuguese used stones and the Spanish used bricks. There’s also some differences in the construction of the cobblestone streets, but don’t ask me what.

Anyways Colonia was delightful, and I am sure it is much different than the rest of Uruguay. We stuck to the area around the old town wandering around taking pictures, eating ice cream, and going to a few souvenir shops looking for a good magnet for the collection. It was very laid back and was not crowded at all. There were far more street dogs than local people. So apparently street dogs are very well taken care of because you pay a tax every year for each dog that you have. Those taxes are used towards the veterinary care of the street dogs. The dogs are very friendly and will let you pet them. Apparantly most people just live in Colonia as a summer home for a couple of months a year. These people have dogs. Then when they leave at the end of the summer, they leave the dogs behind? I know, it doesn’t make much sense to me either. How can you be rich enough to have a second house, but not be rich enough to take care of your dog? They just follow the tourists around and lay at their feet in the sidewalk cafes waiting for a bite to eat. For being street dogs they all looked well fed.

Speaking of being well fed, our guide let us eat little berries off a tree. I have no idea what they were, but they were tasty. For lunch we ate the national dish of Uruguay for lunch and it was super delicious! Chivito is thinly sliced (and very chewy) beef, topped with ham, mozzarella, and a not runny fried egg sandwich. There was also some lettuce, tomato and mayo on there, but that is not what made it a culinary delight. It is also typically served with fries, but that costs extra and thetwinsontour don’t care for fries.

Oh yes, we had some ice cream as well. Everybody knows the twinsontour love ice cream. Besides have you really visited a country if you haven’t had any ice cream there? We found a scenic little ice cream shop at the end of a cobblestone road with a view of the river. There were several other ice cream places around, but this one was the most picturesque and Instagram worthy. We went a little exotic and got wine flavored ice cream! It wasn’t as good as I had hoped, but it was definitely unique. They also had beer flavored ice cream which sounds gross to me. Anyways the wine ice cream was actually a milk based ice cream with a mild wine flavor. I think it would have been amazing as a sorbet because I don’t know anyone who drinks milk and wine together. It was called crema tannant which is a kind of wine.

 

That pretty much sums up our day in Uruguay. Of course there were a few more lines to wait in to catch the return ferry, but I will spare you those details.

Love,

thetwinsontour