We left our Buenos Aires apartment early and headed to the ferry terminal for the 8:15 am ferry to Colonia del Sacremento, Uruguay. Apparently a lot of people also do this as a day trip from BA. The ferry took about two hours.
Upon reaching port, we dragged our luggage to our accomodations at Celestino Hostel which was located 2 blocks away from the ferry terminal and an eight minute walk from the old town. Conveniently there is also a hospital on the same block in case I have to make yet another trip to the doctor.
We couldnt check in for an hour so we dropped our luggage off and checked out the Saturday street market a few blocks away and stopped at a sidewalk restaurant with a gorgeous view of the colonial building across the street for lunch.
After checking into our hostel, we walked along the grassy shoreline towards the Old Town. Many families were enjoying picnics overlooking the water. We found many Quaker parakeet nests in the palm trees around us and there were always Quakers flying above or squawking in the treetops.
We crossed the drawbridge into the Old Town which was a mix of colonial Portuguese and Spanish architecture and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Beautiful blooms including Jacaranda trees and bougainvillea were everywhere. It was totally lovely.
We took a break at an artesian ice cream place before heading back to the hostel for a nap.
We were up in time to go back to the waterfront in the Old Town to watch the sunset. And what a sunset…it actually set right into the ocean and set the sky on fire. Pure magic.
We stopped for a yummy pasta supper at a quaint restaurant and made our way back to home base for the night.