Colonia del Sacramento

One of the most popular day trips from Buenos Aires is to Colonia, Uruguay, which is Uruguay's oldest city and was founded by the Portuguese. Danielle and I decided to check it out, if for nothing else than to add another stamp to the old Passport.

I recently read that only 30% or something of Americans even have a passport---neither of my parents do--while mine is one of my prized possessions. We do live in a freaking huge country, but c'mon people!

On a side note, living near Canada as we do now, they offer a half-price passport (which is more like a driver's license) that will allow you to travel to Canada and Mexico but that's it. Not sure of the point of this...I say spend the extra $50 or whatever and get the real deal.

To get to Colonia you will have to take a ferry. There are 2 types of service: fast (about 1 hour) and slow (about 3 + hours). You will be crossing the Rio Plata, which is one of the widest rivers in the world. In fact, it may be the widest...I'm just too lazy to look it up. Suffice to say, you can't see across to the other side so it looks like the ocean rather than a river emptying into an ocean and the Argentinians will sunbathe and hang out on the banks just like at the beach.

Buquebus is the ferry service and you catch the ferry at Puerto Madero in BA. The terminal looks exactly like an airport and it can get very crowded, so you may want to buy online or in advance. Definitely take the fast ferry...to save a few dollars is SO not worth being stuck on a ferry all day (although the ferry is huge and super modern, complete with duty-free shopping).

Uruguay is 1 hour ahead, so factor that into your plans. And don't forget your passport.

Unfortunately, it started raining after we got there, which put a damper on our plans to rent scooters and cruise around the city and countryside. Instead, we opted for covered golf carts!

Yes, that is a Uruguay shweatshirt I'm wearing...did I mention it also got pretty cold. That dang sweatshirt cost like $50 and ended up getting holes in it a few months later and had to be given to Goodwill. Still pissed.....

We cruised all around, went down 1-way streets, made illegal U-turns and pretty much made road nuisances out of ourselves but it was SO fun and really recommended. Walking can get pretty blinking tiring after awhile.

We also checked out some museums on the history of the town and the Portuguese influence.

While I had a great time, Colonia for me was a one trip only kind of place. It was cool to see another country (and it's much closer than Montevideo the capital) but it wasn't that exciting that I'd want to go back. You can definitely see everything in 1 day and probably still have time before your ferry is due to depart.