Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay

Lighthouse at Colonia

Thirty miles across the Rio Plata from Buenos Aires is a very old colonial town founded about 1680, Colonia del Sacramento. It is easily reached by taking the Buquebus catamaran ferry from the waterfront. Crowds disperse in many directions upon landing. We headed up Rivera street to 18th of Julio and turned left, walking for several blocks to our hotel, Posada del Gobernador.

The hotel was just on the edge of the Barrio Historico and next to the old Portuguese church, Basilica del Santisimo Sacramento, simple and very beautiful. The streets are paved with uneven cobbles and the original colonial houses of Portuguese and Spanish design which line the streets are one-story stone, brick, and tile structures. Throughout the historic district there are small museums. A few were open, though high season is over and fall is beginning here. The remnants of the original walls of the city attest to the many conflicts between the Portuguese and Spanish for this little peninsula of land where the river narrows.

For dinner we ate pasta at a small restaurant and at about 9:00pm three musicians (keyboard, drums, and saxophone) began to play jazz. The old yellow street lamps, now electified, lit our way back with a soft glow.

Colonia was a quiet step back into history for us, and one of our favorite places.