So many events have happened and I
only have so little time to write about them… and sort through the piles of
photos that have been taken (and believe me there are a loooot of photos!). I am kind of busy looking for and applying to internships right now so that is kind of important. Not that I don't think blogging and keeping you up to date is important. But I kinda really need to get an internship. That said, if you have any helpful tips/ideas on internships in international companies, feel free to email me or leave a comment ;)
Anyway, in this post I'll go on yet another detour from my Semana Santa adventures and tell you about the last weekend when two friends, Stephan and Laura, who are
currently spending their semester abroad in Buenos Aires were visiting Sebastian
H. and me in Montevideo.Of course we had to come up with a tourist program that
would show them the most of this great city in only a weekend’s time!
So I was thinking up things to do
and ways to entertain them when Pablo invited me to go on a daytrip to Colonia
del Sacramento with his family. After consulting Sebastian whether or not
it was ok to leave him alone with all the tourist guide duties on Saturday I
decided to go on a trip to Colonia. I wanted to go there for a while now anyway and it was the perfect opportunity.
Early on Saturday morning after a very brief breakfast we started out towards Colonia. On the way there
we stopped for a second breakfast/”elevensies”
and continued on to visit a place called Colonia Suiza Nueva Helvecia.
Pablo’S dad explained to me that there used to be different settlements from all
kinds of different origins. And the one we visited was the swiss one. Which is
comes pretty close to being German. Well… Southern German. Which as we all know is the best part of Germany, so well done Colonia Suiza!
So we were greeted by a big entrance
thingy that was built to look like a traditional Swiss/German house. Next we
saw a “Maibaum” (=maypole) with the emblems of the different Swiss cantons on
them. On top there were the flags of Uruguay, Germany, Austria and of course
Switzerland and in the center there was a giant loaf of (artificial) cheese.
Grüezi!
Having me some Swiss cheese
We also went to a place where
they sold homemade jam and cheese. Of course I couldn’t pass up the opportunity
to get me a filling of raspberry jam.
We also got to see a church with
lots of inscriptions in German and a German Bible on display. Though that place
was slightly creepy because it was kind of foggy/cloudy and the church was rather
bare with very few adornments (unusual for such a church), some of the windows
were barred or had shutters and there was one of those tiny kids’ merry-go-rounds
outside in the courtyard. Pablo’s sister Lucía fittingly noted that the only
thing missing for a horror movie would be if the merry-go-round were spinning
in the wind and making squeaky noises.
Lucía, Pablo and Lucía's mom Brenda, me and Pablo in front of the spooky church
German Bible
Cuties!
Pablo making a new friend
After that we were finally headed
for Colonia, where we first went to see the Plaza de Toros which was a
bullfight arena back in the day. It kinda looks like the colosseum in Rome. Unfortunately
we could only see it from the outside because due to danger of collapse it’s
forbidden to enter it which makes it kinda boring. But only a little bit
because it's still pretty cool architecture with Arabic infulence (or so I'd say).
Plaza de Toros (what's left of it)
Right next to the arena however
there is a super cool steamtrain museum/restaurant. We didn’t eat there because
it was crazy expensive but the old wagons were just so pretty that we took lots
and lots of pictures. But then again we did that the whole day.
Choo Choo!
Waiting on a train to come
It's German porcelain mates!
I didn't even know such thing as a mate exists in Germany.
I also didn't know what those porcelain mates had to do with the train museum.
Judging from the size, this was supposed to be for kids to play with...
...but then again, aren't we all still kids?
Ringing that bell
Afterwards we drove along the
Rambla of Colonia until we came to the point where it ends and where we found a
super cool tree. And the monkeys that we are we of course didn’t pass up the
chance to climb it.
Lucía and I under the tree
Pablo being a gentleman and helping me get up in the tree...
...and then launching himself up there with an elegant upswing
Monkeys in a tree
Our facial expressions say it all
Romeo and Juliet gone monkey
Brenda and Jorge
(Pablo and Lucía's parents)
Since we were all kinda hungry we
decided to have something to eat and because Colonia is one of Uruguay’s most
expensive cities (and the country itself is pretty expensive as well) we went
to one of the many “carritos” or food trucks and had some “milanesas” (=schnitzel).
Somehow we got to talk with a guy from the Netherlands and a girl from the US who
were behind us in line to get food. We found out that the guy was was called
Misha and works at the Dutch embassy in Buenos Aires. He was only gonna be in
Montevideo for the long weekend (Whitsun!). The girl was called Quinnen and she
is travelling around South America and visiting Uruguay before heading towards
the waterfalls of Iguazú. Long story short we made new friends and invited them
to join us and our friends that were visiting from Buenos Aires for a city tour
the following day.
With our new friends Misha and Quinnen
After that we went on to explore
the most historic part of Colonia – the Ciudad Vieja (=old city). And since
Colonia is one of the oldest settlements in Uruguay that part is really really
reeeaaaallllyyyy old. At some points there were still the original cobbled
streets and you could see how the houses weren’t built with stones that were
all the same size, but with stones of all different sizes and shapes that were cemented
together. In between there were all kinds of colorful flowers and old cars. And
by old I don’t only refer to the old Volkswagen bugs but also really antique models. Some of
which belonged to a restaurant which had equipped them with tables and other props.
Pretty neat!
Cobbled street romanticism
Pretty streets, pretty houses, pretty flowers, pretty Lucía
How rad are these?!
Meals on wheels
Slug Bug!!
Colonia's Lighthouse
The View
We were convinced that those pigeons spend their day flying back and forth between the walls of those ruins and poop on tourists that want to take pictures
Oops!!
Lucía and the mime
Fire at will!
Let's pull up the drawbridge so the enemy stays out
The next stop was “Calle de los
suspiros” (= street of sighs) where Pablo and Lucía kept telling me I had to
take a picture because it’s so famous and iconic. I didn’t really know why but
I figured my good friend google might be able to help me out on that. So I took
the obligatory pictures and we went into one of the houses that accommodated an
art gallery. It also had one room equipped as if it were a kitchen of former
times which I found pretty cool. I also really liked how some of the walls of
the street’s houses were wonderfully colorful. And of course by now I have consulted
with good old google and found out that is a remainder of the colonial times
and part of the UNESCO world heritage. And also that there are quite a few
legends ranking around it involving death row criminals, sailors and
prostitutes, the noise of the wind blowing through the street and a love story
with a tragic end. I’ll leave it up to
you to pick your favorite.
Very iconic: the white and blue tiles that are used to indicate street names
Just like in the good ole days
Jorge on the outside looking in
After that we made our way
towards the church square where we had a little coffee and “panqueques (crêpes)
de dulce de leche” break. Again very delicious. And the café was one of the cutest I have ever seen. Think rustic stone walls and antiques meet pastels. We then went to see the church
before heading back home and spending a slow evening looking at the pictures
and recounting our stories to Pablo’s uncle and aunt.
Note that thing I'm standing on is a wine cellar!
I loved how they un-matched their cups and saucers
Revenge for the lighthouse "accident"
Altogether it was a very fine day
with very fine people and I got to scratch Colonia off of my “Places I want to
visit in Uruguay”-bucket list.
And yes, I am going to tell you
about our Montevideo city tour next and only after that I will continue with my
Semana Santa stories. Sorry for all the confusion but it really makes more
sense to throw in this weekend trip now that it is still hot and crunchy in my memory.
