9-14 (Sunday)



The alarm went off at 6:00 but I had been awake since 4:30. We went to breakfast three times before it was open. We gulped down our food and then went out to grab a cab to the Buquebus where we would take a hydrofoil to Uruguay. We got a metered cab for about $5.



We ran upstairs to immigration only to find out we hadn´t checked in. They sent us back downstairs where we checked in and got our documents. Back upstairs we went to have our passports stamped a couple of times.



Sacramento or Colonia as it is known is in the southwest corner of Uruguay. It is about an hour across the Rio de la Plata (river) from Buenos Aires by hydrofoil.



The Portuguese founded the area in 1680. In 1995 it was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO.



We walked to the Visitor´s Center with a couple and their son from Houston. They were worried about what might have happened to their new house during hurricane Ike. Their son is working with the Peace Corp in Paraguay.



It was so cold on the boat and when we got off. I kept thinking the sun was going to break through and sure enough it did.



The town is very small so we didn´t have any trouble covering all the sights. We saw the City Gate, the Street of Sighs (an old Portuguese street with the original cobble stones. It has houses on both sides belonging to the first colonial period.) The Plaza Mayor: created during the foundation of the city. It´s the larges open space in the area. It was originally used for military maneuvers. The Lighthouse which was begun in 1845 and completed in 1857. The original ruins of the Viceroy´s House. The Basilica of the Holy Sacrament with its two bell towers. The 1866 wharf.



We shopped and Barbara bought her mate (pronounced ma-tay cup and straw plus two boxes of mate. I bought a mate spoon and a Christmas ornament. We had lunch at a darling restaurant. We split a meal of chicken with mushrooms and ham and some delicious potatoes. The whole meal was fabulous.



We walked all over town one final time looking at the colonial building and houses. We hurried on to the Buquebus station at 3:00 for our 4:00 departure. the station was packed. At least the boat was warmer going back to Buenos Aires.