Kathleen
Uruguay – Colonia
March 30, 2014
Colonia del Sacramento is one of the oldest cities in Uruguay due to its strategic location on a peninsula jutting out into the Rio de la Plata (which opens up into the Atlantic Ocean) and protecting all of the settlements upstream. The old town area is very small and very charming with lovely squares that are the epitome of relaxed, neither hoighty nor bohemian, just Colonian. After about an hour of walking around the peninsula, you have pretty much seen the historical sites and can settle into a cafe for a coffee or glass of beer. If you are lucky, there will be a local or two playing some guitar music. This is a lovely, relaxing little town where you can find shopping and restaurants and a lovely little bed and breakfast. It is definately worth a night or two, especially if you want to relax. We went to see the bull fighting arena on the way out of town. It was build in the early 20th century and completed only several years before bullfighting was outlawed in Uruguay. It was a nicely constructed collosseum, but it wasn’t in very good maintenance and you could only look at it from the outside, so I guess I would say it was missable.
