Colonia, Uruguay - luck, scooters, sunrises
So we had tried to make a day trip to Colonia (thats in Uruguay which lies across the River Plate) on Friday but we couldn't get tix on the Buquebus (pronounced "boo-keh-boos") to get across the river - probably b/c everyone was trying to head to Punta del Este for the new year. So we bought tix for Monday thinking we'd stay overnight and come back on Tuesday - Joyce would jump on her flight back to the US and it would be all nice and tidy.
So Jan 1st happens - we get to sleep around 9 AM or so, wake up like at 2:30 because its hot and uncomfortable and I realize that my photoshop class is on monday night and its one of only 5 classes. so we decide to try to hop the next Buquebus to Colonia - it would leave at 7:15 PM. We shower, pack up stuff and cross our fingers hoping that things work out. Luckily they did. They exchanged our tix - we would leave at 7:15 and come back the following day at 2:30 PM which left me a few hours before my class. Lovely. We had some time to kill so we headed across the street to Puerto Madero (some old warehouses on the water that have been reformed into a ritzy restaurant/housing row). On the way over we crossed paths with like 6 guys who spontaneously started clapping and said "para las chicas mas lindas! feliz año nuevo!" and joyce and I both bowed - thats when you gotta love the argentine guys - they have fun with flirting.
Moving on..we got to Colonia and lucked out when we went to the hostel - there was one spot left and some brazilian girl was ahead of us in line to snag it, but for some random reason, she declined. So we got the spot and they moved in an extra bed so we were all set. Weirdly enough, the receptionist girl was also named Karen b/c of a character in a movie. Karen is unusual in Latin America. Sadly, like me, she doesn't know what movie it came from. Looks like that will always remain a mystery. Anyhow - we drop off our stuff and stumble upon the historic neighborhood. Its dark out so it was tough to take pics. Made for a few artsy ones though.
We had dinner at a grill type place- it was gorgeous - outdoors, massive grill, cozy decor - electronica music wafting through the air (for Argies/Uruguayans - electronica seems to be the music of choice for the fun, modern, carefree summer vibe).
Then we went to another restaurant - 3 levels, right on the water- for tea and dessert. We walked around some more and got to bed around 3 AM. Woke up at 6:15 AM to catch the sunrise,
then got some facturas (breakfast pastries) and at 9:30 AM when the scooter rental place opened we rented a scooter. We drove up 3kms of coastline, another 3 kms of neighborhoods, then 18 kms of road lined with palmtrees. All of this in BRUTAL HEAT (We put on so much sunblock we looked like geisha - hilarious- but better than burning.) We took a side road that led to a mini dock on a river. So cool - dozens of boats everywhere -tons of vacationing people cruising around this river headed toward the River Plate which has the largest delta in the world. Then we went to this tourist ranch thing - not that great, except that we saw south americas largest bird - it's maybe 1/2 the size of an ostrich, but ostriches are like 8 ft tall, so still an impressive animal. We saw a stag with huge antlers, umm...some goats...ducks...horses. We had our usual lunch of salad, turned in the scooter and headed home. It was actually the perfect amount of time to check out this little town. The scooter was awesome - tons of fun. I'd never get one for Bs.As. though - the driving here is like NYC or Paris. Nuts.
So now Joyce is gone -boooooo! She was honestly the perfect travel companion - up for anything - liked to walk - like to talk - tons of fun. Thanks, J!! You're #1 !!! I miss you already!
:D
Tomorrow is photoshop class #2. I saw the professor today and when i started to talk to him he was eating a chocolate bar and when he answered me his teeth were coated in chocolate. Mmmm - a bit of a slob. Anhow - i'm switching to the Tuesday/Thursday class - maybe this class will be less of a freak parade. The people in the first class - ehhhh.
Ciao, peeps.
Karencita
So Jan 1st happens - we get to sleep around 9 AM or so, wake up like at 2:30 because its hot and uncomfortable and I realize that my photoshop class is on monday night and its one of only 5 classes. so we decide to try to hop the next Buquebus to Colonia - it would leave at 7:15 PM. We shower, pack up stuff and cross our fingers hoping that things work out. Luckily they did. They exchanged our tix - we would leave at 7:15 and come back the following day at 2:30 PM which left me a few hours before my class. Lovely. We had some time to kill so we headed across the street to Puerto Madero (some old warehouses on the water that have been reformed into a ritzy restaurant/housing row). On the way over we crossed paths with like 6 guys who spontaneously started clapping and said "para las chicas mas lindas! feliz año nuevo!" and joyce and I both bowed - thats when you gotta love the argentine guys - they have fun with flirting.
Moving on..we got to Colonia and lucked out when we went to the hostel - there was one spot left and some brazilian girl was ahead of us in line to snag it, but for some random reason, she declined. So we got the spot and they moved in an extra bed so we were all set. Weirdly enough, the receptionist girl was also named Karen b/c of a character in a movie. Karen is unusual in Latin America. Sadly, like me, she doesn't know what movie it came from. Looks like that will always remain a mystery. Anyhow - we drop off our stuff and stumble upon the historic neighborhood. Its dark out so it was tough to take pics. Made for a few artsy ones though.
We had dinner at a grill type place- it was gorgeous - outdoors, massive grill, cozy decor - electronica music wafting through the air (for Argies/Uruguayans - electronica seems to be the music of choice for the fun, modern, carefree summer vibe).Then we went to another restaurant - 3 levels, right on the water- for tea and dessert. We walked around some more and got to bed around 3 AM. Woke up at 6:15 AM to catch the sunrise,
then got some facturas (breakfast pastries) and at 9:30 AM when the scooter rental place opened we rented a scooter. We drove up 3kms of coastline, another 3 kms of neighborhoods, then 18 kms of road lined with palmtrees. All of this in BRUTAL HEAT (We put on so much sunblock we looked like geisha - hilarious- but better than burning.) We took a side road that led to a mini dock on a river. So cool - dozens of boats everywhere -tons of vacationing people cruising around this river headed toward the River Plate which has the largest delta in the world. Then we went to this tourist ranch thing - not that great, except that we saw south americas largest bird - it's maybe 1/2 the size of an ostrich, but ostriches are like 8 ft tall, so still an impressive animal. We saw a stag with huge antlers, umm...some goats...ducks...horses. We had our usual lunch of salad, turned in the scooter and headed home. It was actually the perfect amount of time to check out this little town. The scooter was awesome - tons of fun. I'd never get one for Bs.As. though - the driving here is like NYC or Paris. Nuts.So now Joyce is gone -boooooo! She was honestly the perfect travel companion - up for anything - liked to walk - like to talk - tons of fun. Thanks, J!! You're #1 !!! I miss you already!
:D
Tomorrow is photoshop class #2. I saw the professor today and when i started to talk to him he was eating a chocolate bar and when he answered me his teeth were coated in chocolate. Mmmm - a bit of a slob. Anhow - i'm switching to the Tuesday/Thursday class - maybe this class will be less of a freak parade. The people in the first class - ehhhh.
Ciao, peeps.
Karencita
2 Comments:
Is that Princess Bride quote? "Have fun storming the castle!!!!!" God that movie is great.
Dunno whats up with those peeps. C'est dommage, non? Qu'est-ce qu'on peut faire? (i wonder if i spelled that correctly. hehe)
by the way - genius name - alphahore
Seriously bugs me that we wont be able to find him. All we know is his first name....
sigh...
I just wish he knew what fans we are...double sigh. I'll print out a color picture of us and pin it up at Mundo Bizarro..."Joy-ce and Karen looking for Brian the "gato" and through 6 degrees of separation we will find him!!
;)
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