C & C globetrotting around the world…

From Buenos Aires, we crossed the Rio de la Plata by ferry (3 hours) to Uruguay. The “River of Silver” is the river and estuary formed by the confluence of the Uruguay River and the Paraná River on the border between Argentina and Uruguay with the major ports and capital cities of Buenos Aires and Montevideo on its western and northern shores, respectively. The coasts of the Río de la Plata are the most densely populated areas of Argentina and Uruguay. It is a funnel-shaped indentation about 290 km long. It widens from about 2 kilometres at the inner part to about 220 kilometres at its mouth. Some geographers consider it a gulf or marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, while others consider it a river. For those who regard it to be a river it is the widest in the world (220km). The Río de la Plata behaves as an estuary in which freshwater and seawater mix. The Río de la Plata basin is the second largest drainage basin in South America. The river was first explored by Europeans in 1516 in search for a passage between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans.

Arrived in Colonia del Sacramento, we walked to our hostel and checked in. This small town of about 25,000 inhabitants was founded by the Portuguese in 1680 to smuggle goods across the Rio de la Plata into Buenos Aires. It was later captured by the Spanish and today is a charming little place. We had lunch in a restaurant and took “Chivito for 2”, the special of the day. Chivito is an Uruguayan dish of thin grilled meat served with ham and cheese and accompanied by fries and salad. Afterwards we walked around town to explore the historic centre. Since it’s very small and compact, it didn’t take very long. We passed some museums, old houses and lots of cobbled streets. There were many cute little terraces on the various plazas and by the riverfront. We walked around, saw the famous “Calle de los Suspiros” with its original colonial houses and cobble stones, but were not so impressed by it. We also saw the fortress wall and walked through the former city gate. The next day we took a 3-hour bus to Montevideo, seeing lots of cattle and sheep on the way (Uruguay is a big exporter of beef).