Day 19 - Buenos Aires Ferry Crossing to Colonia, Uruguay

We have an early start today – grabbing a quick breakfast and coffee before heading toward the Buquebus ferry terminal on foot. Arriving in the large terminal – we go through security (felt up again!!) and grab a seat in the large departure hall. The hundreds of passengers slowly matriculate on to the boat – grabbing seats on either the upper or lower decks. We grab two of the cushy seats next to the window, and watch as the ferry slowly churns its way into the open water. From gate to gate, the crossing took about an hour and a half – as the unloading and passing through the lax security added a little extra time. We proceed to the information desk to inquire about our tour bus of the city and we were informed the tour left in 1 hour.

This meant we had time for a slow stroll around the small, colonial town of – Colonia. Primarily subsisting on tourism, Colonia is a small, cute town consisting of an old ruined fort, cobbled streets, a beautiful sea-side view, and dozens of restaurants lining the main roads. We head for our tour bus at the allotted time – and are met with, an empty bus. It turns out the main tourists are Argentinian and they don’t get many English speaking tourists. With the two of us, the driver, and a tour guide with a very thick Spanish accent – we head around Colonia. It was a very slow, somewhat informative, tour of the town – highlighting the old bull ring, now derelict, as well as informing us of various historical facts.

We finish our private tour with the information that our 19:30 ferry had been cancelled and had been changed to 20:30. It was now 17:00 and we’d seen most of what there was to see already. We headed into the small colonial church, very stark in construction – which was actually a nice change from the opulence of most churches we visit.

Heading down to the seaside – we enter a restaurant with a view of the port. Eating a surprisingly delicious dinner (not just salt for a change!) with a few relaxing drinks – we absorb the last of the sun’s rays and watch the beautiful sunset over the water. It was now time to catch our ferry - where we had a nice gentle crossing back in to Argentina, having an excellent final night in Buenos Aires.