Once again, another great international journey comes to a close! Gillian and I are aboard our flight from Buenos Aires back to the United States via Atlanta sans any airline strike complications. We spent our final two days in South America split between Uruguay and Argentina, where we collected quite a few more passport stamps leaving and entering each country each time.
On Friday morning, we boarded the Colonia Express ferry from Buenos Aires to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay, for a day trip to see the quieter side of South America. Colonia is about an hour away by boat across the Rio de la Plata, known to the locals as the widest river in the world though it looked more like a delta to me. Colonia is famous for being a UNESCO World Heritage site because much of the historical town center has been preserved since its founding in the 17th century. Colonia first was built by the Portuguese because of its proximity to the Spanish colonial capital of BA. From its shores, the Portuguese could keep an eye on the nearby Spanish as they sought to defend the Portuguese empire centered in Brazil. The city changed hands several times before finally becoming a permanent Spanish settlement.
Instead of wandering around the historical center on our own for the 7 hours between our ferries, we hired a tour guide for the day, Damián. Usually we don't spend as much money as required for a private tour as do-it-your-self travelers; however, the price was fairly reasonable given we were crossing over to Uruguay. Damián was a fantastic tour guide, who showed us more of the city and gave us more history than we could have figured out from the 3-page insert in our BA book. Damián left Argentina 8 years ago in the middle of another financial crisis to escape the instability and fluctuation in the quality of life in the big city across the river. Uruguay is a tiny country of just over 3 million people that is best known for its soccer team, red wine, and offshore banking. Situated between Argentina and Brazil, Uruguay was once a part of the Argentinian territory as a province meant to buffer the country from its big Portuguese neighbor to the north. Now a lively and independent nation with perhaps the best education and quality of life in South America, Uruguay greets visitors with open arms and welcomes the chance to teach others about its culture.
First, we started with a driving tour of the main old town center to get acquainted with the city and to grab a bite from a delicious Italian restaurant. Like Argentina, Uruguay was home to many Italian, English, Spanish, and even Swiss immigrants during the early 20th century who sought a life outside of Europe. From lunch, we drove a bit into the countryside to tour a winery. The winery was small and family-owned, first created by the family's Swiss immigrant descendants that brought grapes from Europe. A particular grape, the Tannat, can really only be found in Uruguay despite its French roots, and it produces strong and full-bodied red wine similar to Argentinian Malbec. The winery also produced its own grappa (wine grape leftovers that become clear liquid like vodka), and they are the only producer of different varieties of grappa (Tannat, Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, etc.) in all of Uruguay.
After finishing the wine tasting (a little lightheaded for certain), we returned to the historical center for a walking tour with some bottled grappa for our enjoyment back to the U.S. The tour was led by a local woman, Maria, who taught us about more of the detailed past of Colonia. For example, the buildings in the city are a mix of Portuguese and Spanish construction. Portuguese buildings were made of rough stone, tiled roofs, and stone alleys that drained downward into the river. Spanish buildings had brick exteriors with flat roofs, iron railings, and streets built to drain down the sides instead of into the river. Maria also showed us the historic basilica that is host to many modern weddings from around the world due to its location and seating capacity.
After the walking tour ended, we rounded out our day with Damián by seeing the remaining sites of Colonia like the beachfront and abandoned bullring from the early 20th century, which was used to attract tourists to Uruguay from BA. We boarded the ferry back to BA after passing through customs and collected even more exit/entry passport stamps. For dinner, we found our way back to the upscale Retiro neighborhood for dinner at the chic Floreria Atlantico. Located in the basement of a flower shop, this restaurant serves up modern Argentinian food with swanky cocktails using their homemade fruit-infused gin. Floreria was an eclectic mix of locals and foreigners on a Friday night and the perfect end to our day of traveling.
On Saturday, our last day in Buenos Aires, we took it a bit easier as we explored the last uncharted neighborhoods of the city. We took a subway, which reminded me of the oldest Paris subway lines because of its tiny cars and painted tile stations, to the mainly Italian area of Palermo. Even though it is named for the infamous mobster city of Sicily, Palermo is now a gentrified and quiet barrio filled with restaurants, shopping, and scenic parks. We stopped quickly by the Plaza Serrano market around 11:30a only to discover the Saturday market was still being setup. It came as no surprise that Porteños do not rise before noon on weekends to begin their days.
After leaving the market, we walked back through Palermo to the major city park, Parque de 3 Febrero. The highlights of the park included Rosedal (rose garden), the modern Planetario Galileo Galilei, and many Porteños enjoying the relatively cool and sunny weekend. We continued to explore Palermo by foot and reached the largest art museum of the city, Museo de Arte Latino-americano de Buenos Aires (Malba). Although the collect wasn't as impressive as we hoped, it contained a few pieces from major Latino artists like Diego Rivera and Frida Kahlo. The mission of Malba is to display Latin America art rather than traditional European pieces found in other art museums, and the impressive modern building will serve as a home for future artists' work from the Americas.
Before rounding out our final few hours in BA, we continued walking back towards Recoleta to visit the much more impressive weekend market there. Dozens of vendors gathered in the park to sell local products and art pieces, and we both picked up a few souvenirs to remember our time in Argentina. Last but not least, we grabbed lunch at a tiny traditional BA parrilla (steakhouse) with mostly locals enjoying the asado (barbecue) of famous Argentinian beef. We spent every last peso we had getting back to the hotel before grabbing a taxi over to Ezeiza international airport for our trip home.
Buenos Aires was a completely different expierence than Rio de Janeiro - not necessarily better or worse. BA is a highly cultured and modern city in the style of many European capitals; however, it retains some of the unique elements that make it a South American destination. The people were friendly and willing to help out visitors, and they were extremely proud of the place they call home in Argentina. Much like New York or other large American cities, BA deserves to be seen on its own. However, I left BA feeling that there were many more places outside of the big city to see, and I hope to return one day to see the wine-filled lands of Mendoza, the plains of Patagonia, and the end of the continent as Argentina touches the Arctic.
While I will be sad to end our adventurous vacation and return to the real world, I leave South America with a newfound appreciation of both the cultures I saw and my own culture. Seeing new places and stepping out of my comfort zone are the reasons why I love to travel so much. Although I have spent much of my time abroad before in Europe, I am very happy to have seen a completely different part of the world in Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires. I'm not sure if or when I'll be back in South America, yet I look forward to learning more about this part of the world either on another trip or by talking with others about my experiences there. Best said in the words of mural I saw leaving Buenos Aires, travel is the only thing that costs money that makes you richer.
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