The Charm of Colonia

Having a free day in Argentina inspired myself and a few others to journey over to Colonia, Uruguay. It gave us the chance to tackle another country that we initially didn’t think we would visit. After our hour long ferry ride docked in Colonia, we met our city walk tour guide. She was an older woman that we referred to as ”The Red Lady” because of her attire consisting of a red beret, long red overcoat, and red gloves complete with red lipstick. 

It was really nice to walk around the streets lined with very old cars and falling colourful leaves. We did our best to keep at The Red Lady’s pace but as she walked rather slowly, and went on in long tangents, we found ourselves drifting in and out of her informational bouts. The main industry (and rather the only industry) in Uruguay, is that of Travel & Tourism. The streets are filled with bed and breakfasts, mo-ped and car rentals, wine excursion advertisements, and quaint little restaurants.

Throughout the day of walking, a stray German Shepherd followed me along. I named him Shepley. Even when we would stop as The Red Lady informed us about a lighthouse or took us into a chapel, he would patiently wait under a tree. When we stopped to eat lunch outside a restaurant very close to shore, he stretched out and had a little rest until we got on our way again. I wanted to give him some affection, but because I have no idea where he had been, I gave him that affection and attention . .  . via foot. He loved it! I rubbed his back and his belly with my feet and he really liked it. He closed his eyes and relaxed like it had been a really long time since he’d been pat or rubbed.

After lunch, Heather, Greg, and I walked down to the shore and stretched out on some big rocks right on the water. It hadn’t been too sunny and warm in Argentina, so it felt really nice to be in some direct sunlight and warmth. We chilled out and sunbathed, listening to the water drift in and out as well as some Drake from Greg’s iPod. At one point a giant dog appeared out of nowhere, panting excitedly over our heads, scaring the crap out of us since we had our eyes closed and were completely “zenned out.”

Before we knew it the day was coming to an end and we headed back to board the ferry that would take us back into Buenos Aires. It was a really charming excursion and felt so good to relax after all the go-go-go in Peru and Argentina thus far. I hope Shepley is continuing to make friends with visitors, and is being patted and rubbed lots!