So last weekend we went to Buenos Aires (and spent a little time in Colonia on the way). Friday morning we left and took a bus to Colonia. Colonia is the first settlement in present day Uruguay and it was actually a Portuguese settlement. Basically for smuggling. After the Portuguese settled there in Colonia the Spanish soon settled in Uruguay and created Montevideo. There isn't a lot to do in Colonia but it's a nice, relaxing, quiet town. Outside of the town there is a place where you can go see the largest pencil collection and the second largest keychain collection. They also sell jams so we got to try some, and some interesting flavors. After that we went into the city and saw the old bull fighting arena which actually was only operational for a month. So it's kinda falling apart and you can't go in there. Some people wanted to make Colonia a big tourist city and so they built a lot including this bull fighting area and a month after it opened Uruguay outlawed bull fighting so it's been sitting there decaying. After lunch we went around town and saw some museums (the first one was the only one worth going to, it had a fossil of a 4 ft armadillo!!!) We also went up the lighthouse! And from the shore in Colonia we could barely see Buenos Aires. We took a ferry there!
The first night in BA we just went out and found a place to eat and then walked along 9 de Julio, which is one of the widest avenues in the world. Apparently there is one that is about an inch wider in Brazil. (there competition between Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay is hilarious) We walked down to the congress building and back.
Saturday they took us around. We went to Plaza de Mayo and saw the Casa Rosado and Cathedral and then we went to La Boca and Recoleta. In the cemetery in Recoleta we saw the tomb of Evita, as well as some other tombs. It was very interesting. After that we had lunch and then went to the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes and stayed there for about an hour. There were paintings of Monet and Rembrandt, and Van Gogh, and a lot of Latin American artist. Unfortunately only one floor was open because they're doing some remodeling. After we looked at some of the markets.
Sunday we went to church and stayed for lunch. We met a lot of people there and then we hung out with one of the guys that afternoon. We wanted to go to San Telmo but by the time we could it would have been pretty late so we just walked around. That night we went and got pizzas at a place that the guy said was really cheap and then we went by the obelisk and ate. Monday the other girls went to a zoo that was 2 hours away and they had a lot of fun petting tigers and lions and feeding elephants and crazy stuff. I thought about going but it sounded really sketchy. I just hung out close by in Buenos Aires. Unfortunately everything closes on Mondays in BA. We went down to the park and the rose garden was closed, and the planetarium was closed, and the zoo was closed, and the japanese garden was open but we were cheap and didn't want to pay 25 pesos ($5). So we went back to Plaza de Mayo and nearby was Tortoni's which is a pretty awesome (but expensive) cafe. Then we went to an awesome book store!!! It was an old theatre which had been changed into a bookstore and it was huge and fantastic!!!! I bought a book!
That's about it...It was a lot of fun and I love Buenos Aires.
So here are some upcoming activities. The first of March we're going to Rocha and then that next friday the 8th we're going to go to Ushuaia! That's our Spring break and yesterday we bought tickets to go to Ushuaia and El Calafate and booked hostels! I'm so excited!!! I probably should have brought a better coat...but yeah so that's super exciting!!! In the meantime I have a lot of homework to get done this week and next week.
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