2008/04/02

Colonia del Sacramento - Uruguay


This afternoon I was sorting out some files and found a folder with pictures from a trip we made last august (yes, I felt cold in august if you wonder about my outfit on that pic!, it was winter on this side of the world) to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay. At that time we were living in Buenos Aires, so we took a 55 minute trip to go across the Río de la Plata to the oldest city of Uruguay.


The city was founded in 1680 and both Portugal and Spain fought over it for centuries, until England showed up and joined the party. It is a small city, the old side is full of stone houses and stone brick streets, a reminder of the past.


The seven (yes, seven!) museums can be visited in a couple of hours as some of them are smaller than a shoe box! The one I liked the most was the Portuguese House, it was filled with old maps from the colonies, from pirates and cartographers from centuries ago.


We liked the locals, they were friendly and cute!


Just before leaving, we found this guy, I totally forgot about it until now, and I'm happy I found it, although I don't know what it is... HELP!

We had a great and relaxing time over there, we went up the lighthouse, walked on the streets where pirates walked in the past, touched walls built centuries ago, saw old maps and cannons and visited 7 museums in 1 day - isn't that cool? :)

14 comments:

Dr. Monkey Von Monkerstein said...

You look adorable in that coat and hat. I've always wanted to go to Uruguay, in the summer time that is.

Anonymous said...

The bird seems to be a Great Kiskadee.

See here for more details:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Kiskadee


Markus

John B. said...

I agree with Markus, though I don't know if South America has any similar species.

entoto said...

Gee, I have no idea of your birds. I barely know the ones up here!

Did you knit your hat? I would love to see a closer picture of that.

It looks like you had a lovely day. Thanks for sharing.

beckie said...

Mel, I can't imagine living in a place that has so much history! And being albe to visit all of it. Thanks for sharing.

Mel said...

Hola Dr. Monkey, thanks for the 'adorable' comment *blushing*, in Uruguay I've been to Colonia and Montevideo, but they have other beautiful cities to visit.

Dear Markus and John, it does look like it, thanks!

Hi Trixie, I'm not good at knitting, I like cross stitch :)
I can send you closer pictures of it if you want, just let me know where, ok?

Hello Beckie, it is great to be able to learn from the past, specially if you are surrounded by it in many forms ;)

RuthieJ said...

Hi Mel,
I would say Great Kiskadee on your bird also (sometimes comes as far north as southern Texas in the US). My field guide also says there are other "similar" tropical flycatchers.

P.S. I love your hat too! If you get a picture for Trixie, could you please send me a copy too? (rjknits at msn dot com). Thanks

Sherry at the Zoo said...

Hi Mel,

Thanks for the reminder that August in your part of the world means COOOLLLDDD.. I was wondering about that coat and hat. With so many us admiring your hat, maybe you could do a post about it?

Thanks for sharing the history with us. My kids just finished studying a little about South America during the Early Modern History Period. It's fun to think of the pirates and others who walked in those same streets.

Larry said...

Great Kiskadee-what a cool bird to see! I'd love to see one myself but not in Connecticut-or there would be something seriously wrong.

Mel said...

Hi Ruthie! Hello Sherry!!
Wow, never thought my hat would be such a hit! hahaha, I'll look for it (dig in my winter clothes) and post some pics, I know a few of my dearest visitors like to knit, so, it would be a challenge for them to try to make a similar one ;)

Hola Larry, it was a nice surprise to finish the trip, we were on our way to the ferry :)

Susan Gets Native said...

I'll chime in and call that bird a kiskadee, too. They're like mini-kingfishers!

Seven museums? Whoot.

The Roving Bird Nut said...

Hi Mel, great picture of the kiskadee! I wonder if there are other types of kiskadees in Peru.

Mel said...

Hi Susan, they are BIG and georgeous guys!

Hi there Island Rambles, looove your blog!! Thanks for visiting :)

Hi Roving bird nut! I wonder that too, I guess it might, as we have over 1800 species of birds within the country, so, my guess is SOMEWHERE! And I just need to find it! ;)

Anonymous said...

Hi! I was looking for a knitting blog and I found yours. It´s a big coincidence that I´m from Uruguay, so I saw your pics, recongize Colonia and I said "this is not a knitting blog but let´s leave a comment".
I´m glad you liked my country.

Bye,

FrAn