Rick´s bad internet cafe experience doesn´t reflect the entire Urugauy excursion, although it highlights some of the anti-U.S. sentiment we have experienced. The little tourist town we visited in Uruguay of Colonia del Sacramento was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. The old town has many historical buildings and the original cobblestone streets built by the Portuguese or Spanairds settlers. An interesting bit of trivia is that you can tell who built which street by the type of drainage it has -- the Portugeuse placed drains in the middle and the Spanairds placed drains along the sides.

We rented bicycles and rode along the beaches to a rather odd place called "Real de San Carlos". Apparently an Argentine playboy built this leisure complex during the early twentieth century, complete with bull-fighting ring, basketball or pelota court/theater, hotel, and horse racing track. The bull ring pictured here was only used eight times before bullfighting was outlawed but the ruins remain standing.




We had the opportunity to try a new type of wine with our great steak dinner while in Colonia. They produce a very rich red from the tannat grape. I believe the only other place to grow it is in the southwest of France where it is blended with other grapes. Uruguayans love beef every bit as much as Argentines and this 100% tannat wine complements grilled meat well. After a couple of days in Uruguay we returned to Buenos Aires and wandered along Puerto Madero for a couple of hours. The Argentine economy appears to be on the rebound and there is no place that reflects it more than this regentrified port. There are loft apartments above trendy restaurants and shops for several kilometers. We enjoyed the "cow art" along the walkway.




This blog entry would not be complete without sharing Rick´s version of the famous Evita pose at Casa Rosada, the presidential palace in Plaza de Mayo. The balcony has been used by many of the dictators and demagogues that fill Argentina´s history. Rick was very disappointed that he was unable to gain access to the balcony for the photo like Madonna did for the film Evita.
He pulled off a great pose, however, as the onlookers and policemen in the plaza could see. Don´t cry for Rick, Argentina....