A Long Weekend Trip to Colonia del Sacramento
After settling into Buenos Aires for a few weeks, we took our first long weekend trip with Miya to Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay. This would be Miya's fourth country after Mexico, Colombia and Argentina, and a continuation of our slow travel across South America.
Colonia is about 1 hour and 15 minutes away from Buenos Aires by ferry, across the river, spilling into the South Atlantic. Matt jumped at the opportunity to buy tickets when we bought our sim cards on our first day in the city.
The Colonia Express office happened to be in the same place. He figured we could take Miya away from the large city and just enjoy visiting Uruguayan beaches for a few days on the coast. We turned the idea into a three-day trip.
The ferry trip was relatively easy. The terminal was a short Uber ride away from our home in Recoleta. We generally breezed through check-in and immigration/customs, especially with Miya.
We had a more leisurely trip with her on the way there versus back. On the way back, she was much more temperamental. On the way there, we took her outside because it wasn't so windy. On the way back, it was very windy, and because she was fussy, I had to stroll her back and forth to the duty-free, where she could look at the colours of alcohol bottles.
Colonia feels a world's away from bustling Buenos Aires. As the oldest city in Uruguay -- its old town was once a Portuguese settlement and is reminiscent of old European villages. The streets are lined with cobblestones and colourful, distressed vine-draped buildings.
Even though it's a tourist town catering to what felt like a lot of Brazilians and Argentines, walking through the streets felt peaceful and slow. The main avenues outside the historic quarter were charming – tree-lined and quiet.
We booked ourselves into a small B&B right in the heart of the historic quarter – Posada El Capullo. It was a joy to stay here – from the immaculately kept gardens to the kind staff. One of the caretakers felt like a loving grandmother. She let us use the kitchen to clean our bottles and doted on Miya every time we came and went.
I loved how Miya stared at her curiously. Our baby girl thrives on meeting new people. No matter how fussy she is at the moment, if a stranger talks to her, her brown eyes widen, and she just becomes quiet and stares.
It was here at this B&B that we took Miya into a swimming pool for the first time. Matt and I thrived in watching Miya experience the weightlessness of the pool. Matt carried her for a few lengths allowing her energetic legs to kick.
She was initially afraid and apprehensive, but after a while, she let go, and we could see her eyes light up. Our little girl was exhilarated. We wanted to retake her into the pool, but the second day it was raining, and the water was too cold.
In the day that followed, we walked from the town to the beach – about three kilometres on a relatively easy walking path. It was a cooler, cloudier day, so we took Miya in her carrier.
The brackish ocean water accumulates river silt, so the coast was brownish and not very atmospheric. Nonetheless, it was nice to feel the sand beneath our feet and let Miya see the ocean's waves. I feel that every time Miya sees something new, she does in some way absorb what she sees. Her feet start to kick, and we sense that she is feeling something.
There wasn't much around the bigger beaches, so we spent more time in the historic quarter. We generally thought that Uruguayans felt more openly friendly and jovial than Argentines.
We fell in love with the quaint town – and more specifically, one coffee shop – Albertine Pan Y Café run by an Uruguayan and Brazilian couple. The atmosphere of the café was carefully thought out – from the cutlery and furniture, red windowpanes, to the mellow moody vibe of the art and background music.
The wife and a small team baked fresh bread pastries at the back while the husband managed the front of the house and made all the coffee. Their lattes were smooth with the perfect amount of foam. We went there twice, and if we had stayed in Colonia longer, we would have returned several more times.
The town operated on odd hours, not so different from Buenos Aires. Restaurants opened late, and we found ourselves at odds with dinner time and putting Miya to bed. We tried to go to one nice restaurant by the ocean - Charco for rustic and refined farm-to-table home cooking. But Miya became frustrated and erupted.
Matt and I tried to take shifts eating and walking her around their garden, but we gave up as her cries grew louder. She was visibly upset and irritated, and because of this, we became anxious and flustered. We took the food to go and abruptly returned to our B&B.
That night, I felt selfish and angry at myself because I missed the idea of having dinner with Matt. We had an unpleasant evening, but I had to tell myself that we were at a different stage in life. Her needs had to come first.
After a few days of solitude, we hopped back to Buenos Aires on the ferry. Regardless of the ups and downs, it was a sentimental little trip. It was another memory to add to our time with Miya and watch her absorb the world.
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