Colonia del Sacramento

Five weeks ago (more or less) I started living in Colonia del Sacramento. It is a town of about 20 000 inhabitants. However, in less than 1 year the number increased for about 5000 because a Finnish factory is being constructed nearby. What a coincidence (I studied a year in Finland). And last week I met a Finnish man. I felt very happy because since I saw him I was sure he must have been a Finn. Well, he was a bit drunk at 8pm, but very polite, shy and when he began talking with his Finnish accent, I was amazed.

Some days ago I realized that I did not shar eany pictures of Colonia. And then I found out that I did not take many. So I made a touristic tour into the old town one beautiful morning with the camera. And here is the result:

Colonia del Sacramento is one of the biggest and most important town in Colonia department. Colonia itself is the oldest town in Uruguay. It was established in 1680 and it has Portuguese roots. The old town was declared as a World Heritage Site (UNESCO). I must say that the old town is beautiful. When I entered the town for the first time, I got the feeling that this is the place where people go for holiday to spend some relax days, to walk, enjoy beautiful sunsets and to feel that life is worth living :) And moreover it is like a peninsula surrounded by water. Even it is a river, a person from central Europe can easily feel like at the seaside.

This is a map of Rio de la Plata which tries to explain that all this water around is really a river. This is the first map made of this territory.

This is thte famous famous entrance gate which you can see when you google pictures of Colonia. Look at the dog.

And this is the famous famous famous Portuguese house which you can find on all postcards of Colonia. Calle de los Suspiros.

The old mill, nowadays a restaurant.

:) This is a one of the places where you can see marvelous sunset. It is also a place where you can find street artists selling their artesania.

The port

The port and yachts

One old street in the old town

 I also climed up the lighthouse to take some pictures from above. However, one important thing about Uruguay. It is not a mountainous country. The highest point is about 514 metres.

The old town from above and the river

The old town and water purifier - right down.

 We drink water which comes from the river and it is purified here. Well, it cannot be compared to water from lakes, but I still keep on drinking it from the tap. They do not recommend it to me, but I keep on drinking it and so far so good.

The old town and far far away the rambla

Rìo de la Plata, would you believe that it is a river?

La Rambla. There people walk, ride cars, motorbikes, drink mate, eat, jog, sit,...

Rambla in the evening

The sunset on the beach. The palms are natural.

My friend

Look at the dog. Do you remember the one from the picture with the entrance gate? My friend he decided to spend one afternoon with me on the beach. In Uruguay there are lot of dogs which live in streets independently. They eat what they find and do what they feel like. They are usually very friendly and interact with you. Many times you can see them pulling food from garbage bins. If you eat in the street they will definitely join you with the expression: what are we having for lunch today?

This is my house. We live on the ground floor, the two windows on the right of the door are ours. My room is on the opposite side of the house heading to the garden.

The typical feature of Colonia`s street - platans (plane trees). They border the end of the pavement.

In Uruguay is the autumn right now. However, the temperature is very very pleasant. Every day we have the sun. In last five weeks I remember one all day without the sun. Otherwise, even it was a storm at night, heavy rain, cloudy in the morning, the afternoon was sunny. And now we have over 20C in the afternoon. I can walk with short sleeves. Yesterday I was lying on the beach. They say that it is a bit untypical for May, usually it is colder. I don`t mind that it is warm :)
And one more great thing. The sunset in the winter is at about 6pm. It is just perfect!! I do appreciate that I spent two winters in the north of Europe, but this is the perfect reward and I learnt again that the sun is essential for my being.

Aurinko joka paivaa :)