Buenos Aires to Uruguay – Colonia.

The cobbled streets and rich texture of colonial buildings make Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay what some would call cute and quaint. It’s an hour boat ride across the Rio de la Plata from Buenos Aires. Tim and I decided we’d take a brake from our jaunts around the city and spend an afternoon, lunch and an Uruguayan cerveza while exploring a city in another country.

The Portuguese founded Colonia del Sacramento sometime in the late 1600’s. The Spaniards, Portuguese and even Brazilians all have controlled Colonia at certain points in its history.

Today Colonia sprawls a bit beyond the original Portuguese settlement pictured here. But this part is a UNESCO World Heritage site, and walking the streets you get a feeling of being in a different ere.

In some ways with the cobblestoned streets, wider than many in Spanish colonial towns seem a bit like Lisbon in Portugal.

Small but endearing and certainly quaint, Colonia is a great escape from the madness of the city of Buenos Aires.

Stores receive deliveries and kids go to school in horse drawn carts.

The colorful facades punctuate the colonial flavor.