I walk out of the terminal into an absolutely gorgeous day. It's almost too hot, but I welcome the sunshine because it was forecasted to rain all day. My boat ticket also included a free bus or audio tour, so I opt for the audio tour and walk about 6 short blocks to the audio tour office. I exchange my passport for the audio tour thingy and walk to the entry point of the old-city. Not unlike Cartagena, Colombia, there is a stone wall around the old part of Colonia, however this town is MUCH more low key. Before I get into the details of the audio tour, I just have to say that although there were hundreds of people on the boat, there didn't seem to be many people hanging out here in the entry point to the old-city. Furthermore, I was astonished by the fact that no one was coming up trying to sell me anything. I mean, this was literally the first tourist destination I've been to in all of South America where people weren't peddling this-and-that to everyone that walked by. It almost seemed like an off-day, as if everyone were out doing something else, and I can't tell you how peaceful and relaxing it felt. So I walk to the starting point of the audio tour and the voice kinda sucks. He drones on about things that aren't that interesting (to me) and between juggling the audio-tour-thingy, my headphones, my camera, and my backpack, I pretty much got too annoyed to listen anymore. I mean, this is a TINY town, and I'm more into just experiencing things, so I put the audio-tour-thingy in my backpack and just decided to walk about. At about this same time who do you think walks up? German-girl. Perfect timing. We walk about the town and check out everything from side streets to shops, from hotels to restaurants, and it couldn't have been more delightful. German-girl is probably a year out of college, but very independent and funny, and we have a good time checking things out (lots of good pics below). German-girl had a lot of food in her backpack so she said she wanted to go picnic on the beach, however I wasn't really feeling like it so we split up and figured we would see one another again. I head back towards this restaurant on the water which had a band's instruments setup, so I figured I would get to hear some music. I walk up to the restaurant just as the band is getting started and I couldn't have been happier. They are playing funk and blues, and they are great! I order a small pizza and eat it very slowly while taking pics and video of the band. Ends up there name is Mamma Beat, and I just found them on Facebook and they are great. I shared the info for No Goodbye with them and they were excited to check out my music as well. Good vibes.
After paying my bill and listening to about an hour or more of music, I walked down to the rocky beach area in front of the restaurant to listen to the waves and relax. Luckily I could still hear the band, so the next hour was spent listening to a mix of the waves and the music. This is when I really realized I was in a special place for me. I had everything I wanted and was in complete peace. Times like that don't come along every day, and it was nice to recognize how special it was while it was happening. After about an hour and a half of rocky-beach-meditation-peace-and-tranquility-time, I walk back through town and drop off the audio-tour-thingy and get my passport back. After this I decide to go back to a small photography and vintage book shop, which I really liked when I saw it previously with German-girl. The first time I was in the shop I spoke with the owner, who's from Brazil, and he couldn't have been nicer, so I wanted to go back and buy a few things for my family. I'm all about supporting local artists, especially when I have a good experience with them. Actually, the first time I spoke with the owner, who's name is Eduardo Alvares Buszko, I gave him my website, and when I walked back in he had already checked it out and was interested in my travels. I asked about his website and he said it was stuck in 2009, but here it is if you wanna check it out. Apparently Eduardo is from Brazil, and when I was paying with my credit card he saw my last name, and so he asked if I was Polish. Am I Polish? A name like Roman Maliszewski doesn't get more Polish. As it turns out, Eduardo's half Polish and half Portuguese. Amazing. I kinda thought about the fact that his second last name had the "sz" in it, but figured it was just a Portuguese thing. Nope. Polish. So we laughed and bonded over our Polish heritage, and he said that he even married a girl who's half Polish as well. Her families last name is Marczyk. Wait - did he just say Marczyk? That's the last name of one of my absolute favorite people on this earth - Bernie Marczyk - otherwise known as VERN. I almost lost it when he told me about her last name, and so I quickly told him about Vern and his father, who was named Stanislaw. Eduardo then felt the same excitement because apparently his wife's great great grandfather was named Stanislaw Marczyk, and her brother is named after this relative as well. So I'm sitting in this photography store in a small town in Uruguay and I'm blown away. We laughed and Eduardo told me all about his family and about his pride in being Polish. Above his desk he had a picture frame which held a small Polish flag behind a childhood picture of his grandfather. When he showed me this I really felt the kinship and the love he had for his family. As a matter of fact, the logo of his shop, which is called de la Plaza includes an image of this same grandfather. So cool. So I made him pose for a photo which I hope you enjoy below. As I walked out of his store I felt light as a feather. Interactions like these, in such unexpected locations and times, are what restore my faith in the fact that I'm in the right place at the right time. Also, I thought about Vern's dad, Stanislaw, who died when he and I were both freshman in college. It was a very hard time for Vern, and so it brought me much joy to remember his dad and even talk about his dad to a person who I know he would have loved. Mr. Marczyk - you were in Uruguay today and you were loved. Thanks for making my day so special.
The ferry ride back was pretty uneventful, and when I got back to the terminal I walked downtown to the subway, where I quickly realized something was going on. There were a ton of cops and barricades, and helicopters were overhead. Traffic was horrendous, even for Buenos Aires. As I got closer to the main square I heard protesters with drums and loud speakers. Wow - this was one of the biggest protests I've seen. It was a massive parade down the main street of the city, ending in the middle of the main government square. Cops had shutoff the area but I walked in and took some pics and video. My GoPro videos are recorded in HD, so they take forever to upload, so I'm sorry I can't show them now. When I figure out a better way to upload them I'll get them across, but just realize that this was a big time protest and these people were NOT happy with the government. It was mostly peaceful, but I could sense a dangerous element in the air as well. I got on the subway and headed back to the hostel and have been chilling here since.
Oh - I was able to get out US dollars while in Uruguay, which was nice. If I use an ATM here in Argentina I get 1:8 in my exchange, but if I exchange dollars I get 1:12 in my exchange, so tomorrow I'm gonna go cash in some money. Tomorrow night I'm planning to go to this theatre event with some others from the hostel. Apparently it's a Cirque du Soleil but more edgy. Sounds cool to me. Maybe during the day I'll check out some local galleries in Recoleta. Should be a nice relaxing day.
Have a great night everyone. I hope you're staying safe in the snow.
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