I arrived in Colonia an hour after the ferry left. I took the fast ferry instead of the slow ferry which would have taken 3 hours. I had a 5 hour bus ride onward to Punta del Este and opted for the faster ferry crossing, as I wanted to spend a few hours to look at Colonia, a UNESCO designated site. As mentioned in my Day 2 entry, it was a frustrating day for me to find the bus to Punta del Este from Colonia. Knowing Spanish saved my ass from wasting more time. The historical part of Colonia is pebbled streets dating back to the 1600s. At the historical square of Plaza Mayor I decided to have lunch. What a nice time I was looking forward to to dine in a square with pebbled streets dating back to the 1600s, outdoors and across from the old basilica which had Sunday service this very day I was there. After my earlier frustration with the bus, I decided to treat myself. There is a heavy concentration of Italian cuisine in both Argentina and Uruguay. So practically all the touristy restaurants were serving Italian. I sat myself down and ordered. The next frustrating thing was about to happen. My food took quite awhile. As I had to walk back to the bus terminal I had given myself extra time to eat. Well the service was ridiculously slow and I practically had to shove down my ravioli and run. To reduce the frustrating impact, I had this loony waitor. He had about 100 flairs on his apron and wore a different hat EACH he came out to serve me. On top of it all, he would sing Italian opera so attention was brought to my table each time. As service was slow I paid the bill and didn't leave a tip. Now so far in Argentina tip is nit expected. It appears that you tip in Uruguay. The loony waitor said to me that 'tip is not included' in the bill. Well as far as I was concerned he had earned his keep, being the loon that he was and at least he spoke English. As a Canadian told me, if they expected a tip on a tour, then at least make sure that the English clients on a tour understand what is being said. Some tours speak English but half the time you can't understand what is being said. Well I tipped the loon anyhow since he made sure I was going the right way to the bus terminal. [Photo notes] Looking at the Rio Plata from Colonia, Faro of old Colonia (lighthouse), a street during Portuguese times with the original drain down the middle dating to the 1600s.
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