Colonia: These boots are made for walking

So the question remains: What was Colonia like? Was it worth the effort? Well, that depends on whom you talk to. Mary Pat and our friend Leslie would probably say no. I say yes.

First of all, the weather was perfect — at least at first. It was a brisk fall day, slightly sunny with a cool breeze blowing falling leaves across the wide streets. In fact, it felt a lot more like fall here than across the mouth of the Rio de la Plata in Buenos Aires.

And unless you want to rent a car, a motor scooter or even a golf cart (“$30 for all the day,” one guy yelled at us), Colonia is for walking. You need to be at least fairly hardy, though, because the old part of town is several blocks from where the port, and the sidewalks are a disaster. In any event, unless you´re planning on going out to a plantation to drink mate with the natives, most of what you´d want to see in this early 17th-century -founded-by-Portuguese-explorers town can be done so by foot.

You can climb the lighthouse, visit the very small Portuguese museum , shop for mate cups or jewelry (La Casa de Colonia, for example), stroll through the historic old part, check out the “Calle de los Suspiros” or stand on the shore and feel the wind blowing the waves on the shore (but, not to blow the poetic scene, let’s just say that the water more resembles the color of caramel than, say, anything blue or green).

We had lunch at a place called Lo de Renata , and Leslie had the best piece of meat that she has had so far in this meat-loving part of the world. And we had wine, of course, red as raspberry jelly. And for three, the total was, again, about $30 U.S.

After our three-hour tour, we headed back to the port just ahead of a rain squall. We made it there just minues ahead of the downpour, and we sat in the cafeteria drinking cafes con leche (tea for Mary Pat) while the rain pounded the sidewalks halfway clean.

All in all, I would come back. I saw a house or two on the beach that I´d like to rent. Or buy. Or, more likely, just dream about when I´m back in Spokane, filled with memories of life in this part of Sudamerica .