Colonia we quickly discovered had rather more to offer once by the river or within the barrio historico. Despite being armed with a guidebook we wandered around the old cobbled streets and went wherever took our fancy - at 70 pesos to cover all museum entries there was no urgency to go and check out every tile in the museo azulejes.
Highlights definately included the faro (lighthouse) which rises out of the C16th ruins of the covento san francisco and the old port. Where a ruined residence served as our sombra (shade) since, although it was beautiful under the willows on the waters edge, the acidic green algae gave off quite a stench!
After an absolutely delicious lunch at El Drugstore opposite the Iglesia Matriz on Plaza des Armas, pescado del dia and gnocchi where we started off lunch in a converted vintage car on the street (sorry dad i don´t know what it was but there are pictures!) but moved as it was boiling to the equally ecletic interior (think suspended grand pianos and carribean colour) Rio de la Plata beckoned. Armed with a couple of bikes from the hostel we set off for the locals beach although due to a lack of breaks I had to walk my bike for all of the downhill / crossroads. It is MASSIVE as in can´t see the other side (and BA) at all, since we rather needed a workout so jumped straight in, disbelieving that it was fresh despite the mud underfoot further out. the stormdrain was perhaps not it´s most enticing feature, fortunately i wrote my postcards lying on the sand...!
Having chanced upon a circus and funfair and indulged ourselves by climbing the abandoned ferris wheel etc. we then chatted with the workers and helped weld the bucking bronco back to life before setting off at which point DISASTER. Going at a fair speed i couldn~´t be sure of making the corner between Eleanor and an oncoming moped so cut the grass verge to pass eleanor on the inside. This was the intention anyway. Unfortunately the nice grassy verge didn´t have quite the same agenda and turned out to be harbouring some rather large concrete blocks. Omniously i was swearing before i´d even hit them (no brakes...) and exhibited a perfect forward flip over the handlebars and into a full face plant.
Fortunately no loss of consciousness `Eleanor is my nose broken?` were my first words. Immediately people showered down in torrents (not disimilar to the dark pools of blood forming) to help and at this point i realised with a tweak of the nose and a quick teeth scan that the major in fact lay with my knuckle which was exposed to the bone but being tenderly washed by my good samaritans. Off another nameless helper whisked me to the hostel where the medics were called.
The only thing broken coincidentally were the H&M sunglasses that appeared to have shielded the old nose and eyes in their final sacrificial moments.
Highlights definately included the faro (lighthouse) which rises out of the C16th ruins of the covento san francisco and the old port. Where a ruined residence served as our sombra (shade) since, although it was beautiful under the willows on the waters edge, the acidic green algae gave off quite a stench!
After an absolutely delicious lunch at El Drugstore opposite the Iglesia Matriz on Plaza des Armas, pescado del dia and gnocchi where we started off lunch in a converted vintage car on the street (sorry dad i don´t know what it was but there are pictures!) but moved as it was boiling to the equally ecletic interior (think suspended grand pianos and carribean colour) Rio de la Plata beckoned. Armed with a couple of bikes from the hostel we set off for the locals beach although due to a lack of breaks I had to walk my bike for all of the downhill / crossroads. It is MASSIVE as in can´t see the other side (and BA) at all, since we rather needed a workout so jumped straight in, disbelieving that it was fresh despite the mud underfoot further out. the stormdrain was perhaps not it´s most enticing feature, fortunately i wrote my postcards lying on the sand...!
Having chanced upon a circus and funfair and indulged ourselves by climbing the abandoned ferris wheel etc. we then chatted with the workers and helped weld the bucking bronco back to life before setting off at which point DISASTER. Going at a fair speed i couldn~´t be sure of making the corner between Eleanor and an oncoming moped so cut the grass verge to pass eleanor on the inside. This was the intention anyway. Unfortunately the nice grassy verge didn´t have quite the same agenda and turned out to be harbouring some rather large concrete blocks. Omniously i was swearing before i´d even hit them (no brakes...) and exhibited a perfect forward flip over the handlebars and into a full face plant.
Fortunately no loss of consciousness `Eleanor is my nose broken?` were my first words. Immediately people showered down in torrents (not disimilar to the dark pools of blood forming) to help and at this point i realised with a tweak of the nose and a quick teeth scan that the major in fact lay with my knuckle which was exposed to the bone but being tenderly washed by my good samaritans. Off another nameless helper whisked me to the hostel where the medics were called.
The only thing broken coincidentally were the H&M sunglasses that appeared to have shielded the old nose and eyes in their final sacrificial moments.
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