A few years ago we hosted Juan from Uruguay, through the Couchsurfing website. He said we had to contact him if we ever got to Uruguay, so we did. Unfortunately, he had been posted with the army to Haiti as a translator. However he organised his friend Noel to prepare his apartment for us which was fantastic. It was close to the bus station that we had arrived at and Noel was there to show us around the second floor apartment in the 10 storey block. We had picked up a street map at the bus station so we were able to see that we were in a handy location to do the things we wanted to do.
Noel and Juan were both brought up in the block when it was built 36 years ago so have been friends a long time. Noel lives alone in her parents apartment on the tenth floor.
We took our rubbish to these bins on the side of the street everyday. It is such a shame that there is so much graffiti everywhere. A few people keep the street fronts clean but most do not. We saw men with horses and carts come by and take things from the bins for recycling or selling. The bins were also visited by people collecting cardboard and paper to sell as well as people who slept on the streets looking for food.
These well looked after houses near Juan's caught our eye. They have security cameras and razor wire or electric wire on the side walls. It would be a nightmare to escape from such a house in a fire with all the grills over the windows and often more than one key is needed to open the doors.
The first task we needed to do was to get a visa for Lil for Paraguay. John has a NZ and a UK passport and a visa is not needed for his UK one. I had to pay $140 US and wait a couple of hours to have a two page visa issued. It took a while to find the consulate as we had different addresses from different places and then discovered that the streets had been renumbered so were looking in the wrong block. I spotted a postie and he put us right.
We walked to different parts of the city each day and one day saw about 40 people filming this shot for a telenovela or soap opera.They were accompanied by about 6 buses and 10 vehicles and a couple of streets in the centre were closed for the filming.Noel thought they were probably foreign companies. We had read that Colonia del Sacramento was used for movies set in Havana, Cuba because the settings are similar.
One day it was a warmish 20C so we strolled around the centre and ate lunch in the sun.
There were people selling handicrafts on the side of the walking street and buskers entertaining onlookers.
The Palacio Salvo and its bulbous towers in the city centre is quite impressive.
The walking street heads down to the port where the tourist boats come in and we visited the overpriced Mercado del Puerto where the tourists from the boats head to eat parilla- grills and buy
souvenirs.
Noel and Juan were both brought up in the block when it was built 36 years ago so have been friends a long time. Noel lives alone in her parents apartment on the tenth floor.
We took our rubbish to these bins on the side of the street everyday. It is such a shame that there is so much graffiti everywhere. A few people keep the street fronts clean but most do not. We saw men with horses and carts come by and take things from the bins for recycling or selling. The bins were also visited by people collecting cardboard and paper to sell as well as people who slept on the streets looking for food.
These well looked after houses near Juan's caught our eye. They have security cameras and razor wire or electric wire on the side walls. It would be a nightmare to escape from such a house in a fire with all the grills over the windows and often more than one key is needed to open the doors.
The first task we needed to do was to get a visa for Lil for Paraguay. John has a NZ and a UK passport and a visa is not needed for his UK one. I had to pay $140 US and wait a couple of hours to have a two page visa issued. It took a while to find the consulate as we had different addresses from different places and then discovered that the streets had been renumbered so were looking in the wrong block. I spotted a postie and he put us right.
We walked to different parts of the city each day and one day saw about 40 people filming this shot for a telenovela or soap opera.They were accompanied by about 6 buses and 10 vehicles and a couple of streets in the centre were closed for the filming.Noel thought they were probably foreign companies. We had read that Colonia del Sacramento was used for movies set in Havana, Cuba because the settings are similar.
The walking street heads down to the port where the tourist boats come in and we visited the overpriced Mercado del Puerto where the tourists from the boats head to eat parilla- grills and buysouvenirs.
Marijuana was legalised for personal use in 2000 and the sale of it was legalised in 2013. We only ever saw a couple of shops selling it and they were in the tourist area.
On the weekend we visited the Tristan Narvaja area where there are several blocks of this huge street market. There are antiques that take us back as well as secondhand goods, fruit and vegetables and pets for sale. The intersections are jammed with people listening to buskers and stalls selling fried foods.It is massive. We bought a thermos so we can have tea and coffee when we feel like it or carry cold water in hot weather. Well, we are hanging out for hot weather.
Along the coast is the Ramblas area where Noel works selling apartments. We saw several cranes and new tower blocks going up.
We went to a parilla restaurant with Noel one night and enjoyed a sample of different grills. It had a great atmosphere and had been a store before the family converted it.
We really appreciate what Juan has done for us and enjoyed our time with his childhood friend Noel as well. Couchsurfing is such a great way to meet people.
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