Navidad

Hello lovelies! I hope you’ve all had a lovely Christmas

Christmas here works a little differently to back home. The main festivities are on Christmas Eve, with a big dinner with family, presents and Santa (when does he arrive?? While they’re distracted eating dinner???), often followed by doing out to party into the wee hours of the morning. The 25th is more relaxed day hanging out with the family and eating leftovers.

I didn’t join in the celebrations of the 24th, as I’m a bit of a nana but I was lucky enough to be invited over to spend the 25th with the family of the lovely Delfina. It was pretty much like a NZ Christmas, really. We had a big lunch, Papá Noel still had some presents that had to be distributed, we had a dip in the pool, and finished the afternoon with some card games. It was so nice!

When planning my Argentina trip, I had thought about heading over to Uruguay for a couple of days, but eventually decided it would be too hard. My doctor had told me I’d need proof of yellow fever vaccination, which I got before going to Paraguay in 2007, but couldn’t find the paperwork, and decided I would be ok with not going this trip. Delfi’s family recommended it as a day trip though, so after a little research I decided to give it a try. And that’s how I ended I day tripping to Colonia de Sacramento!

Colonia was one of the first towns in what is now Uruguay, and the historical centre is now a UNESCO site recognising the historical features that arose as a result of the ongoing change of governance between the Portuguese and the Spanish. It is also the home of Uruguay’s first church, which the town is actually named after. As you walk around the town you can see the differences in how the Portuguese and the Spanish constructed their roads and their houses, and it’s even visible in the single building of the church – the parts that were constructed while the Portuguese were ruling are made of stone, while the Spanish parts are brick. Very interesting! Oh, and I almost forgot! It seems that the done thing is to rent a golf cart to drive around town, rather than walking