Day 54 - Colonia (Part 2)

Monday, 6 October 2014

I demanded to see the manager, and with the lady from the tour information counter translating, I outlined my problem to the manager. He, for one, was quite apologetic, and he made a note on my voucher that I did not use the city tour service as there were no tours in English. He also said that I could join the walking tour in English at the historical centre of Colonia at 4 pm, for free, without presenting my voucher. That was quite nice of him, but I was pissed off. I like to know as much as I can about a place I go to, now I have to do a self tour again with my own research. Needless to say I was not pleased at all. Further, I have no doubts that Buenos Aires will refuse to refund my money. But I am going to try anyway.

The furthest point of interest in Colonia is a bull ring in Plaza del Toros. I took a cab there. This used to be a bull fighting ring in Colonia with Moorish designs, but is now not used anymore. It almost lies in ruins. From here, I walked to the river shore, to a point called Real de San Carlos. I sat down by the river for a while and a stray dog kept me company. It's strange, on my travels across various countries, there are times when I feel helpless, angry, sad or alone, and then there is always a dog keeping me company for a while and cheering me up. I am not making this up, I have pictures of various dogs that befriended me and followed me around. Almost as if God is looking after me here. It's a nice feeling to have.

Then I decided to walk along the river back to town, a total of 6 km (there were markers on the street, so I know it is 6 km). After all, what better way to know a city, right? And besides, the scenery by the river was beautiful, and on the other side nothing at first, but nearer the city centre quaint houses and streets, Colonia is really a beautiful place. 

Near the city centre, I met Vanesa on her motorbike. She said she would wait for me to do the tour in the historic centre, but I told her I was not sure what time I would reach the place, as it was almost 4 pm and the tour started at 4 pm. She said she would wait for me, and I said ok, although I doubted that I would make it there on time.

On the way to the historical centre I saw a beautiful building, and I asked someone on the street and he informed me that it was the office of the Intendant (something like a governor) of Colonia. Then I made my way to the historical centre, and I arrived there at about 4.30 pm, and Vanesa was waiting for me. And now I understood why she said she would wait for me, it's because I was the only one on the English tour! A personal tour guide. It turned out well in the end, although I did miss the stories about the other parts of Colonia.