El Dia Ocho . October 23, 2026 . Colonia de Sacramento, Uruguay .

October 23, 2025

After breakfast at Charco Hotel, we headed out to really explore Colonia de Sacramento (“Colonia,” as it appears to be called by everyone). I don’t really understand how it can be called just “Colonia” since there are many other “Colonia de…” here in somewhat close proximity. But, oh well..

Colonia is charming. It’s got cobblestone everywhere–a bit treacherous, especially at night, but does add to the charm and the historic nature of the little city of 32,000 residents year-round. We strolled to the basilica, the lighthouse, the town square, and throughout the entire old section. It is one of the oldest towns in Uruguay and the historic quarter has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Modern Colonia del Sacramento produces textiles and has some kind of polytechnic center.

The basilica was sweet, and fairly unadorned. There was just one parishioner, an elderly woman who tried to talk to us in very rapid Spanish. Maybe she thought we were new members of the church since we were sitting in the pews, because we were tired from all the walking–in the heat (and the church was nice and cool). We smiled a lot as she talked. Eventually we caved and stopped for helado (ice cream) for sustenance and again to get out of the heat.

Came back to the hotel to get some work done (yes, real work!). Mike decided to participate in the age-old Latin American activities for warm afternoons…. Siesta time. A few hours later, I left the hotel to stroll some more and take advantage of the cooling weather. I stumbled on a tiny Origami Museum and went inside. It’s a private operation and I was the only one there so the older gentleman who sold me my ticket ($2.50) was clearly ready for a conversation. His English was ok. Turns out the “museum is his wife’s passion. She’s been an origamist (new word for me) since she was a child, and I’m guessing she’s about 80 now. She personally owns all the pieces and a few were done by her. The origami examples are from all over the world. The couple is from Argentina but they lived in NYC for about 20 years. She’s well connected with the global origamist community (who would know?) and many of the artists have donated their work to her for exhibition. The couple decided they wanted to open a museum to exhibit her collection and they were ready to come back to South America. The wife had spent summers as a child in Punte del Este and in Colonia. It was cheaper to buy a place in Colonia, so here they are. The museum has only been open for about a year and required a lot of renovation to make the building work for this new use.

After an hour or so of more work, we headed to dinner at Casa Viera an Italian restaurant about 5 blocks from our hotel. It was better than we anticipated. They gave us a “welcome drink” when we arrived—vermouth with fresh fruits and ice. Very refreshing. We started with croquettas filled with shrimp, cheese, peppers, and spices. We followed that with raviolis filled with roasted eggplant, sun dried tomatoes, cheese, and a host of spices. We had some Uruguayan cabernet franc. And then we strolled back to the hotel in the dark–taking full advantage of the flashlight app on our phones!