I hope boredom isn't fatal. If it is, this trip may be over long before I intended.

Dick and I got on the fast catamaran at seven-thirty this morning, bound for Colonia, Uruguay. Lonely Planet describes it as a charming colonial city that makes a perfect daytrip from Buenos Aires. What better way to see another country without wasting a lot of time?

"What are we supposed to do now?"
We got here around eight-thirty and had seen almost all the town by ten. Then came breakfast and a nap by the beach. By then it was noon. What are we supposed to do now? The boat doesn't go back till... gasp... eight-thirty tonight.

It's actually a quaint little town. If I didn't know I had to kill an entire day here, I'd probably enjoy it. If I speed-read the guidebook right, it was once a Portuguese port used for smuggling stuff either into or out of Argentina to undercut the Spaniards. There are still lighthouses and old ports and stuff. It's also extremely laid-back.

"We thought it was a holiday or something."
When we got off the boat and walked into town it was approaching nine in the morning. It felt like about six-thirty. Shops were closed or were just being opened. Streets were deserted and the town was silent. We thought it was a holiday or something. Restaurants were closed and there were hardly any other tourists.

There are probably two reasons for this. One is that it's winter here... or will be in a few weeks. The other is that the wheels have come off the tourism industry here since the Argentinian economy collapsed and Uruguay's followed close behind. I suspect this town used to live off Argentinian tourists who now can't afford to travel abroad, even if it's just across the river to Uruguay.

And I got an email from the apartment people. Now they're trying to push me back to Saturday... another day. I'm having none of it and plan to throw a tantrum. We'll see who wins.