How Good Are We at Dealing With Change?

December 15, 2016May 7, 2020 / betstravelsabout / 9 Comments

“The only people who really look forward to a change are babies.”

Change is a topic most of us even hate to talk about let alone deal with, and yet we are being bombarded with it every day in some way, shape or form. Seems like it’s occurring all around us as we are called upon to deal with it whether we want to or not. We can’t ignore it, especially those changes we have no control over. Do I need to give examples here? Okay, the one we hear most about, at least here in Canada, is climate change. Second to that one would be our aging population and what this means for all us Canadians, and the third might be the changes which are constantly occurring in the technology field. These are the big ones to my mind which then can be broken down into a myriad of smaller components such as, how our political system must change… possibly our concept of democracy… our social systems, our approach to immigration … the list can go forever. I sense that almost everything needs to be changed. We are becoming aware that we must replace all our old ways of thinking and acting for something new. The big question is how do we go about making the changes we know we must?

I should give credit for the quote about ‘babies’ to a workshop leader I met in the mid ’90’s. He got me thinking about change and how it can affect us in our lives for better or worse. At the time, I was working for a non-profit agency. Ontario’s economy had been dealt a huge blow putting them into a recession which was brought on by the change of an industrial based economy to the ‘age of technology’ or computers. Jobs which people had worked at for years were being wiped out….never to come back. The thousands who witnessed their jobs disappearing faced the choice of either learning how to use these machines or end up serving coffee at Tim Horton’s for the rest of their work days.

At first, I was excited to be a part of Ontario’s launch to help these displaced workers to either get another job or some training for the new age besetting them. Here was an opportunity for me to help these unfortunate people with my teaching and counselling skills. This would be the perfect job for me, for hadn’t I recently been through the same ordeal after losing a lucrative position as a sales rep? Set adrift with no immediate prospects or outplacement help from my company, I happened upon Richard Boyle’s “What Colour is Your Parachute?” This book became my Bible in helping me make my career switch from sales into counselling. If I could do this on my own, then couldn’t these displaced workers do the same with a little help from me?

How naive of me to think I could save all those poor souls who were experiencing just what I had gone through. My agency was responsible for getting older, experienced workers either job ready or trained in something that could get them back into the workforce…quickly! It didn’t take me long to realize that it was an impossible task to do this in just three weeks.

Upon reflection, I can honestly say my five years working with the unemployed offered me challenges I had never faced before. On the other hand, they handed me an incredible learning experience. You may think it strange that I say this, but didn’t some great sage…was it Plato or Socrates… reveal that we inevitably end up teaching what we need to learn the most? My greatest awakening was accepting that not all people will handle change in the same manner or time frame. In other words, the idea of a three week program was doomed to failure. Only a few breezed through the program with any kind of flying colours. Those who did manage to finish it either found a job or went on for some short-term training in computers. We also turned out many truck and fork lift drivers. Sadly, there were some who couldn’t overcome their job loss before their EI (employment insurance) ran out so ended up on welfare. Of those who did find employment, none got anywhere near the salary they earned at their old jobs. Most ended up working on contract or an hourly basis with little in the way of benefits or pensions. My guess is that some never worked again due to depression resulting from their loss. One of my clients even tried to take his life and ended up in the Clarke Institute, a mental hospital in Toronto.

Everyone handles change in a different way depending on their past experiences, their outlook on life’s challenges, and their emotional development. Change is mostly good as far as I am concerned, and I hope that some of my clients did get that message. Having the experience of working with them, I concluded that the more change we have in our lives, the better we get at handling it. Again I was judging from my own experience. I had to deal with many changes in my growing up years at home…moving around and living with various relatives because my parents weren’t up to the task. This could have had negative results, but instead I unknowingly developed some resilience. Although this helped me through my job loss, it took a toll on my confidence which I had to work hard at rebuilding. My work with older workers helped as did further internal work over the years. Again, I prejudged my clients by thinking that if I could do it why couldn’t they? There was a difference. Many of them had grown up in stable homes, worked their entire work life at the same job, and were the sole breadwinners. They had the toughest time dealing with their job loss for they had not only lost the only work they had ever known, they had lost their self-worth. Our programs didn’t give enough credence to their emotional states. To rebuild a man’s self-worth by probing into his past calls for an inward approach that most of these men were afraid to address. Our life skills classes only touched the surface of such a necessary journey and fell short of helping them to come back out on top to eagerly pursue new possibilities for the challenges ahead.

In the ’90’s we had the older workers who had their jobs disappear with the advent of new technology. Today we have the young workers trying to find jobs in our new economy who are discovering they are woefully lacking in the skills needed for today’s work world. Alvin Tofler, author of “Power Shift”, warned us that this would happen. Whenever, I told my clients that the future would require workers who would need more than a high school education, be willing to learn new skills all through their work life, and count on having several careers, I would be met with disbelief and laughter. They looked at me as some kind of Pollyanna who was not to be taken seriously. Thirty years have passed, and we are still figuring out how to deal with the fast pace of our technology. We haven’t planned for the future and are now scrambling to get people trained to do the jobs which are now here and will be coming. Just think about the jobs which will be required to deal with climate change!

But now back to the present. Every day the media is talking about the changes we must make in practically every facet of our life. Sometimes it seems we must change just about everything, and we must do it now. This is frightening news for most people because it’s so overwhelming. However, there is a growing movement of young people who are products of the computer age and good parenting who will be the movers and shakers we’ll need. I meet some of them in my travels. They are the ‘digital nomads’ who don’t call any one place as home but travel this earth using their computers to conduct whatever business they are interested in. They teach English, they write, they sell, they do volunteer work, or they set up their own business. They are totally independent and know they’ll never work for some large company for any length of time. They are constantly learning, they’re creative, and they are open to helping this planet in any way they can. They are the hope for our future because they are resilient, and they aren’t afraid to take the challenge that comes with uncertainty and change. They have a totally different mind-set from our workers of the 90’s.

For those of us who are older and don’t have such an adventurous spirit as our ‘digital nomads’, what can we do to prepare ourselves for the changes which are so inevitably coming? How do we prepare ourselves, our children, and grandchildren? How do we even get them to listen and get involved in being part of the solution for dealing with the changes we must make rather than be part of the problem? My work with the displaced workers of the ’90’s taught me that change imposed on us by outside forces can be devastating if we aren’t prepared. The best way we can prepare for external change is by changing ourselves. Then we can help others. This is the part that will take work and daring because we will be forced to take a long hard look at the truth about ourselves and the state of the world. This is the starting point. From there we can use our skills and knowledge to help our ailing world. What other choice do we have?

A Tribute to Leonard Cohen

November 17, 2016 / betstravelsabout / 8 Comments

My all time favourite poet, singer and song writer died last week.

Hard on the heels of the unexpected election of Donald Trump to the presidency of the United States came the announcement of Leonard Cohen’s death. Two shocking bits of news all in one day! Granted Trump’s win was of more interest because of its potentially devastating impact on the world, whereas Cohen’s death will be primarily missed because he leaves behind a legacy of love and humility. Such a contrast… yet two momentous events so close together.

There may be some who would not agree that Cohen’s main legacy would be about love if they were the ones who saw only the darker side of his lyrics. Yes, dark and depressive he could be, but there was always some light lurking around the corner. Nonetheless, I was both amazed and heartened by the reaction of his fans who came from not just Canada and the US where he made his home(s) but from the Western world in general. He was a musical icon to many and Canadians should be proud of him.

I know I’m not alone in confessing that Cohen somehow captured my heart from the day I first became aware of him in the late ’60’s. For it was then he began his journey to becoming Canada’s greatest poet, song writer and singer upon the release of “So Long Marianne” and “Suzanne”. Who could ever forget the description of his love relationship with a girl named Suzanne when he says:

“Suzanne takes your hand and leads you to the water where she will feed you tea and oranges that come all the way from China.”

No other song writers at that time could come near to expressing so clearly and reverently such a personal experience as this…Bob Dylan didn’t even come close!

I adored Cohen back then and still do today. My adoration has grown stronger because he speaks to me on all levels: spiritual, intellectual and physical. Perhaps this is one of the reasons he appealed so strongly to so many women…and men. The love he wrote and sang about was not just about sex (as many Canadians claimed when they first heard him) but very much on an intellectual and spiritual level.

I am not ashamed to confess that some of his songs, such as “Hallelujah” and “Dance Me to the End of Love” have made me weep. I know I’m not alone in this. To evoke such emotion in people was his gift to us. When I reflect on this man and his ability to speak to so many, my greatest regret was not making the effort to see him when he came to Halifax in 2009 on his final world tour at the age of 77. I have heard and seen what I missed umpteen times by witnessing his London performance on U-Tube… and every time I am deeply stirred by his passion. For a man who had such difficulty facing his fans when he was younger and actually walked off stage a few times, he certainly surprised us all on that tour. He put his whole heart and soul into this performance engraving it in our memories forever.

When I heard about his latest recording “You Want It Darker” I knew I had to buy it. I was fortunate to get it just before he died. After listening to it a few times and reading the blurb he wrote on the cover, it was obvious he was singing… or I should say speaking because his voice had gone so low that singing was out of the question…about his approaching death. After all he was 82 and had been suffering health problems while making the recording with his son, Adam. The songs throughout the recording seem to speak of his readiness to “leave the table” with no regrets and to meet ‘his’ lord. As you probably know, Cohen was born into the Jewish faith, became a Buddhist monk after ten years of intensive study, and made numerous references to the Christian religion throughout his song writing. Here is a poignant verse from “You Want It Darker”:

Magnified and sanctified

Be Thy Holy Name

Vilified and crucified

In the human frame

A million candles burning

For the help that never came

You want it darker

We kill the flame.

This is true Cohen. The words here can be interpreted on many different levels but one thing is clear: he expresses feelings that we all can relate to… a yearning for peace and love, suffering and hate, regret and approaching death. Dark and often depressing it might be but don’t ignore his references to the light: “a million candles burning” and “We kill the flame”. Moreover, there is no mistaking his honesty, humility, and ever-present passion in this CD. Here his true personality shines forth and for this we loved him. He truly touched our very souls and will be greatly missed.

The cover of his last album “You Want It Darker”.

“Popular Problems” his previous album.

The Best of Leonard Cohen – a collection of his early recordings.

What is your favourite Cohen song?

“The People Have Spoken” – A Canadian’s View of the American 2016 Election

November 11, 2016April 15, 2026 / betstravelsabout / 9 Comments

For what it’s worth, I’m attempting to put down my thoughts on what happened on November 8th in the US. For like all you Americans, we here in Canada are still reeling and trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

Yes, I know some of you are probably wondering why I am writing about this because I should be writing about my travels as this is what my blog is all about. Well, truth be told, I haven’t been doing much travelling lately…that won’t begin until the latter part of December… so there hasn’t been much to write about in that department. Then you may ask, why should I be so concerned about what is happening in American politics? Firstly, like most Canadians I care about what happens to our neighbour to the south. Whatever happens there will undoubtedly affect us here. Secondly, I have American friends and blog readers from the US, and I know how disappointed and afraid they must be feeling right now.

Trump’s victory has certainly stirred me up as I expect it has for most of us up here in Canada and the rest of the world. This man may not know much about how the world of politics works… or the world for that matter…and, yes, he has shown a shocking narrow-mindedness and said some scary things, but he certainly has an uncanny genius for attracting publicity. Did he make all his nasty remarks about women and minorities and promises about cancelling the Paris Accord, re-writing NAFTA, etc. just for the publicity so he could get elected? Was he intelligent enough to think of such a ploy that he knew would grab America’s attention? Let’s hope so because this could be your only hope.

Now for a few more thoughts which have grabbed my mind regarding this historic election….

The reasons for Trump’s win and the aftermath for the for the next four years has to be looked at a strong ‘wake up call’ for all Americans…. and other countries, too. We are well aware that corporate greed, racial discrimination, selfishness, crime, climate change disasters, and lack of employment are all contributing to the feeling of helplessness that many people around the world are feeling. The gap between the rich and poor appears to be getting wider. For this reason it’s not been a huge surprise to me that he won since he seems to have struck a chord for those people who are feeling disenfranchised. They fear that what made America a great country is rapidly fading away.

I can certainly understand the sadness and despair that many Americans must be feeling, but I can’t help but think that there is a lesson to be learned here. The fact that he won is proof that the average American is not happy with the present status quo and wants change. They want to go back to the way it was, but you and I know that isn’t possible. You have to go forward, not backward. You need some real leadership to do this and it’s preposterous to think that Trump can do it. However, if he isn’t the answer, then maybe he is the catalyst to the much-needed change the people want?

This leads me to Hillary’s brilliant concession speech. To assuage the people’s despair, she carefully crafted it to give Americans some hope. In spite of her painful defeat, she was able to graciously offer her help and promise to work with and not against Trump. Did I hear this or was I imagining it? And that was not all ….. she then made a plea for all Americans to do the same. She is such a fighter for the people as we all know, so my bet is that if anyone can have an effect on this loose cannon president, it will be Hillary’ speech.

Furthermore, I don’t think you should give up on “the Donald”… not yet anyway. He is a ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ personality but if he wants to really help the little guy and if he wants to gain the respect of those Republicans he has to work with and the people who are counting on him, then maybe he will choose his words more carefully and change his behavior. Perhaps he will take Hillary’s parting words seriously out of the admiration he claims to have for her? You can only hope…

After listening to Hillary’s concession speech on You Tube, I quickly tuned into Trump’s and couldn’t help notice how different the two atmospheres were. Where the feeling at Hillary’s was filled with love and adoration, the one at the Donald’s was stilted and uncomfortable with little to no emotion. How peculiar! Wouldn’t you expect there to be some joy after his win? Instead, there was just fear. Perhaps he and those around him really are afraid of what he has got himself into, and if so, then could this not be a good thing? Maybe he will start to listen now that he realizes he doesn’t have the answers and will accept help from those who have more experience? You can only hope…

One thing which we probably can all agree on is that this man has a lot of growing up to do. If all those who will be working with him realize this and treat him with some respect and an “open mind” (Hillary’s words) then just maybe he could turn out to be a decent president. He loves attention so if those he works with can come together to help him instead of quarrelling amongst themselves, then they could leave him to keep on doing what he does best which seems to be connecting to the little guys and getting the media’s attention.

Such an idealistic picture, you say, and from a naive Canadian. Perhaps… but I believe you must try to see the positive by visualizing a positive rather than a negative outcome by remembering Hillary’s words to not give up the fight: “Fight for what is right” she said to all the young women of America. It is right is to honour what the majority of people voted for, get over your disappointment, pull together, and go forward bravely to show the rest of the world that all isn’t coming to an end and truth and reason will prevail. I would guess that all of this and more is said in your Declaration of Independence as drawn up by the Founders of your great country. Perhaps more attention could be paid to this by everyone who loves their country and wants it to continue as a respected world leader.

And finally, please remember that as your northern neighbour we are here to help if you want it. Our Prime Minister has already stated he will work closely with your new President. For those who won’t be able to take the heat and uncertainty that is bound to come in the next four years, you can always escape to Canada… if you have the patience to deal with the red tape of becoming a Canadian citizen. Somehow, I don’t think many will do it. Instead you will stay and tough it out because right now your country needs you more than ever.

Thanksgiving in Nova Scotia

October 16, 2016 / betstravelsabout / 8 Comments

Happy Thanksgiving!

I heard this greeting many times over our Thanksgiving weekend … something I had never consciously heard before. Then again, maybe some people have used this greeting in the past, much like we say Merry Christmas in December, but this year for whatever reasons I took notice, and I’m glad I did.

After a half-dozen or more “Happy Thanksgivings”, I was becoming slightly annoyed. However, upon reflection I can honestly say it began to take on more meaning for me, and I suspect many other Canadians. Why? Because as we sat down to enjoy our turkey dinners, many of us must have realised just how much we have to be thankful for.

Sometimes it’s difficult to find a silver lining in what to be thankful for in this crazy world after tuning in to our local, national, and world news. Often our media leaves us with the impression there are few places left on this planet of ours which aren’t in some state of turmoil…except for where we live, of course!

However, I must not be smug about this for ironically our beautiful Cape Breton was unexpectedly hit with the remnants of hurricane Matthew just as many CBer’s were preparing to sit down for their Thanksgiving feasts. Extensive flooding, fallen trees, and no power for two days have run up a tab of millions of dollars. However, the good rising from this devastation was that no lives were lost, thanks to the resilience of the people.

There is nothing like a disaster such as this to pull people together to help those in need. Last weekend was not just Thanksgiving in Cape Breton, but also the beginning of their International Celtic Colours Festival, an annual event drawing a huge influx of visitors from all over the western world. True to form the people in the community of Eskasoni rallied together ensuring that the concert goers in their town would not be disappointed. Not only were they well fed and feted, but somehow had the power restored so they could see the show. But the people of this enterprising community didn’t stop there: they even managed to build a detour road to get the bus loads of visitors back to their hotels so they wouldn’t have to spend the night in the community hall. What tremendous organization and teamwork this must have taken!

Fortunately here in Victoria Beach, we were relatively unscathed by Matthew’s final hurrah save for leaves and broken branches littering our yards. We were thankful for the rain which was so desperately needed after a summer of drought reported to be the worst on record in some parts of our province.

A small waterfall created by the rain.

Further reflection upon this past week’s events have left me feeling unusually thankful for my life right now. I am thankful that Hubby and I got to enjoy Thanksgiving with not one but two delicious turkey dinners, none of which I had to cook! Although we were unable to sit down with family members due to the choices of where we all live, we were delighted to share our dinners with friends. Furthermore, I am especially thankful for where I live which has got to be one of the most awesome places in the world. I can still say this despite all the beautiful places I have witnessed in my world travels. Not to bore you with too many more ‘thankfuls’, I will mention only one more….

Found a grand pumpkin right here on our road.

Autumn of 2016 will definitely go down as one huge surprise. Many of us wondered if we would be rewarded with any significant colour this year because of the drought. By mid September our trees were looking old and tired with many of them shedding their withered leaves far too early. But, lo and behold, about two weeks ago those that still had leaves presented us with a glorious range of reds, oranges, and yellows. This transformation seemed to happen overnight. Somehow sensing this might not last forever, I realised I needed to grab my camera to capture the panorama which would in turn spur me on to completing another post for this blog.

However, when Matthew’s unexpected winds came last weekend, I despaired there would be any autumn colours left to capture. Shortly after the storm had passed as I drove into town, I noticed there was still a decent palette of colour miraculously left behind…just enough to provide me with those much-needed pictures.

Where did all this colour come from, I wondered? There were so many leaves stripped from their branches littering our road and yards, and yet those vivid colours were still evident. As I looked more closely, I realised much of the colour was produced by the abundance of foliage that lines our road, and not from the trees. Shrubs and other plants were climbing up the trunks of the bare trees and the telephone poles. My guess is that it’s climate change at work. Mother Nature is playing havoc with our maples and birches which we have always relied on for our autumn colours, but perhaps now we must look at the smaller plants and climbing vines as our colour source.

In spite of the changes occurring in our world right now… which for some can be down right scary… there are still rays of sunshine peeking through those grey clouds. Let’s hope that as some things wither and die away there will be other things to replace them.

A good example which has nothing to do with our autumn but is appropo for how change is being handled by folks in Nova Scotia is our main provincial newspaper, The Chronicle Herald. This paper has been in the midst of a strike between the owners and the workers for almost a year with neither side about to give in. Changes in staffing and working conditions have meant many jobs lost and hurt feelings, but the newspaper carries on despite them. To my mind, those who are left are actually improving the paper. Although much smaller, its content has improved. The viewpoint of the owners is more positive than it ever was before the strike so we are seeing more hope and less gloom and doom. Every day I can count on reading an article or two reflecting the positive changes occurring in our province. I am thrilled to see this new direction of The Herald and am truly hopeful that Nova Scotians will be able to handle any future changes which are bound to come.

A Short Trip to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay

September 18, 2016 / betstravelsabout / 9 Comments

Heaving a sigh of relief that we were finally settled aboard our ferry to Colonia del Sacramento, I was surprised to pick up on a familiar scent. Was that the ocean I smelled…but hold on…what ocean? It suddenly occurred to me that the ferry from Buenos Aires (BA) which was taking Hubby and me across the bay of the Rio de la Plata to Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay was crossing a huge expanse of water that empties directly into the Atlantic Ocean. Looks are deceiving when you are confined to a large metropolis like BA. You really are totally unaware of any ocean nearby. Their harbour front looks more like a river. I must confess the ocean smell brought on a wee bit of homesickness. After all, I had not been anywhere near an ocean since leaving my Nova Scotian home almost four months ago.

It was our last week in Buenos Aires in April this past winter that Hubby and I decided to take a quick trip over to Uruguay, the tiny country to the northeast of Argentina. It’s an easy trip from BA over to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay’s second largest city after Montevideo, its capital. No visa is required and Uruguay’s peso is almost par to the Argentinian peso. Either one is accepted so we used our Argentinian pesos to avoid the hassle of changing any money. Travelling there is easy with two separate ferry companies vying for passengers : the Bourque Bus and the Colonia Express. We took the latter since it was a bit cheaper and used more by the Argentinians. Bourque seemed to cater more to the tourists who want to visit for the day only and get there fast…in about an hour! This option can be more expensive but not necessarily any better. Our crossing took three hours which was fine with us since we weren’t in a great hurry. We were planning to spend the night there and return the next day.

By the time our ferry reached our destination, the fog, which had delayed our crossing by more than an hour, had lifted, allowing the sun to burst forth and present us with a brilliant autumn day. Colonia del Sacramento has a population of roughly 27,000 and is a UNESCO World Heritage site. With its cobblestone streets lined with stately sycamore trees, it’s a fantastic city for walking just about everywhere. We found our small, family owned hotel – the Los Pinos – with an easy 15 minute walk from the ferry terminal. The centre of the city showcasing museums, restaurants, shops, and the harbour were another easy 15 minute walk from there so a taxi was not needed.

Colonia del Sacramento is one of South America’s most authentic Spanish/Portuguese settlements founded in 1680 by the Portuguese. It passed back and forth in a tug-of-war between Portugal and Spain until 1809 when Uruguay finally achieved its independence from Spain. Over the years it has managed to preserve its heritage so that today you can see some remains of the wall and fortress that once protected it from invaders. Many of the buildings dating back to that time have been lovingly maintained or restored.

As soon as we got settled into our hotel, we went in search of a cafe hoping to find one with good coffee. As we turned the corner from our street onto the main street…Av General Flores… lo and behold, there was before us a few small tables placed carefully on the sidewalk. And, there to our left was what looked like a coffee shop! This looked good and so did those mouth-watering cupcakes! The chap running the whole show turned out to be the owner who spoke excellent English and ended up serving us one of the best lattes yet. It was still too early in the day for one of those cupcakes; however, we did go back the following day for that indulgence and didn’t regret it. Colonia Sandwich and Coffee Cafe is owned and run by a young couple from Uruguay who learned the art of good coffee-making while living in Italy.

After our coffee fix, we were now ready to explore the Cuidad Vieja or old city. The best place to begin a tour in any South American city or town is the main square or Plato Mayo. There is always at least one church to admire, if not on the inside, then at least from the outside. My favourite pastime is to spend some time sitting in a park people watching. However with so much more of the city to see, we were compelled to finally tear ourselves away from the park and an interesting conversation with a friendly fellow who had just moved to Uruguay from Toronto.

We continued on and soon found ourselves at the harbour. Before us lay a lovely nautical setting which for me was another reminder of Nova Scotia. We walked along the pier to the lighthouse at the end admiring the display of vessels in all shapes and sizes. This could easily have been Chester, our famous resort town in Nova Scotia. The seaside restaurants looked so inviting that we decided to take another break and treat ourselves to a Campari special accompanied by delicious croquettes at a restaurant with an outdoor deck. Yes, somewhat decadent for that time of day, but the drink and the warmth of the sun pouring down upon us… remember we were in autumn and hadn’t seen much of the sun for two weeks…gave us another memorable experience to store away from this visit.

Sufficiently fortified with food and drink, we once more set out for the Cuidad Vieja…but not before first checking out another lighthouse in the midst of the ruins of the San Francisco Convent built in 1694. A small entrance fee allowed me to climb to the top of the lighthouse where I got a fantastic view of the harbour and the entire city. Since Hubby doesn’t do well with heights, he decided to wait out this adventure.

An hour or so later, we finally arrived at the City Gate and the entrance to the Cuidad Vieja. Although the Gate and the wall surrounding the old city were probably first built some time in the late 1600’s to keep marauding invaders at bay, much of it was rebuilt in 1968. By the time we had wandered down the ‘Street of Sighs’, one of the original cobblestone streets constructed by the Portuguese which has the drain running down the middle of it, we noticed that the sun had disappeared and dark clouds were already beginning to take over.

Unfortunately, the threat of the rain which quickly morphed into a down pour soon put an end to our site seeing for the day.

The next morning it was still raining heavily putting a bit of a damper…no pun intended… on what we could do. After a substantial breakfast at our hotel and another delicious coffee at the Sandwich and Coffee Cafe we decided to seek out the only option we had …. to spend our remaining time in the museums. Colonia del Sacramento boasts of having at least eight of them but because of the rain we could find only two open for business. One was the Municipal Museum so we sought refuge there. This one portrayed the history of the city as well as a good commentary on the culture and social customs of the 18th century. Running between the showers, we found the Portuguese Museum was open, too, so sought further shelter there along with some other tourists doing the same as us. Here we found a home from the same time period which reflected how the first Portuguese settlers lived their daily lives. I was struck by the similarity of their life to that of our Acadians…simple but functional.

Since our ferry wasn’t leaving until later that afternoon, our only option to keep us from getting a thorough soaking was to find a good eating place. Our hostess at Los Pinos had highly recommended Jon Joaquin, a well established restaurant with the best Neapolitan pizza outside of Italy, but after a somewhat wet search, we arrived only to find it closed. Desperate to get out of the rain, we headed back to Av General Flores and decided to take our chances by eating at the busiest restaurant we could find. If it’s busy and full of locals it must be good … or so the reasoning goes and is usually true. We decided on one very close to our coffee place and our hotel. Hubby had his proverbial beef with beer which satisfied him, however, my choice was a mistake. Not understanding the menu or our waiter, I thought I was ordering a Uruguayan speciality. Perhaps this dish was special to Uruguayans, but I have to admit I wasn’t impressed with the foot long wiener I found on my plate. The oversized salad accompanying it looked good but the scarcity of dressing was disappointing. Apparently dressings, sauces and spices are often used sparingly, if at all, not only in Argentina but in Uruguay as well.

For anyone who decides to visit Colonia del Sacramento, there are probably many choices for good restaurant eating judging by the recommendations in Lonely Planet and Trip Advisor. One of them is the El Drugstore where we ate the night before. The food was good and wholesome, but what pleased us most about this place was the funky decor, the friendly service, and the entertainment. We were serenaded by a beautiful young woman with a fantastic voice and had the pleasure of her company during intermission. She once lived in London where she starred in musicals and built up quite a reputation for herself until she was lured back to her family and country. This seems to be a pattern for Uruguayans as well as Argentinians… to work and live abroad in Europe only to eventually return home to use what they have learned for benefit to their own country.

If you were to ask me if our trip to Uruguay was worth it, I would have to say ‘yes’. Although a small country not much different in culture and history from its big neighbour to the south, it is still somehow different. I think it was the people we met in the short time we were there who were a little more open and willing to talk. They also appeared to be happier … but then who wouldn’t be in such a desirable city …with its history, culture, and location by the sea. It has much to boast about and those we met seemed more than willing to share positive thoughts on their country. If Colonia del Sacramento is a reflection of the rest of Uruguay, which I believe it is based on what I’ve read and heard, then it’s a wonderful example of how some South American countries are safe, politically stable, and experiencing a high standard of living. If you would like to learn more about Uruguay and its capital, Montevideo, you could check out http://traveleater.wordpress.com, a blog by Johanna Reid, who also visited Uruguay this past winter.

To view the gallery of photos below, click on the first picture and go from there. I hope these can help you enjoy Colonia del Sacramento as much as I did.