Mas Guay que Paraguay

I came across the above phrase, which means literally "more guay than Paraguay" ages ago. it means, or more probably, it meant at the time, since fashions change, "cool". I have been looking for a chance to use it ever since and came close yesterday as we went ...to Uruguay. Or at least we went to Colonia de Sacramiento which is a world heritage site in Uruguay. Some say it has been over preserved. It has delightful single storey houses built in the Spanish colonial style, cobbled streets, plane trees and restuarants with views of the river, in one of which we had a lovely lunch. However, we found it charming and a delightful place to spend an afternoon, enjoying the quiet after the bustle of BA. It only takes an hour on the wonderful efficient Buquebus, a sort of floating shopping mall so we were back in time to have dinner with Greg in Palermo at a restuarnt which boasted of a performance by opera singers. Maybe so. but not as we know them. Tonight we are going to the opera at Teatro Avenida to see Don Pasquale. Hopefully this is the real thing, as our previous visit there to see La Traviata was very enjoyable.

PS. I have just realised that I do know something about Paraguay since we were told by our Brazilian guide that the main industry of Paraguay, whose border is about 10km from where Brazil meets Argentina, is shopping. I have heard of people who make this their life´s work (put your hand down Esther!), but never of shopping as an industry. However, it seems that the tax system in Paraguay is such that they can import and sell good from all over the world very cheaply so people actually visit specifically to visit its shopping malls. Mas guay que Paraguay. There you have it.