Wednesday 18th and Thursday 19th February
Another early start for the 2hr drive West to Colonia situated on the banks of the Rio de la Plata.
The lights of Buenos Aires can be seen flickering over the water 50kms away. There are regular ferries between the two cities. Old Colonia is a World Heritage Site, cosy and very, very quiet.
We stayed at the Posada Plaza Major.
We visited Fripp, a small boutique winery in nearby Carmelo with surprisingly good wines that are only available in the restaurant or for sale from the cellar.
Back at Santa Rosa winery we had seen the flagons of unfortified sherry and port maturing on the lawn in the sun. They told us that it is mainly used in baking and in the making of ice cream. At Gelato Bartolot, we got to taste the delicious Sambayon, the specialist icecream made with this wine.
For dinner we shared a Chivito at waterside restaurant Charco.
Chivito is Uruguay's signature dish; a steak sandwich topped with cheese, egg, bacon and ham.
The national drink is Mate, a green tea that everyone drinks but it's not sold in cafes or restaurants. It's a ritual and everyone makes it at home and carries it around, hot water flask under one arm and cup and straw in the other hand, sipping all day. And majiuana is legal but not for sale in shops; you have to grow your own.
On Thursday the bird watching spot we visited was closed but they let us wander around. It was good to see the countryside and some birds and we did enjoy finding a colony of burrowing owls.
People in Uruguay are very friendly. When we were having trouble paying for our car charge with a foreign credit card, the chap charging next to us paid for us to connect.
We had an early Mac D's supper at the airport and spent the night at the Hampton Hotel for an early flight to Lima in the morning.
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