Colonia, Uruguay

If there's one thing that stands out about Uruguay, it's mate'. This was on display at a mate' cafe' where we had our first mate'.

Getting to Uruguay from Buenos Aires is so easy, only an hour on the ferry. When you check in, they put you through a very easy immigration procedure. We took the ferry to Colonia. Not only is it a closer point than Montevideo, and therefore a shorter ride, it is more importantly a UNESCO world heritage site. 

Hey, this is the matte effect of me drinking mate', I know it doesn't look like I'm enjoying it too much, that's why I had to do all these effects. But I did have another opportunity on another day, and now I do see why the Uruguayans love it so much. It's an herb, a tea. And it's good for you.

After settling into the hotel, we walked around town and came across this mate' bar. We had been informed of this custom by our BA guide, but this was the first time we had some. 

Just a nice house as we walked along the riverside.

La Calle de Los Suspiros.

The entrance.

We walked around the town at dusk, saw the sunset and went searching for the restaurant where we would have dinner. El Buen Suspiro was named #1 of 75 restaurants in Colonia. When we came across this calle de los suspiros, I thought we might be in the right place. You can't tell by looking down the alley, you almost have to be right there to be able to see the sign.. 

It is more like a tapas bar and the food choices seemed to be different amounts of the same thing: cheese, cold cuts, and savory tarts. The star is the Uruguayan wine, tannat, which we were told is better than the Argentinian wine. Sorry, Argentina, I agree. The malbec in Argentina was quite good pretty much everywhere and from different wineries and price ranges. But the tannat, was just a notch more full-bodied, or smooth, or something. I can't say just what it is as I am not a connoisseur, but it was good. How's that?

This was the last night my friend and I were together. We had a disagreement, separated, and were on our own in Uruguay after this night.  You will see it worked out for the best. Neither of us went to Mexico. I went to see my friend Marie in Jacksonville and she stayed longer in Uruguay.