We returned back to Montevideo (MVD) on Friday after a nice relaxing three nights in Jose Ignacio. Our little apartment was now familiar and doorman Roberta gave us his big smile and a happy “Como Esta?” to which we replied muy bien! We had decided to keep the car, as we were going to head South to Colonia on Tuesday for another exploration. This means we get to park the car in the tight but manageable apartment garage. So glad we got a small car!
While we aren’t wild about the apartment, the area has grown on us. We have a really cool cheese shop, a decent butcher, several bakeries, a really good pizza place, nice grocery store and most importantly an excellent laundry all within a few blocks. I really do love dropping our clothes off and the next day picking up a stack of beautifully folded clothes for a really decent price (first load after arriving from Peru was BIG and it was $8). The grocery store has nice little dog houses to keep the furry friends safe while mom/dad are shopping (they have locks).
What has surprised us the most of our time in MVD is the trash and not in a good way. Each block has two large bins for the residents. It is very easy to walk across and dump your trash. Unfortunately, they get really full before they are emptied and people still attempt to throw it in and it just goes everywhere. By the time they are emptied there is trash everywhere and the trash guys just dump the bins, they don’t pick up the stuff on the ground. Totally gross. On a couple of blocks there are good citizens who pick up around their closest bin, but many just languish with garbage surrounding them. So unfortunate.
On Saturday, I booked us to do a wine tasting at a wine shop in the Cordon section of MVD. We braved the bus and were successful!! For $1.50 we rode like the locals and then walked another 10 mins to Balbuena Wines, where Alex our host was ready for us. He had made a beautiful charcuterie board with local cheeses, meats and very fresh focaccia with local olive oil.
The three wines he chose were local and represented the grapes in the region, the most unique being Tannant. It is a red grape that makes a robust, dry and complex wine that I am really enjoying. We found that Alex is Russian and immigrated to Uruguay three years ago with his family, which was timely. He shared some great intel on the wines and also which wineries we might want to visit in the areas we are exploring.
Since our bus ride was a success the night before, we had another go on Sunday and headed into the Agriculture Market. It is a large building that houses shops of all kinds including fruit/veg, cheeses, gifts and a food stalls. It was built in 1913 and was designated a historic site in 1999. We grabbed some lunch and then found our way to the bus stop for the ride home.
Tuesday arrived and we packed up for another three night trip,but this time Colonia del Sacramento, the oldest city in Uruguay and designated World Unesco Heritage city. The 2.5 hours were spent on a modern highway with farmland in every direction. As we were a bit early to check into the hotel, we decided to grab some lunch. Parking was easy and we found our way to the tiny Bita Café sitting on the banks of the massive River Plata. The weather was a beautiful 75 degrees and with the view, it made for a nice lunch.
Our hotel, the Las Liebres (https://www.lasliebres.com.uy/) was a few miles out of town and looked pretty cool (the link shows a great view of the property). We were shown to our very nice room a quick walk from the main building, all surrounded by vineyards, gardens and fields. (in the website you can see our Sebastian room). We did a wander and found the organic garden with lots of vegis used in the hotel restaurant, as well as the vines with big clumps of grapes not yet ready for picking.
Dinner was back in town, so we took advantage and did more exploring of the old square with ruins from the 1600’s, small alleys with colorful old buildings and yummy looking restaurants at every turn. Casa Viera was our choice (https://www.instagram.com/casa.viera/?hl=en) and not shockingly we were the first ones there at 730p. Locals eat late and we have started to get used to an 8p dinner (we are still early at that time). The food was creative and Ken’s ossobuco was more of a casserole than hunk of meat. But definitely tasty.
Back at the room, we were able to keep the window open and promptly fell asleep to the silent sounds of the fields.