Carmelo, Uruguay

We needed to renew our 90-day tourist visas again, so we decided to go to a Winery in Uruguay with Jess. Instead of taking the normal trip from Buenos Aires to Colonia, we got on a bus around 6:30 AM, which took us to north of the city to Tigre, where we caught a ferry to Carmelo, Uruguay. So instead of being out in wide open waters that feel like the ocean, but are actually part of the river (Rio de la Plata), our ferry went through much narrower river deltas.

When we arrived in Carmelo, we quickly realized there were no banks open on Sunday. So in order to change Argentine pesos to Uruguayan pesos, we had to trade money with a couple of men at the ferry terminal, who each had large wads of cash they were holding. Since nearly everyone else there seemed to be doing the same thing, it seemed less sketchy than it normally would have, and Jess assured us that she had done the same thing when she was in Central America. After that, we took a short taxi ride outside of the city to Bodega Irurtia.

Bodega Irurtia is the biggest winery in Uruguay and is owned by a large family. Our informative tour guide was the granddaughter of one of the founders, and she explained very well (in Spanish) about how they make their wines. It was fall and the harvesting season had ended in March, so there weren't any grapes to see or any wine-making, but we still got to tour the winery and learn about each step of the process. The tour ended in a wine tasting, where we were able eat several delicious cheeses with good homemade bread and to try four different wines (two red, two white) and grappa. Grappa is a hard liquor that is made by distilling the leftover grape parts that didn't get turned into wine. It was very sweet! In the end we preferred the Tannant, a red wine that Uruguay wineries are known for, and the Viognier, a white wine. We bought a bottle of each when we left, along with some delicious goat cheese, which we had tried during the tasting and which is made across the street at the family's farm.

Next, we took an hour-long leisurely walk back to the center of Carmelo, where we sat down at one of the only places that was open for lunch. We split some Pilsen (Urugay's standard beer, much like Argentina's Quilmes), fish and different types of Chivitos, the amazing Uruguyan sandwich that includes beef, panceta (not quite bacon), ham, mushrooms, olives, mozzerella, onion, egg, and mayonnaise. After eating some of the best sandwiches ever, we strolled around the tiny town, where there wasn't much else to do and most things were closed on Sunday. Finally we caught the ferry back to Tigre, and the bus from there back to Buenos Aires, where we arrived back home around 9 PM.