After our short stint in Montevideo, we were looking forward to sitting still for a few days on the coast of Uruguay. On our drive out, we stopped in at two wineries, Alto de la Bellana and Viña Eden, to taste a handful of wines. Uruguay’s temperate climate, gravelly soil and slopes create a great environment for growing wine. They produce a range of varieties (we tried a Chardonnay, a Merlot, a Pinot Nior), but their speciality is Tannat. Tannat is a French variety that is usually blended with other grapes, but in Uruguay, the climate and soil creates the perfect balance to allow the Tannat to stand alone (shout out to the owner of Alto de la Bellana, Paula, who talked through all of this with us).
We stayed at Laguna Garzon Lodge which literally sits on the Laguna Garzon – our room was one of 12 huts that sat on the water, each connected to the main lodge with wooden walkways.
Our front porch had a hammock and a chair to sit and enjoy the sunset (also perfect for any other time of the day).
During the days, we drove along Ruta 10, Uruguay’s coastal highway, to other beach towns including:
~Garzon: home to chef Francis Mallmann’s restaurant and winery known to us because of Netflix’s Chef’s Table. We enjoyed an incredible meal on our last night in town.
~Paloma: a quiet surf town. We had a confusing lunch where I unsuccessfully ordered some meat dish that I had originally believed to be cheese pizza and then hung out on the beach for awhile.
~Jose Ignacio: famous for A-list celebrity guests, including Shakira, Jose Ignacio was largely shuttered when we wandered around.
~Punta del Este: the largest (maybe making that fact up) of Uruguay’s beach towns. We popped in to eat these guys:
Since we arrived before the season started, the weather was still a little cool but the beaches were beautiful and empty. Consistent with Montevideo, we’d definitely come back to visit – perhaps when Shakira is here.
We got into Buenos Aires last night after another bus/ferry combo. We’ll be hunkered down in a downtown AirBNB for five days, so we’re looking forward to doing some more routine stuff – running errands, grocery shopping, laundry, cooking dinner in the apartment (well Michael cooking). And hopefully check out a museum or two and see some tango! Adios!
The huts on the water look amazing!