Although not on our original itinerary we found ourselves with time to spare & decided to spend a week in Uruguay . Oh , the difficult decisions we have to make these days !

We crossed the Plate River by ferry from Buenos Aires to Colonia , a 3hr crossing. We spent 2 days in Colonia , a charming little town with cobblestone streets & gorgeous river views. We then travelled east , passing through Montevideo & spent 4 days on the Uruguay Riviera at Punta Del Este , an absolutely gorgeous beach resort. This was our first "beach " holiday since we've been travelling. It was very reminiscent of the South of France, Cannes , Nice etc & it was really lovely for a few days. A wonderful "rest" !

We then returned to Montevideo to "discover" another city. not dissimilar to Buenos Aires in our opinion. We watched a lot of street tango-dancing & flamenco.

We were told that Uruguayans like to think of themselves & their country as very different & distinct from Argentina ( a bit like England & Scotland !) but we felt like we were in the same country. Still very friendly , very helpful & even more obsessed with mate (the drink ) than the Argentinians. Everybody, but everybody , young & old, carries a thermos flask & a mate pot.