Gran Hotel Fray Bentos

Hola,<br><br>After a great time in Buenos Aires we made the short ferry trip across the River Plate to Uruguay and the small historical town of Colonia, it's a cute little town with a few cafes and restaurants but not a lot more. The best way to see around is to hire a vehicle, we decided to hire a scooter for a couple of hours and visit the nearby beaches.<br><br>We zipped around the town, visiting the deserted bull ring and cruised up the sea front, we looked very European. Most of the ...

<br>Rob - Not a good start to the day; I had my wallet stolen. Heidi's response was that it was my fault and not the criminal that stole it. Some female logic involved there me thinks! Heidi - HOLD ON! you fell for one of the oldest trickes in the book. Thankfully I'd suggested splitting up the cash - however Rob had not thought to do the same for all his bank cards!<br><br>Rob - Good scam though, while you are waiting ...

<br><br>Moving on again,we first called into the town of Mercedes, but the campsite was on an island and so we could not stay. We continued to the border town of Fray Bentos. All British readers will instantly recognise this name since it is a major brand of canned meat products. We managed to find the tourist office and got the map showing the campsite and so went there and parked for the night (S33.7.09.60 W58.19.21.86).<br><br>18th- After another very cold night we made ...

From Buenos Aires we took the urban train to Tigre, a suburb an hour north. There we found the ferry to Uruguay didn´t leave for another 5 hours. We sat by the beautiful river which could easily have been somewhere like Henley along the Thames or possibly Holland, it looked so unlike the Argentina I had imagined. We went to the Naval museum there which wasn´t on a boat like the other one in the city centre, but much bigger and with more weapons which I liked. Also loads ...

Fray Bentos was 4 hours on a bus from Colonia, we wanted to do something else before meeting the other boys in Montevideo and this Pie Factory caught our eye in the guide book. The section on Uruguay in our book is about 20 pages long, but one thing they mention in it is the Extract of Meat Factory and museum in Fray Bentos, as a bizarre and interesting experience. It was pretty bizarre and interesting, the town was a nice little place, i dont ...

I decided to leave Uruguay via the Fray Bentos / Gualeguaychú border point...only to get to Fray Bentos to discover that the border point there has been closed for 10 months! I had to get a bus 2 hours north to the next border point...but had to wait 6 hours in Fray Bentos for that bus, grrr! Anyway, I went and checked out the Fray Bentos museum - yes, this is the place your corned beef / pies / oxo cubes originated from. You would think I´d have had ...

Stopped off in Fray Bentos for the day. Home of corned beef and would you believe it, OXO cubes. Being british, I allowed myself the eccentricity of visiting the old slaughterhouse and meatpacking plant here. The word odd springs to mind. Plus Í might never eat corned beef or Fray Bntos pies again.

... addicted to the stuff to the point where everyone carries a thermos everywhere they go. It really is quite funny watching someone riding along on a bike with their thermos under one arm, their mate in one hand and stearing with the other particularly when their cell phone rings and they madly try to juggle everything to answer the phone without crashing. February 9 and 11 - We moved onto Punta del Esta which is one of the premier beach ...

... at a restaurant called "Drugstore," I ran into a Harvard classmate I haven't seen for more than 10 years. What a small world it is! Since this is a different country (and smallest one in South America), it actually is in a different time zone from Argentina. Fortunately I did figure it out and did not arrive at ferry terminal one hour early... Pictures of Colonia, Uruguay: http://travel.saricie.com/SouthAmerica2 006/Colonia_en.htm

... the way. There is an old city in Colonia and they have restored the entry gate. Inside the old city there are cobblestone roads, ruins and a lighthouse with a nice view. There were lots of little cafes to have a peaceful afternoon beverage.