Luxurious Uruguay 12 Nights Day 1 - Colonia Your private transfer will welcome you at the port of Colonia (ferries arriving/departing to/from Buenos Aires) and transport you to the Rio Ancho Gourmet Lodge, about 10 km from the city center. Accommodation is all-inclusive, for 4 nights. Check in and spend the rest of the day at your leisure to rest or walk around. Day 2 – Colonia and Colonia del Sacramento You will be picked up at your hotel, to go on a Private Colonia City tour. Among the sites you’ll be visiting, are the San Carlos Bullfight Arena, the San Benito Chapel, Horse Racetrack, the Power Plant, Dock and Colonia’s West coast and beaches, as well as the neighborhoods and shopping areas. You will then continue on to the pedestrian only city’s historic site, the Old Town, a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1995. The walk will take you around the Old District of Colonia (known as Colonia del Sacramento), founded in 1680 by the Portuguese. You will see several points of interest like the old city gates, the “Street of Sighs”. There’ll be a stop at the Main Square, then the ruins of the San Francisco Church (the oldest ruins in Uruguay), the Lighthouse, Governor’s House, the Sacramento Basilica and other attractive sites along the way. It’ll be an educating walk through a tranquil area, that’ll provide visitors with knowledge on the city’s history and the reason for it to be named a World Heritage Site. Upon completion of the walking part of the tour, the bus will return to Rio Ancho Lodge. Day 3 – Colonia to Carmelo You will be picked up from the Lodge to go on a Private Wine (& Tasting) Tour at Irurtia and Narbona Wineries in Carmelo. THE IRURTIA WINERY was born with the arrival of Basque Don Lorenzo Irurtia to Carmelo, Uruguay during the second half of the 19th Century. His passion for good wines and his laborious dedication to the vine cultivation gave its fruits with the first harvest of 1913. Don Lorenzo found in Carmelo the opportunity to settle with his family and start his business, just like hundreds of other immigrants did, when welcomed by these lands of freedom and order. Some went into cobble stone making, and for Don Lorenzo it was the start of the vine farming, taking advantage of the wonderful possibilities given by the existing floor, quaternary rocks covered with limestone soil. BUEMES TRAVEL DMC (Viajes Buemes S.A.) Main Office: Colonia 979 - Phone: (+598) 29021050 – Fax: (+598) 29021791 Pocitos Office: Tiburcio Gómez 1305 Piso 3 y 4 - Phone: (+598) 29021050 Carrasco Office: Av. Arocena 1596 – Phone / Fax: (+598) 26006047 Montevideo – Uruguay E-mail: [email protected] - http://www.buemesdmc.com Time passed, and five of the eight Irurtia-Etchenique siblings Miguel, Antonio, Carmelo, Natalia and Francisca have dedicated their life’s work to the vineyard and the small winery. NARBONA WINERY is a quaint complex, at which center is the hull of the original farm, which dates back to 1909. Here is where Juan de Narbona founded one of the first wineries in Uruguay. The hull was refurbished back in 1990 faithful to the style and traditions of times past and in 1998 the vineyards were planted. (Nowadays the winery has over 15 hectares of the Uruguayan Tannat variety, as well as Pinot Noir, Petit Verdot, Viognier and Syrah. A new wine cellar was built in 2010, solely for the production of premium wines. A variety of fruit trees co-exists with the vineyards and Narbona is well known too for the manufacturing of delicious jam, jelly, syrup, olive oil, breads, pasta and cheese. This is a place were senses are awoken … amidst a collection of antiques and lovely surroundings; you’ll be delighted to smell and taste (and purchase!) their products. Day 4 – Colonia to Montevideo After breakfast, check out from the Rio Ancho Lodge and a private transfer will drive you to the capital city of Montevideo. On your way, you’ll stop at “La Brida” blue cheese manufacturing establishment, for great cheese tasting. La Brida is the only producer of this type of cheese in Uruguay. After the visit to La Brida, the tour will continue on to Montevideo. We will stop at Bouza Winery for a visit, wine tasting and have a lovely 3-course lunch there as well. BOUZA WINERY is located at only 15 km from Montevideo. The winery is part of a harmonious milieu, surrounded by vines and native woods. The diversity of the native plants and animals is influenced by the proximity of the Santa Lucia River and its outlet into the River Plate, known as the widest river in the world. The Winery was born as a family business, placing great care in all stages of the process, starting from the vineyard and ending in the glass. The property is divided into two fields, the one we will be visiting in the Melilla area and the one in Las Violetas, an area of important vine-growing tradition, 39 km from the center of Montevideo. The vineyard is of 10 hectares of Tannat, Merlot and Chardonnay plants, ages ranging between 20 and 40 years old. In addition, 13 hectares have new plantations of Tannat, Merlot, Tempranillo and Albariño, selecting high quality and low productivity clones. Bouza Winery was built utilizing the existing structure of an old winery that functioned in the area since 1942. It was restored maintaining the original idea. BUEMES TRAVEL DMC (Viajes Buemes S.A.) Main Office: Colonia 979 - Phone: (+598) 29021050 – Fax: (+598) 29021791 Pocitos Office: Tiburcio Gómez 1305 Piso 3 y 4 - Phone: (+598) 29021050 Carrasco Office: Av. Arocena 1596 – Phone / Fax: (+598) 26006047 Montevideo – Uruguay E-mail: [email protected] - http://www.buemesdmc.com Our tour will start with a visit to the vineyards and orientation of the process; we will observe the natural surroundings and the wide diversification of fauna and flora. One of the attractions here is that Bouza Winery exhibits the owner’s private collection of antique cars such as Ford T from 1926; Ford A, Citroens from 1950 and 1980, Alfa Romeo Spider 1960 and 1926 train wagons among other very interesting and well kept vehicles. We’ll visit the cave and complete the tour with a lovely 3-course lunch paired with their suggested wines. We will then transfer back to your hotel. Check in at the chosen Montevideo hotel. Accommodation is for 3 nights, with breakfast included. Rest of the day at your leisure to rest or explore the surroundings. Day 5 – Montevideo After breakfast, your tour will take you on the trail of a legend, the Admiral Graf Spee. The dramatic destiny of the legendary German battle ship “Admiral Graf Spee”, is still alive in Montevideo and we will follow its trail, visiting the most important buildings which suddenly became the centre of the world’s attention back in December of 1939. Among such buildings were the British and German embassies, the Uruguayan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Port Authority and the Military Hospital. There British, German and Uruguayan authorities negotiated the destiny of the ship and its crew. As the drive goes through the city, we’ll be able to appreciate the different styles of architecture, squares, parks and monuments. From the top of the “Cerro”, Montevideo’s landmark hill, we will have a splendid view of the bay and the town’s skyline, which might invite you to imagine the commotion the 72-hour-stay of the damaged German war ship caused in that typically un-crowded harbor at that time. The human tragedy of those days emerges during the visit to the Northern Cemetery where the 40 fallen German seamen were buried. Likewise, at the British Cemetery of Montevideo, the only two graves of British victims are a silent reminder of that River Plate battle. The last stop of the tour will be at the Naval Museum, which showcases different items salvaged from the German ship and river bottom, like a 150 mm cannon and the German ship’s telemetric equipment. A traditional “asado” (BBQ) lunch awaits at the Mercado del Puerto (Port Market), a neat photo opportunity of the Uruguayan grills in full action. After lunch, you will be driven back to the hotel along the coastline road. The rest of the afternoon is at your leisure. Day 6 – Artesana Winery and BBQ cooking demonstration Today, you will be picked up from the hotel lobby and drive along the countryside to visit Artesana Winery for a tour, wine tasting, and a private cooking demonstration. Lunch will follow. BUEMES TRAVEL DMC (Viajes Buemes S.A.) Main Office: Colonia 979 - Phone: (+598) 29021050 – Fax: (+598) 29021791 Pocitos Office: Tiburcio Gómez 1305 Piso 3 y 4 - Phone: (+598) 29021050 Carrasco Office: Av. Arocena 1596 – Phone / Fax: (+598) 26006047 Montevideo – Uruguay E-mail: [email protected] - http://www.buemesdmc.com ARTESANA WINERY is a small-production, single vineyard estate winery located in the acclaimed Canelones wine-growing region. Uruguay produces dynamic and award winning wines of outstanding quality, and unlike Argentina and Chile, does so in small-scale, family owned wineries with a European winemaking tradition. The coastal Atlantic climate is often compared to that of the Bordeaux region in France, producing wines with well- balanced levels of alcohol and acidity. The Tannat variety, brought from France in the 1870s, produces rich, full-bodied red wines with dark fruit and spice aromas and flavors. Artesana’s 20-acre vineyard is planted with Tannat, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Zinfandel (the only Zinfandel produced in Uruguay).