As we meandered through the city streets of the old town at dusk, I quickly popped my head into a wine bar, El Buen Suspiro, nestled between the stone walls to grab a table.  We had a wait for a bit to get our wine, but in return the waiter was charming and knowledgable on the grapes, explaining the local Uruguayan specialties relative to those across the river.   To have a little of ‘our time’ we sent the kids to play in the square, climb the old city walls, cross the drawing bridge, and watch the sunset overlooking the Río de la Plata.  We felt like we stepped back in time when it was acceptable to have your kids run all over town while the grow-ups were busy doing whatever it is that they do.  Even as it got dark, we sipped our wine enchanted by our surroundings without any worry about our children’s whereabouts.

That’s the thing about Colonia.  It’s a perfectly imperfect small town.  Its uneven cobblestone streets that date back to 1700s coupled with its colonial architecture make it extremely meanageable to explore.  It’s not beautiful but its authenticity exudes from every corner.  It balances between historical atmosphere and a bit of neglect visible all around, making it somewhat unremarkable and charming at the same time.  As an added bonus, its colorful history (it alternated between Spanish and Portuguese rule nine times before it became part of Brazil prior to Uruguay’s independence in 1828) is a fun lesson for the kids.

Although it’s a UNESCO World Heritige Site, most international travelers seem to skip it as a destination (though the number of visitors likely increases as the season gets going). It’s often the first port of entry to those coming from Buenos Aires to Uruguay using the ferry, primarily seen as a stop over on the way to Montevideo.  As such, we were lucky not to see prongs of people with cameras and selfie sticks, but instead slower pace of life in a small town on a river was visible everywhere.

In the Historic Quarter we climbed to the top of the lighthouse and saw the sail boats gently rolling in the wind on the other side of town.  We tasted amazing ice-cream while on the main square.  We visited the old Basilica del Santisimo Sacramento right after we enjoyed a delicious lunch outside, in front of it. Of course we couldn’t miss the Sunday market with its antiques, fried empanadas and local cheeses.  At every corner it felt like we could melt into the town and adopt it as our own within hours of arriving.

We did not go to any museums though I hear that a couple are definitely worth a stop including Casa de Nacarello andViceroy’s House.  We also did not make it to the beach other than on horse back but we did hear rave reviews of the white sand (I don’t think that the river itself is that clean, though apparently local kids have no problem spending all summer splashing in it). We also had fantastic food throughout our stay, a necessary component of every excursion.

As charming as Colonia was in itself, what made our four-day-visit so magical was our Airbnb. I have now stayed in over 30 Airbnbs and there have been some outstanding finds.  This Airbnb however, was a gem.  As a rustic country house that took me back to my summers on the farm in Poland, it exceeded all expectations for comfort and tranquility.  We read and slept in the hammock, walked the trails, and fed the donkeys on the farm.  When it got later into the lazy days, we grilled and set up blankets outside to star gaze.  We watched sunsets, played croquet and swam on the hot afternoons.  It was perfect.  Our host, Christopher, made our stay extra fun by inviting the kids to feed the donkeys and horses.

I needed this break to slow down from our life in BA (another vacation from vacation!) as we’re hitting the three month mark.  It’s really nice to hear the bees buzzing all day while reading and watching your kids play games on the front lawn which they can’t do in the city.  This was a perfect weekend.

To get restaurant recommendations and see what we did please see below.

In the meantime, some of our favorite moments:

Where to stay / eat / etc:

1. To get there:  we took the ferry which I thought would be easier than it was.  Perhaps because the departure time changed (without us knowing) or because it was delayed nearly 2 hours, it ended up being a much longer trip than necessary.  On the way back though we left our Airbnb at 3:45 and arrived at our apartment in BA at 6:30.  Pretty simple.
2. Car:  since we don’t have a car, we rented one at the ferry terminal in Colonia.  We rented from Thrifty which was horrible – but it was the only rental in the actual terminal.  The line was super long and it took forever to get the car, even once we got to the counter.  When we finally saw the actual car, we could not believe that it was built in this century.  A tiny little box (and we’ve rented many of these) that was awful.  Fortunately we didn’t have to use the car that much – the farm was about 10kms from town and it was easy to get around and find parking.  Would have been horrible to use it to drive anywhere far though.  I did see Hertz, Alamo and others just outside of the terminal so perhaps we’ll try to work with these next time.  And of course if you do have a car, you can bring it with you on the ferry from BA.
3. Stay:  we loved this Airbnb for all it had to offer with its farm animals and charm. The host was also amazing and made our stay super comfortable.
4. Eat:  we tried multiple places, and some were good enough to return it more than once:
   1. Pizzaria Don Joaquín is by far the best pizza in town according to the locals and Google, of course.  We loved it so much that we went twice.  The pizzas in some miracle fashion are made in less than 5 mins, and the dough is some of the best I’ve ever tasted.  It’s only open for dinner (8:00pm) and I believe it only serves pizza.  It’s worth another ferry ride to taste this pizza again.
   2. Viejo Bario serves the best home-made pasta and the lomo (filet mignon) melted in our mouths.  It’s also right on the square plaza which is not only fantastic for people watching, but also super nice for the kids to run around.
   3. El Drugstore is right next to Viejo Bario and nearly always has live music, not necessarily good live music, but live music.  Very much so a mom and pop shop also with tables outside that serves some interesting plates besides traditional Uruguayan dishes.
   4. Super cute wine-bar, El Buen Suspiro is a great place to taste some wine an enjoy local cheese selection.  Tucked in the side street, you can’t see the garden patio in the back, but definitely worth a visit.
5. Other:  we went horse-back riding through wooded areas and the beach.  The gauchos were super nice and it was a great way to spend one morning.  Go to Hostel Colonia on the main strip to book.  $120 for two hours for five people seemed like a bargain.