On our last full day before departing for wine country, we woke up super early and boarded a ferry called the Buquebus to Uruguay. The fact that we could add another country to our itinerary made it a no brainer decision to make the trip there. Patricia, our favorite concierge, booked the whole thing for us, and we boarded this boat that looked like a casino/cruise ship/night club and was so massive that you sort of had to wonder “how does this thing float?”

On the other side of the Rio de la Plata in Colonia, Uruguay, we wandered around and explored the coastal beauty of this little town before stopping to have a quick bite to eat. At the restaurant, a really adorable and seemingly well cared for stray dog laid himself down in front of our table. I fed him some of my sausage, and he inspected it carefully before eating it. He sat with us for the rest of the meal and when we got up to leave, our new pup friend, who I named Muchacho, stood up as well. We started walking, and he followed suit. Muchacho loved us and walked around with us for awhile longer. We loved him too, and entertained the brief thought of bringing him back to New York before admitting that such a thing would be logistically and financially impossible, and likely illegal.

We parted ways with our beloved Muchacho who we had grown so attached to, and rented a vehicle that looked part golf cart/part ATV. I wanted to rent a motorbike because I’ve never been on one and I knew Matt had driven them around during his trip to Asia, but he was afraid of me getting hurt (which I certainly appreciated – I am a bit injury prone.) So we took off in our Uruguayan golf cart, which apparently you’re allowed to drive down major roads and highways in. We followed the map to an old bullfighting ring, which despite being very cool looking, wouldn’t let tourists inside. Then we kept driving, getting lost, meeting more well kept stray dogs (though none as amazing as Muchacho), and eventually came across an old horse racetrack. The entire area seemed somewhat abandoned, aside from a gardener and a few horses rolling around in the mud. We stayed here for quite awhile, it was incredibly peaceful and serene, and we felt like the only two people in this tiny little country.