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Published: March 3rd 2023
Being February, summer has arrived in South America. It is hot, dry and the wildfires are burning rampantly in the southern part of Chile. A haze of smoke fills the air and as we fly in from Rapa Nui. The views are masked… few mountain tops can be seen. Sad because this normally would quite scenic. But, it’s summer….
We spent a couple of days in Santiago before and after our trip to Rapa Nui and a couple of days in Valparaíso before our visit to the desert. Both cities are worth a visit, but each can easily be explored in two days. Santiago is the grand jumping off point in this part of the world. The airport is modern and flights from all places land here. Almost all destinations in Chile reached by air depart from here. We were part of that on more than one occasion.
Santiago Santiago seems a bit unkempt, and that impression is certainly influenced by the 8 million people in metropolitan area. This accounts for over 40 percent of the population of Chile. While there is some wall art, graffiti is everywhere, and the older parts of the city are not aging
well. Santiago has some lovely architecture, there are new buildings demonstrating the city has had recent growth. There exists a large gap in wealth among the citizenries.
Our first day we walked several miles exploring the downtown area, the main square while visiting Convent de San Francisco, Cathedral of Santiago, the Central Market and the Natural History Museum. The museum described a historic progression of the people, displayed local artifacts, and had a special display on the importance of textiles, clothes, and uniforms over the years in this country. It was a unique display given the large European influence Chile possesses.
We spoke to an Australian couple who had been to Santiago many years before and were disappointed by how much the city had changed. In the past, they said it was well cared for, charming and they had longed to return. We all know time does not stand still and you can’t return to a place you’ve loved and have it feel the same, but their disappointment was palpable. Their comments matched the feelings we had been having about Santiago, which was it felt a bit disjointed, and lacked many of the interesting things other large cities
around the world have to offer. During our pre-trip research when we googled things to do in Santiago, many of the things suggested were an hour or more from the city to include Valapariaso and wine country…. So, we did both.
Our friends Dez and Humberto had joined us the next day and our second day of exploring Santiago took us to one of the higher viewpoints in the city. As we took the funicular to the top of the hill, we were joined by 30 grade school students heading to the zoo. They were adorable and happy to practice their English on us. The city views were good but not up to the normal due to the smokey haze from the fires. We took the tram down the other side of the hilltop and found a cute café for lunch.
Our hotel was perfectly placed in a Bohemian neighborhood which was easy to negotiate, easy to enjoy the diversity and was full of restaurants. After a hot afternoon exploring, we headed for our rooftop pool on return before heading out for dinner. We are pleased to announce that Chile has a great food scene. You may remember
our fall trip to Colombia was a bit disappointing as we expected great food and it was rather bland. Chileans cook well and know how to use spices. We were pleased. The neighborhood we stayed in was lively and had several streets musicians in the evening.
Casablanca and Maipo Wine Regions of Chile Once we determined Santiago didn’t hold a great deal of interest for us, there was but one logical solution…. So we headed to wine country! We drink the occasional Chilian wines at home and wanted to experience them firsthand. The wine regions have a similar look and feel to Napa and Sonoma Valleys with vines of grapes growing on the rolling hillsides and valleys. It is a bit dustier here and a bit browner but all in all feels familiar.
Humberto rented a car for our voyage and offered to drive which was a treat for Dave as he usually does the foreign driving. Humberto is an excellent driver! Our hotel had an elevator you had to drive into and go down two floors to park. We'd never had an elevator for a car before!
Our first day of exploration took us to
the Casablanca region which is about an hour from Santiago where we stopped at two wineries. Villard overlooked the grapes on the hillsides and provided a view not unlike many wineries in California. The owner gave an excellent tasting and information about the wines of this region. The Chilean process is similar and yet she pointed out a couple of differences in how they grow and produce wines versus the California wines. We certainly enjoyed sampling these wines.
Bodegas was the second winery on our list and we opted to take a short winery tour. After a look at their ceramic tanks and storage casks we had a wine & cheese sampling with a few other guests out on the patio. They have ceramic lined cask and storage which was unusual for us. We guess it pays to take these tours to see how it is done in other places.
We were so close to Valparaíso we headed to lunch at Colores & Sabores which turned out to be a local delight. We enjoyed our fish and empanadas along with a cool cerveza. From there we drove the waterfront, checked out the market in the town square, took
a funicular ride, observed the seaport and wandered up and down streets admiring the wall art before having an ice cream.
Our second day we headed further from Santiago to the Maipo wine region which was about two hours away. At Clos Apalta, we enjoyed sampling three very fine wines and had planned to make a purchase until we realized these were a bit more pricey than expected. We attempted to visit another winery, but due to staffing related to COVID, the winery did not have any appointments available until late in the day. We pressed on and visited Laura Hartwig. They did not have any tasting appointments but allowed us to purchase a couple of bottles and prepared a charcuterie board for our enjoyment. We were impressed by the customer service they provided, which made for a lovely visit. The Laura Hartiwig winery has a hacienda feel about it and was a lovely place to chat with friend over wine and snacks.
Sadly, the next day we bade farewell to Dez and Humberto as they needed to return home. Our time with them was full of fun and laughter, but it’s time for us to press on.
Valparaíso Before leaving Chile we spent two nights in the seaside city Valparaíso at a lovely boutique inn. We had a short introduction to this town while with our friends but came back for a deeper diver. With all the hills and a large port, it has a bit of a sitting on the dock of the bay feel about it. The neighborhoods creep up the hills from the port and surround the area with various neighborhoods.
This hilltop city on the Pacific is a nice change from Santiago. The wall art is ever present and for the most part, well done. There are some 42 hills in this city, with each neighborhood displaying a different look. It is a city of European immigrants, and the city cemeteries confirm this.
There are 16
funiculars in Valparaíso, but they appear to be quite short and steep, unlike many others we have ridden. They serve the neighborhoods and are used by the locals for transportation, sharing the rides with tourists. Currently, there are only 7 of the funiculars functioning. The local people are asking for the others to be serviced and become useful to aid them in getting
up and down this city of hills. The government is thinking about it but it is very costly to support this imitative. Of course, we vote for more funiculars, as walking up these steep streets is arduous. We’ll take any help we can get!
We took a walking tour with a guide where we learned a bit more Chilean and Valparaiso history. We spent a time in a local cemetery which was interesting in that they segregated the sections of graves into Catholic Chileans, Non- Catholic Chileans and Catholic Immigrants. The immigrants sectioned seemed to be the largest.
Restaurants abound in this seaside city and our neighborhood had many of them. Our BnB was in the “Happy Hill” and the wall art was nicely adorning many buildings in the blocks surrounding us. An interest in wall art has grown all around the world. Our recent visits to South American have found it booming. So far, we have found the best works to be in Colombia but Valapariaso, Chile runs a close second.
Where we stayed in Santiago: Hotel Cumbres Lastaria – in a cute bohemian neighborhood, easy walking.
Restaurants recommended: Liguria Bar Restaurant
Dulce Punienta
Where we stayed in Valapariaso: Hotel Acontraluz Boutique Hotel – great walking neighborhood
Restaurants recommended: Maliziosco Restaurant
Mito Terraza
Colores & Sabores
Dez and Humberto made great travel partners and we look forward to doing it again soon.
From here we head to Ecuador and will hook up with our good friend Brendan.
Our recent two blogs from Chile:
Rapa Nui: Tapati Festival, Remote, Fascinating The Atacama Desert – Barren… yet beautiful
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Dancing Dave
David Hooper
Santiago & Valparaiso
As you know Denise & I love Chile. We found they excel at higher prices than surrounding countries...but the scenery is wow wow wow! Denise would have enjoyed the wines while I enjoyed the beers. Cheers to great memories of your Chilean adventure.