Viña, Valpo and a Derby

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Hola,

Our flight from Easter Island was late in arriving, but fortunately our friend's driver, Fernando, was waiting for us with our names on it. He drove us to Viña del Mar, which is on the coast of Chile, where we would be staying with Joann, who is a friend of Peter's parents. Thoughtfully, she had dinner waiting for us when we arrived and we chatted for a bit.

The next day, we were picked up and taken to the Naval Museum in Valparaiso, a city twenty minutes south of Viña, where we were given a private tour of the museum by a former admiral and friend of Joann's, Roberto Benavente. It was a very interesting tour, especially with someone who knew so much about the history of Chile's navy. We then went back to Viña where we met up with a couple more people and had lunch at the Naval Country Club. It was right by the beach and very pleasant.

The next day, we head north for a little bit to the Viña de Casablanca. It is another one of the wine producing regions of Chile. The first winery we went to was called Viña Casas del Bosque. We went into their large tasting room, complete with a little book that said the scents and tastes that were present in each of their wines. We could choose which wines we wanted to taste, so we each picked three different ones and shared. They were mostly decent, but Christopher, our young sommelier (and that term is being used very loosely as he was only 18 years old) wanted to impress us so he brought out another bottle of Family Reserve wine that is not usually available for tasting. It was a blend of four grapes, pinot noir, merlot, carmenere and syrrah. Usually, neither Peter or Val like blends, but this wine was exceptional. Not to be out done, Our young sommelier brought out a Gran Bosque, Reserva Privada, Cabernet Sauvignon which may just have been one of the best wines we had all trip. At 50 dollars a bottle, it should have been good. Feeling quite giddy after our tastings, we headed to Viña Idomita, which was further up the valley. We had our three tastings, which were not amazing unfortunately but as soon as the man serving us heard that Val was French, he wanted to impress us so he brough out to more premium bottles. Unfortunately, these failed to impress us as well so we headed back to Viña del Mar.

We went to visit Valparaiso as well. It is the naval port, but the flat land only lasts for three blocks or so and then the hills start. Apparently, there are 28 hills in the city and they are quite steep so there are many funiculars that take people up to the top. We went up one of these, and wandered through some of the colourful houses that are everywhere in the city. The city was supposed to be a UNESCO World Heritage site but, despite the pretty colours of the houses, we were generally dissapointed with it. We drove up the coast with Joann and Fernando afterwards. We continued passed beautiful sand dunes, stunning houses and apartment buildings that are built on such steep inclines that they need funiculars to traverse to the top of the buildings until we were between Reñaca and Concon. We arrived at Restaurante Aqui Jaime, which was right on the waterfront. it was so close that we could smell the sea air and we were able to watch the fisherman feeding flocks of large pelicans. We had a table on the patio and it was an exquisite meal. We had an Argentine waiter, who may have been drinking a little before his shift started as he was very friendly and effervescent during his time with us. Both Val and Peter had Chilean sea bass, known as corvina in Chile, and it was absolutely exquisite. Almost all of the seafood in Chile has been excellent. Afterwards, we headed back to Viña through the interior to see some of the hills and villages in the region.

The next morning, we thanked Joann for her hospitality and were driven by Fernando to the bus station where we caught a bus to Santiago. We arrived in Santiago and checked back into La Chimba hostel, where apparently we are now recognized. We grabbed some lunch and then were met by Juan Pablo and Sylvana, of previous Santiago blog fame, because we were going to the derby soccer match between Colo-Colo (booooooooo) and Universidad de Chile (yaaaaaaaaaaaay). We drove to the stadium and we ran into fans all along the way who were cheering and signing at the top of their lungs. We walked into the stadium, and took our seats with were about halfway up by the 18 yard box so quite good spots actually. By this time, the rain was coming down quite hard and despite the jackets, hoods and garbage bag ponchos, we were thoroughly drenched. However, the rain was not dampening the atmosphere in the stadium. People were jumping up and down and singing at the top of their lungs. Unfortunately, most of the songs were quite offensive (we think one of them alluded to torture and Pinochet and it was one of the more polite songs) so Juan Pablo would not teach them to us. Then, the Universidad de Chile fans unfurled a massive jersey that covered their entire section. Shortly after that, streamers were thrown in the air, fireworks went off, drums were beat and flares were set alight. And this was all before kick-off! The match got underway and the fans just got louder. It was an incredible atmosphere, even better than our previous match in Argentina. Universidad de Chile took the lead after the interval and it looked like they were going to hold on but Colo-Colo scored in the last minute of extra time to end the game in a 2-2 draw. It was a disappointing end to the match but it was incredible to witness a derby between the two most hated rivals in Santiago.

We want to take a moment to descrobe these little treats called "alfajores". They are chocoalte covered cookies that are filled with dulce de leche. They are absolutely amazing!!!

The next morning,we got up early to catch our bus to Mendoza. We arrived at the bus station only to find out that the rain in Santiago had been snow in the passes and the road between Santiago and Mendoza would not open until the next day so now we had another day in Santiago to play with. We spent it in Starbucks. Aren't we typical Vancouverites?

Bye for now,
Valerie and Peter

Things we learned in Chile:
-There is an ongoing bad hair contest with Argentina and Chile. The Argentinians are leading with the mullet, but the Chileans are not far behind with their rat-tails.
-Pelicans are ugly birds
-Universidad de Chile fans celebrate goals in regulation more rabidly than any hockey fan celebrates a goal in sudden-death overtime in the playoffs!

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Comments

[Katrina]

Pelicans are not ugly!! They look fascinating.. I know a guy from argentina - and he has a mullet! hahahaha