From Chillan to Talca - In search of sunshine, fine wine and a train line...

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We stayed in Chillan for less than 24 hours. In all honesty it had nothing much to offer. It's principal claim to fame is that it is the birthplace of Bernardo O´Higgins - Liberator extraordinaire. He is fondly described in the guide book as the bastard son of an Irish man. We are so proud! Though it was nice to see an Irish name everywhere in Chile. The main streets are named after him everywhere. He is their Daniel O'Connell. The whole country is going nuts in his honour over the next week or so.

Talca was our home for a few days. It is only two hours away from Chillan but gave us a completely different experience. Within an hour of arriving we found ourselves sitting in the Tourist Information Office on the central Plaza das Armas. Veronica apologised for her (fine) english and proceeded to convince us to spend more than 2 days here. We had really just planned on doing a wine tour and continuing on up north, but as Veronica pulled out brochure after brochure of the fine activities on offer in the Maule region, we decided to extend our stay. She pointed out a few nice eateries in the neighbourhood and then recommended a hostel that she sometimes stays in. Then she said she'd book it for us and immediately picked up the phone to ring the owner. She negotiated a discounted rate, told him to expect us and told us she'd see us in a day or two. We emerged into the sunlight somewhat shell-shocked, but happy enough to go along with her plans.

We ate lunch in the place Veronica had suggested and then walked back the 12 blocks to the hostel. Ricardo welcomed us at the door with stance like a butler would assume. It was a bit disconcerting but after seeing the private room with shared bathroom, we said sure, why not? He immediately began to ask us what we planned to do the following day, what time we would like breakfast and would we be going out to dinner that evening? Woah, woah, woah... we essentially had to close the door on the strange but enthusiastic man.

We settled in and then left to spend the afternoon wandering through the streets of Talca. While we were out we decided that we would do the Balduzzi wine tour the next day. On our return Ricardo was delighted to learn that we had made a decision, and proceeded to give us the same information that we had heard from Veronica earlier that day. Ok, thanks now, good night. We backed slowly into our room.

We were up and out the door by 10am the next day. But only after eating a delicious, if somehow meticulously prepared breakfast of ham sandwich triangles, banana slices drizzled in caramel, coffee and marmalade on crackers. We took the local bus out to San Javier (Veronica and Ricardo had warned us that the travel agency tours were too expensive!) and were dropped at the gate of the Balduzzi vineyard. There weren't many people about, so we found our way to reception and requested a tour for two. First we had our wine tasting. Our ticket bought us the opportunity to taste 4 or 5 wines. We sloshed it around like professionals, held it up to the light and sniffed it appropriately and then swigged it while murmoring about a fruity texture. Umm, we probably dropped the the professional image a bit when we failed to spit any of it out...

We were then led on a tour of the buildings to learn about the manufacturing process. I now think that I may have been better off not knowing some of what I learned on the trip. It has taken some of the romanticism out of wine for me. First off we started in the cellars where we admired the french oak barrels that were carefully stored in rows according to year and grape. We saw Senor Balduzzi's personal collection, half of it covered in dust as it has been there since 1982. So far so good. As we walked across the grounds we saw the old grape crushing machines that had been lovingly restored into garden ornaments.

Then we saw the big ugly aluminium vats. A workman was busy shoveling white powder into a machine that was attached to one of them. To his left lay a mound of extracted red tinged muck. "He is cleaning the wine" we were informed by the tour guide. We exchanged a look of horror and demanded to know more about the process. "Its ok, the power is tasteless...". We continued through the building. "Then we freeze the wine to remove the dirt particles..." - my idealistic perception of the art of winemaking hurtled down to earth with a bang. The rational part of me knew it was going to be just another manufacturing process I suppose, but it was disappointing to see that it is no different to making coke or toilets. We thanked our guide and grabbed a bus back to town, minus any bottles of Balduzzi wine.

On the bus into town the wine really started to kick in and by the time we reached the bus station, all reason had gone out the window. We were hungry, but not just normal hungry, tipsy hungry! Ignoring the little budget fairy that was yelling in my ear, we entered a paradilla and ordered an enormous plate of meat. It came with a free bottle of wine...

We skipped out of the restaurant and found our way onto a bus going to San Clemente for our next cultural excursion. Philippe pointed to the Villa Cultura de Huilquilemu on the map to the driver and we settled in for the ride. About 20 minutes later we were dumped off at the side of the road with a grunt to the right. It all looked pretty closed to us. Then we checked the time. Ah, it was only 2pm. After 3 months in South America we recognised the scene, and went off for a (much needed) walk in the countryside to clear our heads. Logic still not being what it should have been, when we got back to the museum a little before three we snoozed on the grass margin in the sun for a few minutes...

The lady that runs the museum walked past us waking us up from our slumber. We followed her into the museum and proceeded to be given a tour of the most boring museum I have ever seen. The only two interesting things were the church relics that were on display and the botanical garden that we were liberated into about 40minutes later. Before we caught the bus back to town we were given an educational talk on wine growing by a German guy working in the Ecoteca wine shop. It represents about 15 of the vineyards in the area. We learned a lot about the history of the different grapes, the fermenting timeline right up to grand reserve status, the sugar:alcohol ratio of a bottle and the rediscovery of the Carmenere grape in Chile about 15 years ago. This information made our little jaunt out here worthwhile. I also gathered that the Balduzzi vineyard has a more commercial push behind it than many of the other old fashioned vineyards. So all was not lost for my romatisized view of the process!

We returned to the hostel to be greeted by Veronica from the tourist information office at our door and by an alarmingly spotless bedroom. Where had all our stuff gone?? It turns out that while we had left the room in a tidy enough state, it wasn't up to Ricardo's high standards, and he had tidied everything away into the closet for us. It was a little bit disconcerting, but hey, no harm done. The harm began when we noticed that each time we left the room to use the bathroom, he was hovering in front of our room or in front of the bathroom. He was like the character of Mr. Deeds in that Adam Sandler film. He just kept popping out from the shadows!

The next morning we had an early start as we wanted to take the 7.15am train to Constitution. Unbeknown to us Veronica had paired us up with Dario, an italian backpacker, who also wanted to do the train trip. We made pleasantries as we walked to the train station in the morning air. The objective of this trip was not so much to visit Constitution, but more to experience the old fashioned chugging train - the last of its kind in Chile. Veronica was right to recommend it though - for three hours we mixed with local Chileans who were going to work and witnessed beautiful scenery out the window.

Once we reached Constitution we headed for the shoreline where Dario and Philippe befriended five local puppies and we watched as a local restaurant owner fed fish to the pelicans that were swooping down. The sun was shining and we just sat there taking in the scene. Pelicans are amazing up close. With the sun behind them we could see the fish in their throats as they swallowed it whole. Once all the fish was gone we meandered up the river towards where it meets the sea. It was a blustery day and the waves were massive. You can really see why Constitution is home to an annual surfing festival.

We explored around for another while and then found a nice little home cooking restaurant in the centre of town. We got to know our new friend Dario and exchanged travel stories. He gave us lots of things to think about for the Asian and Russian legs of our travels! Having seen all that was to be seen in Constitution we took a bus back to Talca and reluctantly returned to the hostel for a grilling on how our day had been.

We made plans to go trekking in the nearby National Reserve the following day, but I wasn't feeling up to it after a sleepless night. Mr. Deeds was very sympathetic, and I began to think that we were only imagining his weirdness. Then I noticed that the end of the toilet paper in the shared bathroom was being turned up into a "V" between each visit! I spent the day feeling like a prisoner in my bedroom and soon felt well enough to get out of the hostel. It wasn't that he was an unkind man, it was the permanent watching that got to us in the end. We camped out in the internet cafe and ate dinner out that night. We paid the man and made a smooth getaway the following day.

We are going to keep heading north in the hope of hitting some real sunshine and better wine!

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Comments

[Derek]

Chilean wine
Not a bad attempt to ruin my love affair with Chilean wine but you failed. I'm drinking a glass of it as I read your blog. Best regards Derek

[Eileen]

I thought pelicans only lived in the Zoo