Booze and Buses!

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We´ve covered quite a bit of ground in the last week and yesterday arrived in La Serena on the Chilean coast. First we should mention a little stop we did in Mendoza. The journey from Buenos Aires was the flashiest yet, fully reclining seats, free Newspaper (not that we could read it!) and a Tia Maria before lights out...should give you a fair idea.......

Mendoza is Argentina´s wine capital and home of the Malbec, so of course it would be rude not to sample the local speciality. Wasting no time we embarked on a day trip to three wineries, it was interesting to find out how the wine was made, but not surprisingly the best bit was tasting it! The problem was there was no food to accompany it, we were all craving some bread and cheese and fortunately for us we did finally get it in the form of a sumptuous lunch that followed the tour. Breads, cheeses, meats, dips spreads, in fact you name it and it was there in front of us, with guess what......more wine! Now we know why everyone wants to come to Mendoza!

Time to get back on the bus (again!) and head over the border into Chile and just to make a change this was a daylight journey. This meant we got to see some stunning scenery as we zig zagged our way up, down and accross the mountains. We were warned that the border crossing might be tedious and take a while due to thorough searches. Think we escaped lightly with a two hour wait (honestly, that´s not bad!)

Six hours later we arrived in Valparaiso the cultural capital of Chile, parts of which are a UNESCO world heritage site....we weren´t disappointed. We stayed on the hillside and had great views of the harbour area. Valparaiso is a charming place, full of character and colourful houses with European influences that are dotted all over the hills. It definitely felt like a real bohemian area where a lot of trendy people and aritists (including graffiti) reside. It was the perfect place to explore and hang out for a few days. Had some great food (with not a steak in sight!) Lou even tried a ´Pisco Sour´ a traditional Chilean tipple, which tasted much better than the name suggests!

That´s plenty from us for now. Next stop San Pedro de Atacama......the desert awaits!

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Comments

[Fern]

Happy Birthday
Hey Lou Happy Birthday!!! What better way to spend your birthday?! Enjoy and I hope Lee spoils you even more today than usual F xxx

[Liz C]

Ummmmmm Malbec wine.....
Sounds like your having an amazing time.... soooo jealous... Me and BT are at work dreaming of how amazing it must be!!! :) Xx