Santiago

---

Geo: -33.4178, -70.6053

Arrived uneventfully on a 4.5hr flight, landing about 1545. The local tourist agency has had an Oops and our planned trip tomorrow to the port city of Valpariso and to the nearby Casablanca Valley vineyards is not on. Tomorrow is a religious holiday and thousands will do a pilgrimage on foot (20 hours) to the Casablanca Valley. Also, the main road to Valpariso is now closed for the holiday. Instead we will visit two vineyards on the other (south) side of town.

After checking back in to the Lastarria Hotel we had afternoon tea and then caught the Metro five stops to the large, modern Costanera shopping mall. Luckily they have human and not machine ticket vendors at the Metro, so you don't have to know exactly how to buy a ticket.

After Robyn checked out the shops we had an enjoyable nostalgia fix: Taco Bell with Cinnabons for dessert.

Now the 8th. The vineyard tours were interesting and one included a great four-course lunch with different wines. We had a nice snooze in the car on the way back.

Tomorrow we leave for Brisbane, arriving home on Thursday evening. It's been a great trip but I'm looking forward to home. 13 flights in 35 days gets a bit wearing!

---

Photos

Andes Mountains
Lots of snow on the mountains as we approached Santiago. The slopes appear to be totally barren.

Santiago Metro
For comfort the fans have added humidifiers that condition the air.

Santa Rita vineyard
We visited two vineyards, both established in the mid-19thC. This one produces 80M bottles a year; Cousino Marcul is within the city limits and it produces 4.5M bottles a year. There is no tax on Chilean wine so the prices are cheaper. AUD10 or less will buy a decent red or white. Their main grapes are chardonnay, sav blanc and cab sav.

1986 wine
This was an experimental vintage that was never marketed. The vineyard kept them as a curiosity and it's interesting to see the various stages of cork deterioration.