Around Santiago (Chile)

On January 30, 2006 we took a flight from Bariloche (Argentina) back to Santiago (Chile). As luck would have it our friends Chris & Audrey from Cayman were in Chile for a wedding and were going through the Santiago airport the same time as us. Thus we were able to have a Cayman reunion in the Santiago airport for an hour. Here is a picture of the reunion.

Mainly headed back to Santiago to spend a few days in the vineyards close by and to have a couple of days of catch up before heading to Buenos Aires. Thus, Casey, Tanis, Wade and I rented a car and headed out to wine country. We went to two vineyards and chose them on the basis that we have enjoyed their wine in Cayman and therefore thought it would be neat to see the vineyards themselves.

The first vineyard we went to was Concha Y Toro. It was a very picturesque vineyard. It's most recognizable wine is the Casillero del Diablo. Yes the name means Cellar of the Devil and we found out why. Apparently in the early 1900's the family was finding that thieves were breaking into their cellar and stealing bottles of wine. Knowing that the people in the area are superstitious, the owners started a rumour that the devil lived in the cellar. A few people claimed to have seen him there and as such...no one dared to steal from the cellar again. Now they have named on of their wines Cellar of the Devil. Here is Wade at the beginning of the cellar. If you are interested in checking out the winery, click on Concha Y Toro

After Concha Y Toro we tried to go to another vineyard, Santa Rita, to stay in their hotel right on the vineyard. However, without a reservation we were turned away. So having no plan, we hit the road and found ourselves at a micro winery. The tour was short and sweet given the owner did not speak English and our Spanish was limited. Nevertheless, he kindly pointed us in the direction of Rancagua, an industrial town where we hoped to spend the night. Of course, trying to follow directions given to us in Spanish in a Country which, by all accounts, is trying to save money by not creating street signs, turned out to be a bit of a challenge. We thought we had exited onto the PanAmerican Highway until we came across a sign that we could not read but basically seemed to indicate that this highway had come to an end! After a little off-roading and a trip through the ditch, we eventually got ourselves onto the PanAmerican…but of course the wrong way. We eventually got ourselves turned around and made it to Rancagua.

Much to our surprise we went for dinner in Rancagua and the owner of the restaurant had just moved back to Chile from Canada. He had been living in Alberta for the past 35 years as a wine sommelier at Lake Louise. What a small world.

Here is a picture of the Miguel Torres vineyard. Our favourite wine to drink is Cordillera. If you are interested in checking out the winery, click on Miguel Torres



After the vineyard tours, we returned to Santiago for a few days on our own. Casey & Tanis flew to Buenos Aires to meet up with Tanis's parents who are traveling with them for about 3 weeks in Argentina. Wade and I spent the next 3 days in Santiago catching up on our housekeeping (yes you would be surprised how many chores you have even when you are a nomad).

One of the days we visited Metropolitan Park in Santiago which is a massive outdoor park built on a hill/mini mountain in the city of Santiago. We took the funicular up to the top of the hill where a massive statue of the Virgin Mary looks down over the city and there is actually a church built at the top. We then took two gondola rides over to other areas of the park. The park is so large that it hosts a zoo, two pools and numerous little green areas. Here is a picture of the Virgin Mary statue.

This picture is taken outside the World Trade Centre in Santiago where the Canadian Embassy is. We thought it was an interesting work of art, although we are not entirely sure what it supposed to symbolize.