Parks and wine

Santiago
It didn’t take us long to get into the swing of life in Santiago. A busy, beautiful city with all the creature comforts of home. I found great coffee, we discovered waffle tacos and we finally found cheap, loose leaf tea.

First day we decided to do the free walking tour which lead us in and around different neighbourhoods, through the financial district, food hubs, parklands and past museums. Most interestingly we visited the ‘La Moneda Palace’, previously the Presidential Palace, where the famous ‘coup d’etat’ occurred in 1973. We learnt that the armed forces of Chile decided to overthrow the then socialist government and in September of 1973 shockingly bombed the Palace, to gain military control. President Salvador Allende was inside at the time and was unharmed by the bombing however could not bear to live under the reign of tyranny he predicted. Astoundingly, during the attack, the President phoned a national radio station from inside the palace and gave a final public address before taking his own life with an AK-47. "Workers of my country, I have faith in Chile and its destiny. Other men will overcome this dark and bitter moment when treason seeks to prevail. Keep in mind that, much sooner than later, the great avenues will again be opened through which will pass free men to construct a better society. Long live Chile! Long live the people! Long live the workers!". A lady from our tour was actually visiting Santiago on the day of the Coup and told us of some of her memories. What a surreal history.

The tour ended in the upmarket Bellavista neighbourhood and we were given some food and drink recommendations. “Who were we to deny ourselves!”. We ventured to the Kross Brewery restaurant and sat and ate cheese and drank beer paddles in the sun. A fabulous introduction to Santiago.

Next up was a walk to the top of the Cerro Santa Lucia hill, a remnant of a volcano 15 million years old, right in the middle of the city! It was a hot day, so we struggled to the top, despite it only being 630 mt above sea level! Panoramic views over the vast city and distant mountains could be seen and there was even a café for Adam to stop and have his first Pina empanada.

That night we planned to catch up with Jenny and Bryan however there was a bit of a mix up with the name of the bar and due to our lack of WIFI, we waited in one bar and they waited in another. In the end, we didn’t get to see them again, such a shame as we had really enjoyed their company. As a consolation prize, we did have great cocktails and bar snacks in the rooftop bar.

We were wrapped that our first accommodation had a kitchen and we could have a few nights full of vegetables and without having to make the decision of where we were going to eat. When in a supermarket looking for vegies, we stumbled across Sri Lankan loose leaf tea and the bag was huge and CHEAP. It was like we had struck gold!

We had heard about the prestigious Chilean and Argentinian wineries so decided to visit two just outside of Santiago. The best thing about both was that each could be reached easily by public transport. First up was Concha y Toro where we agreed to splurge a little a do the Marques Cheese and matched Wine tasting. We did not regret it. The day started in the tasting room with an English-speaking sommelier and one other person, Yoshi who was travelling from Japan for two

weeks. After our wine tasting we joined a larger group and were taken on a tour around the winery estate. Hidden behind tall walls was the estate home, which until only thirty years earlier the family had lived, past the perfectly manicured gardens and man-made lake and onto the vines. Along the way our tour guide would stop and offer us more tastings and fun facts about the wineries history. The tour finished in the original cellars which were romantically lit and filled with perfectly symmetrically laid barrels. When in the cellar the theatrics began, and our guide dimmed the lights and left us alone in the cellar. She surprised us with a light show to portray the story of how the winery originally came up with the name for its label. Very clever and a great way to entertain a crowd. It was one of the best winery tours I have done. Post tour we parked ourselves in the sunlit, garden courtyard and along with Yoshi enjoyed an extremely long lunch. My favourite wine of the day was by far the Marques de Casa Concha, Pinot Noir 2016. We took a bottle away and it was polished off almost immediately!

Undurraga winery was up next and we caught the public bus out there, arriving on the door step and perfectly on time for our tour. No one else had shown up for the English-speaking tour so Adam and I and our young guide toured the manicured gardens, vineyard, cellar and bottling yard by ourselves. The owner of the winery had a side passion for indigenous relics and had a personalised collection of Mapuche artefacts on display which we toured and enjoyed. After a tasting in the garden we headed out to the lawn with a pre-packed picnic basket and two included bottles of wine. We set ourselves up under the shade of a huge tree with a picnic blanket and lush lounge cushions and relaxed the afternoon away. Yoshi ended up joining us in the late afternoon and the three of us ended up lounging and drinking until after the wineries closing time. We ended up having to leave through the staff only security exit! The wine wasn’t as good as Concha y Toro, but the atmosphere was fabulous.

Our travel plans were up in the air and we wanted to head to Valparaiso but didn’t feel done with Santiago yet, so we planned to leave and return in a few days’ time for the Super Bowl.