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Tomorrow we plan to drive up the coast and check out some of the beaches!
Day 29 - Santiago < | Index | Photo Galleries | > Day 31 - Vina Del Mar © 2007 Blue Ocean Studios, LTD. All rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Services | About | Contact Prints | Return Policy | View Cart World Travel Galleries | World Travel Blog | Links |
Still trying to catch up on our sleep from the past several nights, we got a late breakfast at the hotel, and then headed back to the room to nap for another hour or so. The breakfast buffet was included in our hotel stay and we sampled some Chilean style fried dough and round doughnut like things in a syrup-like sauce. They had all sorts of fresh juices available - one of the things we wil certainly miss when we get back to the US. Almost everywhere we've been so far it has been so easy to get fresh squeezed juices and usually for less than a dollar. I've decided the 2 things I might not be able to have anymore at home - 1. regular orange juices like Tropicana - we might need to invest in a juicer... and 2. pizza from chain pizza stores like Dominoes - pizza has been homemade and so much fresher in other countries (it seems to be very popular among Chileans as well).
We stopped at a wine tour shop that was next to our hotel and found our the names of 2 wineries that you don't really need to make reservations at, and we were on our way. First stop was , a winery with a French name, but the owners have lived in Chile for several generations. We had the tasting room all to ourselves (the lights were off when we got there :)) and got to choose 3 wines to sample. You get fewer tastings here in Chile, but at least they fill the glass about twice what you would get in Napa, so I guess it works out. We had the Chardonnay, Carmenere (a local Chilean favorite), and the Merlot. We chatted with 2 of the employees while we drank, practicing our Spanish and finding out which Hollywood movies they like to watch (among the top are Titanic, Chicken Run, Monster's Inc, and Sixth Sense). We were scared to find out the price of our tasting, but pleasantly surprised as it was $8 each - cheap for most wineries around here, but still ridiculous. 
We moved out to our 2nd stop, Montes Vineyards, tucked away in the hills along a dusty dirt road. We made it just in time to join up with the 3pm tour and immediately noticed how modern the winery and architecture was. We are guessing they make quite a bit of money on their wine to afford such an impressive facility. Even the wine resting in the French Oak wine barrels had tranquil music of chanting monks to help it age :). Here, we tasted 2 whites and 2 reds and decided to buy a bottle of the Cabernet Sauvignon (we plan on finishing it in the next few days - no bringing wine home from this trip!).
Back at our hotel, we took advantage of the late sun and hung out around the pool for an hour or so. Since the sun sets at 9:30pm here, its easy to lose track of time and all of a sudden it is way past dinner time - no wonder everyone eats around 9:00 :) We decided to opt for the more casual Pizzeria at our hotel and again brought the laptop along with us so Mario could work on the Inca trail pics while we waited for our dinner. The pizza was fantastic with thin crust and lots of spices. 