Antarctican- such incredible scenery, and when you think the last shot was great an even more stunning view comes into sight!

Rio - from Sugar Loaf Mountain. An amazing city that requires you to be alert all the time to theft and crime - but we were fine - had a few hours on Cococabana Beach with all the beautiful bodies ( and not so beautiful ones too!) As well as the usual sights! It was so HOT!
Iguassu Falls - people are being encouraged to vote for it as one of the new & natural wonders of the world - and we can see why! The power and beauty of the falls is amazing.

Valparaiso

We have arrived in Valparaiso, the largest port on the west coast of South America. Set on a steep hillside the narrow, cobbled streets wind up and down between the houses. The walls are often covered in graffitti, but it is hard to call it that when so many of them are pieces of art in themselves. In order to save energy and instead of climbing hundreds of steps we occasionally cheated and rode one of the many funiculars up or down the hillside - they seemed ancient but we trusted the fact that the locals use them regularly so must be reasonably safe!


Paul's friend Christian, and his girlfriend, Leslie took us to a small fishing village 40 minutes south of Valparaiso for a Sunday seafood lunch. The food was so fresh! The village used to be a whaling centre, which, of course is long gone, but there was a small museum marking its history. Now the village is a few houses, some wonderful seafood restaurants and a few fishing boats, and incredible views.

mendoza to Valparaiso

To return to Santiago from Mendoza we decided to fly over the Andes for a different perspective rather than spend the entire day sitting on a bus. What a fabulous flight, and at one point we look out the windows to see the mountains more than a little too close for my liking!

We arrived in Valparaiso in the middle of the afternoon having taken the bus from the airport - total cost $10 each for the entire trip. Buses are really cheap, clean and efficient way to travel here. Valaparaiso is the port city for Santiago and set on a steep hillside over looking the water. Houses cling to the hillside in places and are often covered in corrugated steel, apparently taken from the sides of containers, then painted bright colours. Reminds us somewhat of St. John, Newfoundland.

We met up with Paul and Julie, who are staying in the same B&B as us. Today we had the use of a car lent to us by a friend of Paul's so we took advantage of driving 40 kms. up the valley to a few wineries. (By the time I finish this blog you are all going to be convinced that we have done nothing but taste wine! Well, maybe so - but we have seen and done other things too!) Ken is standing outside Emiliana Winery - an organic one that had exceptional wines. Surprisingly we can buy a couple of their wines in BC - but obviously for outragously higher prices!

Tomorrow we will meet up with Paul's friend, Christian, who will show us around town and out towards the beaches. Then Sunday it is off to a special place for brunch at a beachside restaurant... Monday we meet up with Stella and we embark on the boat! This is so much fun!

Wine tasting in Mendoza, Argentina

The first of the wineries we visited on our day in the vineyards. A small family run operation specializing in good wines and only producing about 3000 cases a year. We had a great tour exploring the vineyard with our guide, Carolina, followed by a tasting of 4 of their wines. they were truly excellent and unfortunately unavailable inn Canada as their wine is only sold in Argentina to some restaurants and exclusive wine stores!

Our next stop was a slightly larger winery that evolved from two friends who worked together who met an Italian winemaker and decided to buy a winery and experiment together. In a very short time they had developed some wonderful high-end wines. Sorry no pictures!

The highlight of our day was to be taken to Bodega Roca Malen for lunch. A five course meal matched to their wines. It was an incredible meal and probably the first for us where the chef had truly matched the wines to the food. The pictures show the results - a beetroot cappuccino, followed by a smoked pumpkin terrine, then tenderloin steak, a mint and lemon sorbet, and lastly a dessert of quince, pear, spaghetti squash and fig all marinated in a sugar type syrup. Oh, it was soooo good!

The last winery was again a fairly small one that had been in the family for many years but was sold in the 60's and then rebought by the granddaughter in the 80's. Below is a picture of one of the storage areas - never seen so many bottle piled up, aging quietly waiting for the labels and caps!

We still have another couple of days here, but have spent today walking in and out of the plazas and streets of Mendoza. A small busy city full of trees.

Through the Andes

After 6 days in Chile, we booked tickets to take us from Santiago to Mendoza in Argentina, through the Andes. We were fortunate to be able to reserve the front seats of the bus so had an unobstructed view of the incredible scenery.




















It took us about an hour or so to reach the foothills and from there we wound our way through the valleys climbing constantly.

















Just before the Argentinian border we zigzaged up about 15 hairpin bends. It was at this point we were glad of an excellent driver - on more than a few occasions the drop seemed a little too close!















The formalities at the border only took about 45 minutes,which according to the locals was extremely quick. Apparently it can take hours, especially during holiday times when all the Argentinians head to the beaches in Chile. The valleys seem wider and more open in Argentina, but definately desert and semi desert. Although the 7 hour trip was long, it was worth every penny - good value at $30!
Arriving in Mendoza it seemed like we were driving into a large oasis, with tree lined streets and totally crazy drivers! We are more than glad not to be driving here - it took a local to explain the rules of the intersections as it looked to us as if there were none! Oh, and pedestrians - they definately don't have right of way even in the crosswalk! More about Mendoza in the next blog!

Wine tasting in Chile

The View of the Montes Vineyard

Montes wines has a very spiritual philosophy to their wine making believing in Fung Shei, angels and the hundreds of barrels of their best wines sit in an ampitheatre with gregorian chants playing 24 hours a day as the wine ages in the barrels!

Ken and the red truck!

Our last wine tour of the day was at Clos Apalta. This is the winery that won winery of the year for 2008 from the magazine Wine Spectator. They were given #1 place in the top 100 wines of the world. After our personal tour of the winery we were able to taste the following year's vintage of the same wine - nothing like tasting $140 bottle of wine in a wine tasting - and that's the price at the winery! Looking in the stores and restaurants we seem to pay anywhere from 30 - 50 % more in Canada for the same wine.
We are now off to Mendoza in Argentina to find more great wine!

Santiago City

Our first day in Santiago took us up the funicular to the Metropolitan Park and the Santa Christobal Hill. From the top you have amazing views of Santiago. We had lunch in a little cafe on the street, then wandered over to the National Art Museum.



















Today we spent taking one of the hop on - hop off buses to explore the city. It seems we walked miles but it was a great way to see a lot in a fairly short time.

The Mercado Central is a large market famous for its seafood stalls and restaurants. We had lunch there today - fresh grilled sea bass, tomato salad and fries! Mmmm! The building was built in 1872 with the construction coming from Birmingham, England.















This is the Moneda Palace, the seat of government, and was the scene of the military coup in 1973. The building now a pristine white and na'er a bullet hole to be seen.












Although Santiago is full of neo classical buildings in the centre where most of the government offices are found, further out are more modern buildings that house most of the major businesses, big hotels, and apartments. As a city is is extremely clean, a full of public parks that appear well used by everyone.

Tomorrow we rent a car and head south to explore the foothills of the Andes and wine areas for a couple of days.