Final day of Chilean vacation

I spent my last day in Chile just being a grandmother--the best of all! Sarah, Owen and I played most of the day-I watched the grandchildren ride their bikes without training wheels, we played go fish, legos, etc. We watched a movie and just hung out. Paul cooked a delicious salmon dinner on the grill with the kiddos helping.

 

A great visit to Chile--thank you Paul and Dawn! And thank you Sarah and Owen for all of your help. And muchas gracias, Miriam! I miss all of you already.Now I'm back home freezing. Brrr!

Casa de Isla Negra-home of Pablo Neruda

 

View from the bedroom

After visiting Vina Tarapaca, we then drove to Isla Negra on the coast to tour the home of Pablo Neruda, the Noel Price winning poet. He was also a diplomat and politician. But I guess above all else, he was a collector. He owned three homes--this one was very quirky. He bought the one room house overlooking the sea and added to over the years. It seems to be on little house leading to another little house, etc. with a different collection in each. What a collection--everything imaginable. The most impressive to me was the collection of masts-wow! The view was spectacular!

Unfortunately no photos were allowed inside.

Vina Tarapaca-4th post

More photos:

 

Typical Huaso (Chilean cowboy)

Drat--I didn't get his neat chaps!

These horses are not your typical stable horse.

Vina Tarapaca-3rd post

More photos of the house and grounds:

There are 1,400 acres of vines planted at this locations. Ninety percent are harvested by hand with scissors!!

 More photos on next post . . .

Vina Tarapaca -2nd post

To continue - -
 After walking around the grounds, we then toured the production facility--or rather, the remains of it--the earthquake heavily damaged it and repairs were being made. Our guide, Diego, told us they lost 60,000 gallons of wine. He said that in the nearby town of Isla de Maipo wine was running in the streets. Some of the wineries have not re-opened. Vina Tarapaca's large steel storage tanks were toppled and some of them were completely destroyed. As you can see from the photos, they are quite large.

One fascinating thing that I learned was that the cork stoppers come from the bark of  Quercus suber, cork oak trees. I believe Diego said that most cork trees are grown in Portugal, but they had several of the trees on their grounds. The bark is shaved by hand, the corks punched out. The bark re-grows on the trees. I will never look at wine corks the same way again.

The cork tree's bark feels like cork even on the outside.

                                                         Close-up of the bark!

Other photos of the house and grounds:

The large palm is the Araucaria araucana palm, the national tree of Chile.

More photos and a recap of my trip on next post . . .

Vina Tarapaca

A short drive from Santiago through the mountains leads to the vineyard Vina Tarapaca. We arrived early for our tour and stopped at the main gate for the guard to get permission for us to enter the grounds. Check out this beautiful bougainvilla!

A narrow road led us five miles up the mountain to the house and winery. Gorgeous vineyards as far as the eye could see.

The original home is now a small hotel. What a wonderful place to stay. The house was built in the 1870s.

                                                          Front of House

Diego met us at the gate and invited us into the parlor for a coffee. Beautiful room!

                                                                    The Parlor

We then walked around the grounds. I definitely would love to visit this place for a few days. There is a wonderful pool, golf course, pond and horseback riding through the vineyards.

                                                                    Atrium

                                                              Back of house

                                                           Criollo Horse

 

Paul getting tips from the chef

More photos on next post . . .


                               

Valparaiso, Chile and Casa Morande Restaurant

Today we had a nice drive out to Casa Morande Restaurant and then on to the port city of Valparaiso.

                                        Sarah and Owen ready for their road trip

We drove toward the coast through the mountains. We made a stop at the Casa Morande Restaurant. They had a playscape for the children. We  enjoyed  a Reserva Sauvignon Blanc and an appetizer plate--bread with olive oil and spiced butter, rabbit empanada with orange marmalade sauce, ceviche with shrimp and sea bass, tuna tartar, lamb brochette and mushroom crostini. Delicious! 

                                                 A shady play area

It was a pleasant stop and soon we were on our way to the port city of Val Paraiso.  This city sent supplies to San Francisco after their big earthquake, and  then suffered a major one thereafter from which she  has never quite recovered. There were many old beautiful buildings, though, which survived. Naval ships are stationed out at sea and many boats were at the harbor.

We then took the funicular up to the to the top of the city to see the view. Hmm-scary! But worth it. The view was great.

                           These painted houses cover the hillsides surrounding the harbor.

The Admiralty, which houses the armada headquarters was impressive.

Our next stop was Vina Indomita Vineyards. We sat out on the terrace and admired the view and had another glass of wine and a wonderful cheese plate.Did I mention that the weather is delightful here?

                                                           Yummy!

                  View from the restaurant

The drive back was pleasant. We passed through the beautiful valleys planted with many crops. The mountains are always in the distance. We drove again through downtown Santiago. I was again impressed by the many parks, even in the poorer areas of the city.

                                                      Just one smaller park in the city

A great day! Home and asleep very early. Until tomorrow. . .