Monday, April 4 — Thoughts

Chile has been filled with the unexpected for us. We’ve had the opportunity to meet some native Chileans and others that have adopted Chile as their home. In conversation, the topic often turned to the U.S and our presidential race. My typical reaction has been “Oy!” And they get it. It is interesting (wrong word….something stronger is needed but I cannot grab it) that they are fearful of Trump becoming president with comments along the order of “the most powerful country in the world cannot be in his hands.” Amen. Our additions to these conversations cite polls indicating that he would have to capture 70% of the white male vote to win….something that even Eisenhower was not able to do. The scary thought — unsaid — as this election cycle has been anything but normal and the polls unreliable.

We learned that Chile has an immigration problem similar to U.S. Chile is seen as the land of opportunity for many other South Americans. There has been a huge influx of Peruvians and Bolivians hoping to find work in the copper mines. Unfortunately for them, work in the mines is much more sophisticated than you’d imagine. To work there, a person must have completed a high school equivalent in a technical school. Also, the demand for copper has nose dived as the Chinese economy has stalled.  Cliff read this morning that the forecast is for copper prices to be depressed for another 2 years or so — a terrible thing for Chile since copper is its major economic driver. Wine accounts for less than 1% of its exports!!!  Drink more Chilean wine, people!

It is also interesting to pick up on comments that broadly stereotype various people. According to Chileans here in the Santiago area, Argentinians “hate them” because of various historical fights over geography. One guide went so far as to suggest it was dangerous for Chileans to visit Argentina. This feeling contrasts sooooo dramatically with the views in Patagonia where Argentina is considered “our neighbor” and where there is hardly any attention paid to national borders….you could be in and out of Chile with just a few steps and no one would care.

We were also told that Aregentina stopped issuing visas to Koreans because “we cannot tell them apart” — and, at least in this story, one passport could be used by dozens of Koreans to enter the country. One of our guides remarked that the other “problem” with Koreans is that they did not assimilate, preferring instead, to live in a small enclave near the Santiago market area.

Chile is, in our opinion, inching out of third world status. The copper market is a huge problem for them. Hopefully, tourism (and wine drinking!!) will help fill the gap. I am thinking that many people might consider South America — and especially Chile — a good vacation destination rather than violence plagued Europe. One of our guides said “25 years ago, who would think that he safest place in the world for tourists would be South America!” Agreed. Chile needs lots of infrastructure improvements, but the warmth of its people is reason enough to visit.

Sunday, April 3 — More Neruda, Valparaiso and wine!

When we decided to loll about at the Hacienda Los Lingues, we canceled our original plans to visit Pablo Neruda’s seaside home, Isla Negra. We were able to get our tour guide for today to re-arrange things so that we got to see this home after all. Definitely worth it. First of all, the location is magnificent. Any place with crashing waves and miles of water at the horizon gets an A+ from both Cliff and me. Isla Negra delivers on both counts.

The house is named for the black lava rocks all along the shore. The water here is fed from an antarctic current and is always too cold for swimming.
The house is named for the black lava rocks all along the shore. The water here is fed from the Humboldt antarctic current and is always too cold for swimming.

Then there is the home and its collection of odd, fantastic and completely fascinating collections ranging from ships in bottles, Japanese Noh and other clay masks, carved ships’  figureheads and angels, wooden replicas of Easter Island statues, Chilean embroidery, colored glass bottles, shoes, Mexican glassware, sets of china, antique French postcards, etc. etc. Not to mention the two Nubian statues that greet visitors in the entry-way, the life-size horse (with three tails!) in the “horse room” and the tuxedo he wore when he accepted the Nobel prize for literature. The Nobel prize itself is also on display. I’m missing a zillion other things. A captivating stop.

A view into the bar where Neruda happily mixed cocktails as his friends sat at "reserved" tables. Note the names of friends written on the beams. Neruda said that way he could "always drink with my friends."
A view into the bar where Neruda happily mixed cocktails as his friends sat at “reserved” tables. Note the names of friends written on the beams. Neruda said that way he could “always drink with my friends.”

IMG_3614 Fish imagery abounds.IMG_3613I think Neruda got seasick!

The boat above was purchased and promptly (if not immediately) placed in the garden.

An interesting note for some of you….Neruda typically wrote in green pen and there are a dozen in a bowl on his favorite desk made from a salvaged ship’s door that he and Matilde retrieved from the waves at Isla Negra.

Onward to Valparaiso, a hill town (44 of them!) where nearly every inch of the territory seems to have a house, an apartment, condo or shanty erected on it. The colors are electric. Graffiti is everywhere with an occasional (and usually defaced) mural sprinkled here and there. We took the funicular — quite different from Santiago’s — up to an Italian-esque restaurant for lunch. We sat on a sunlit terrace under the shade of an umbrella and had a glorious view of the harbor. The Chilean Navy’s training sailboat was moored in view and at one point a teensy sailboat sailed into the scene, quite a contrast with the 4-masted sloop at the military dock. Valparaiso is a very busy port and its waterfront is not tourist friendly. Nice to look at, but nothing much for tourists to do there.

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After touring various Valparaiso neighborhood’s (thankfully and gratefully by car), we traveled to Vina del Mar, a newer town located across the harbor. Our guide said it is known as the Miami of Cuba and there was definitely a comparison to be made. A casino dominates and it is filled, alas, with American fast food restaurants. We stopped to see An Easter Island stone sculpture that was sent to the city as a thank you for some sort of good deed, or more likely, money!

Easter Island figure -- a gift to the city of Vina del Mar.
Easter Island figure — a gift to the city of Vina del Mar.
Evidence of damage from 2010 earthquake which was severe in Valparaiso. While some areas are closed off, amazingly, they are still using this building for some government departments.
Evidence of damage from 2010 earthquake which was severe in Valparaiso. While some areas in this mansion-turned-government-office building are closed off, amazingly, there are still many parts of the building where people work every day.

Last stop of the day was a wine tasting at an organic vineyard, Emiliana in Casablanca Valley. This is the Chilean area known for white wines and we tasted two — a Sauvignon blanc (pretty good, even to my dead tastebuds) an a Chardonnay which Cliff liked a lot. We also tasted a 100% Cabernet and a delicious red blend. We must have oohed an aahed in the right way because they ended up giving us a taste (albeit shared between the two of us) of their top of the line ($70-80 a bottle) red called Ge, and, yes, it was spectacular…but maybe not 7 times as spectacular as the red blend which I thought was pretty nifty.

A beautiful winery and vineyard. Cliff poses at the entrance which is designed to evoke a wine barrel.
A beautiful winery and vineyard. Cliff poses at the entrance which is designed to evoke the curve of a wine barrel.
View outside the tasting bar is spectacular....as was the wine!
View outside the tasting bar is spectacular….as was the wine!

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Tomorrow is our last day. We’re both ready to get home, and have many terrific memories to bring there with us.

P.S. At dinner on our last night we spotted Flaherty wine on the list and, of course, ordered it. Just as delicious albeit not nearly as fun as drinking it at the winery with Jennifer!

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Saturday, April 2 — Yes, I’ll have another…

A second day of wine touring. Today better than yesterday. And what contrast between the two wineries — the first called Flaherty! Definitely not Spanish. The second called Errazuriz….owned in part by the Rothchilds. Flaherty, very, very small. Errazuriz….very, very big. Much bigger than any of the vineyards we visited yesterday.

Ed Flaherty, in fact, once worked for Errazuriz. Today, he and his wife are enjoying the entreprenuerial pleasures (and pains) of establishing their own label. It started when he was working elsewhere and making his own wine as a “hobby” at home. Eventually, the success of their wine and his passion for it, led to them buying a piece of property an establishing a proper winery complete with tasting room, kitchen for preparing wine tasting luncheons, etc. etc. (And a cat and a dog.).

The long shaded porch at the Flaherty hacienda. Note the green plastic vat in the back.....wine is being made in there!
The long shaded porch at the Flaherty hacienda. Note the green plastic vat in the back…..wine is being made in there!
Nothing fancy about this operation. Grapes ferment in open plastic bins in a shaded corridor. Cooling coils are used if fermentation starts to go too quickly.
Nothing fancy about this operation. Grapes ferment in open plastic bins in a shaded corridor. Cooling coils are used if fermentation starts to go too quickly.

Cliff and I could totally relate to Ed and Jennifer (Jennifer gave us our tour.) Being an entrepreneur means that you put your whole heart and soul (and all of your $$) into the enterprise. This they have done. They came to Chile having met at Sonoma Cutrere. The came for “a harvest” and never left. Ed found that his winemaking skills were in great demand (and still are) and they made a life for themselves in Chile. They have children ages 14 and 17 and consider Chile their home. Their wine is spectacular. They make very little of it but do have a distributor in Flordia that we hope can connect us to some bottles.

Jen uses a hydrometer to measure fermentation process. A colander, a plastic jug and the hydrometer are all she needs. A far cry from the glassed-in laboratories we saw at the bigger vineyards!
Jen uses a hydrometer to measure fermentation process. A colander, a plastic jug and the hydrometer are all she needs.
Jen in the "laboratory" cleaning up.
Jen in the “laboratory” cleaning up. A far cry from the glassed in laboratories we saw at the bigger vineyards. Flaherty is proof that “bigger” (and more expensive) does not necessarily mean “better.”
The Flaherty French oak casks are stored in a separate area in their warehouse. "We open the doors at night to let the cool air in...." Definitely different from the temperature controlled expanses at Lapostolle!
The Flaherty French oak casks are stored in a separate area in their warehouse. “We open the doors at night to let the cool air in….” Definitely different from the temperature controlled expanses at Lapostolle!

Errazuriz is gorgeous. The main tasting rooms are in 100 year old buildings — very elegant and beautifully maintained. The production occurs in a modern building less than 50 yards away.  The architecture is fantastic — not quite as incredible as Lapostolle’s but still remarkable. The vineyard itself is much larger than Lapostolle and the garden areas are extensive.

The curve of the entry doors which is repeated in the design of the gardens leading to it (see below) suggests the shape of a barrel.
The curve of the entry doors which is repeated in the design of the gardens leading to it (see below) suggests the shape of a barrel.

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Each level of the Lapostolle winery is devoted to a specific step in the wine making process. The stairway that leads to each of them was inspired by the practice of swirling wine in a glass before tasting.
Each level of the Lapostolle winery is devoted to a specific step in the wine making process. The stairway that leads to each of them was inspired by the practice of swirling wine in a glass before tasting.

Because there is much less traffic on Saturday, we arrived back at our hotel at a quite reasonable hour. After a nap (Cliff still has his cold!), we strolled through Lastarria area open air flea markets and settled on a Patagonian restaurant for dinner.  I had my first pisco sour — sort of like a cross between a margarita and a Ramos fizz.  Delicicious! A lovely, mild evening.

"Patagonia" in the name caught our attention!
“Patagonia” in the name caught our attention!
Cheers!
Cheers!

And, now, Cliff is watching March madness in Spanish!

Friday, April 1 — Wine tours!

An early start for the 2+ hour drive to Colchagua Valley. We visited two vineyards: Neyen Winery and Lapostolle. Neyen grows 5 different grapes on its property, but produces only one type of wine  — a blend of Carminerre and Cabernet.  The other grapes are taken to a “sister” winery. Neyen produces less than 75,000 bottles of wine a year and almost all of it is exported. Just 4% stays in Chile. Lapostolle, a much larger vineyard, produces about the same number of bottles and also limits its production to just one type of wine; theirs is a blend of Carminerre, Cabernet and Merlot. The other grapes are shipped to another winery where they make, among other wines, a Merlot that we found to be delicious. We bought a bottle of it to enjoy in our room. We learned that it is cheaper to buy these Chilean wines in the U.S. than it is to buy here in the country.

Cliff with our tour guide at Neyen vineyards.
Cliff with our tour guide at Neyen vineyards.
Cliff samples a grape off a newer vine -- not as sweet as the fruit on the 125 year old vines.
Cliff samples a grape off a newer vine — not as sweet as the fruit on the 125 year old vines shown below.

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Eucalyptus trees are everywhere in Chile's wine valleys -- imported from Australia as windbreaks. These looked like they might have been planted at the same time as the 125 year old grapes. (See picture below.)
Eucalyptus trees are everywhere in Chile’s wine valleys — imported from Australia as windbreaks. These looked like they might have been planted at the same time as the 125 year old grapes. (See picture below.)
The lab technician who measures sugar content of wine-in-progress brought out samples of carminere, shiraz and cabernet.....definitely still at the grape juice stage.
The lab technician who measures sugar content of wine-in-progress brought out samples of carminere, shiraz and cabernet…..definitely still at the grape juice stage.

The Neyen Winery has a modern production facility and a gloriously old (1880s) building that is used to store the casks as the wine ages. The old Adobe building had undergone a major renovation in 2006 and as a result survived the 2010 earthquake in pretty good shape.

Window niche shows the thickness of the adobe walls. The white roses come from the garden of hundreds of white rose bushes. Beautiful. See below.
Window niche shows the thickness of the adobe walls. The white roses come from the garden of hundreds of white rose bushes. Beautiful. See below.

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The Lapostolle winery, on the other hand, is housed in an incredible modern building that was dug into the granite. They had virtually no damage in 2010 other than a couple of bottles that broke in their wine store.  Lapostolle is owned by the French family that owns Grand Marnier. No expense was spared.

The curve of the entry doors which is repeated in the design of the gardens leading to it (see below) suggests the shape of a barrel.
The curve of the entry doors which is repeated in the design of the gardens leading to it (see below) suggests the shape of a barrel.

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Each level of the Lapostolle winery is devoted to a specific step in the wine making process. The stairway that leads to each of them was inspired by the  practice of swirling wine in a glass before tasting.
Each level of the Lapostolle winery is devoted to a specific step in the wine making process. The stairway that leads to each of them was inspired by the practice of swirling wine in a glass before tasting.
Instead of the usual stainless steel vats, huge oak barrels are used for the first stage of fermentation.
Instead of the usual stainless steel, Lapostolle ferments its wines in huge French oak vats.

Both wines are completely handmade. The grapes are harvested by hand, they are de-stemmed by hand, women pick through the grapes and reject any shriveled grapes or grapes where the skin has been broken.  Neyen ferments its wine in the usual stainless steel containers and then ages the individual types of wine in French oak barrels. After a year, the wines are blended and bottled and aged for another year. Lapostolle ferments its wines in large French oaks vats. This process takes about 11 weeks. Then the individual wines are transferred to oak casks where they age for year. A that point, the winemaker decides on the blend and the wines are blended and re-introduced into the oak casks for another year of aging before bottling. (Yes, this is a very pricey wine!

Happily, the dreaded phylloxera is not a problem in Chile — so we didn’t have to hear about it every step of the way as we have in Napa!

Our tour guide at Lapostolle was nearly as charming as Giles from Robert Mondavi in Napa….but not quite:-)

Our guide explaining how the French oak vats are emptied using gravity only to avoid releasing the lees into the fermented wine.
Our guide explaining how the French oak vats are emptied using gravity only to avoid releasing the lees into the fermented wine.

We had a delicious (and need I say HUGE) lunch at a restaurant on the grounds of the Viu Manent vineyard, Rayeula. We’ll skip dinner and enjoy our Merlot tonight. Cliff is suffering from a horrible cold, so an early bedtime is a good idea.

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Thursday, Mar. 31 — Santiago is fascinating but very smoggy

We had a tour of Santiago today — I am sure that a day tour does not do the city justice. It is huge. And, unfortunately, it is very, very smoggy. We took the funicular up to a city park early this morning and could hardly make out the Andes in the distance. The city’s sprawling mass of buildings still makes an impression even with the blur of pollution.

Funicular chugs up the hill to a park and zoo in the middle of Santiago.
Funicular chugs up the hill to a park and zoo in the middle of Santiago.
Here we are at a park on one of Santiago's highest points -- with a very hazy view of the city below.
Here we are at a park on one of Santiago’s highest points — with a very hazy view of the city below.

The memory of the Pinochet dictatorship is still very much alive. Our guide simply said “it was a bad time.” And he was polite enough not to mention that Pinochet’s coup had been backed by the U.S.  Returning to democracy has been a very positive experience for the country. Trade improved with the elimination of embargoes — and, in general, the life of the people became easier and more open.

We also toured Pablo Neruda’s home La Chascona– he was an avowed opponent of all Fascist movements, but was very ill at the time of Pinochet’s take-over. He actually died less than a month after the coup. His widow, Matilde (she of the crazy hair that inspired the name La Chascona) kept up his opposition and was a major voice for people’s rights throughout the Pintocnet’s regime.

Here are some pictures from La Chascona — no photos allowed inside the home:

Beautiful La Chascona logo -- but note tangle of wires at the top. Reverence for all things Neruda does not extend to maintaining areas around La Chascona. See picture below.
Beautiful La Chascona logo — but note tangle of wires at the top. Reverence for all things Neruda does not extend to maintaining areas around La Chascona. See picture below.
Wall along stairway leading to La Chascona entrance.
Wall along stairway leading to La Chascona entrance.
View from stairs leading to Neruda's "summer bar." Now, anyone who has a bar for a season (and a spectacular one at that) has got to be worth knowing.
View from stairs leading to Neruda’s “summer bar.” Now, anyone who has a bar for a season (and a spectacular one at that) has got to be worth knowing.
Cliff in front of graffiti mural outside La Chascona.
Cliff in front of graffiti mural outside La Chascona entrance.

Most remnants of Pinochet have been destroyed. Even the location of his burial plot has been kept secret for fear that it would be desecrated. As our guide said — he killed so many people, there are many who would take revenge. There is a museum (which was closed on the day we planned to visit) that deals with the Pinochet area focusing on the victims and remembrance of the repression of the time. (We learned that Pinochet sent many of his advisers to the University of Chicago to study under the economist Milton Friedman. This group was later referred to as the “Chicago boys.” Whatever they learned there did not translate into a better life for most Chileans.)

It is weird to talk to people for whom democracy is a new experience. Pinochet was turned out of office in 198 — the coup was in 1973. He called for an election with the clear idea that he would win — after all, the opposition had no newspapers, no way to gather strength. He was wrong.  Today the current president — Michelle Bacholet — is in her second term after a gap of 4 years. Chilean law does not allow consecutive terms. (Perhaps a good idea in the U.S??) She was very popular after her first term, but, according to our guide, has made many, many mistakes this time around. In today’s complicated world, I wonder how mistakes can be avoided.

Late lunch at Bocanariz, a wine bar recommended by our friend Lucy Comerford who spent time in Santiago not long ago teaching English.  It was just steps from our hotel. A perfect stop. The feature wine flights and I was happy to give the bubbles flight a try. Delicious! We started with tapas and then main courses. All terrific. A plus was meeting a group of young men dining next to us….from Louisville! They were from the restaurant Rye — and I’m sure eating their way through their week in Chile as a tax deduction. Very nice guys.

A couple of funny things from the day. Didn’t know that there was such tension (maybe not the right word) between Chileans and Argentinians. Certainly not in the south — there people refer to Argentina as “we are neighbors.” But here’s a Santiago joke….”Do you know how an Argentinian commits suicide? He climbs to the top of his ego and jumps.” Yikes! A more gentle funny thing is the name given to Santiago’s high-end financial district:  San-hattan.  Very funny.

 

Tuesday, Mar. 29 — Compare and contrast…..Part 2

Escape from the falls and on to Hacienda Los Lingues. And a discovery! Google is soooo smart. If you look up directions while you have internet connectivity, Google “remembers” the route and guides you to it.  Jeesh! Why didn’t we know this before the Puerto Montt excursion. But then, Cliff would not have made the acquaintance of the lovely carabinieros. (Note: this word is remarkably similar to the word that means “large shrimp”.)

Google and its welcome English directions took us DIRECTLY to Hacienda Los Lingues. What a wonderful place. An oasis. More wonderful than I expected. It is in the midst of grape vineyards, fruit orchards and, I suppose, horse farms.  We have not spotted a horse yet. Regardless, we are thrilled with this place and it turns out that we are the ONLY guests. The owner greeted us in beautiful English and made us feel immediately welcomed. He told us that the hacienda has been in the family for 18 generations! Yikes. They started it in 1520 something. It was partially destroyed in the 2010 earthquake (8.8 on the Richter scale) and was closed for 3 years. There are still a couple of places that have not been fully repaired. He told us that the buildings have been triple repaired — Adobe, cement, steel and then more cement. If the next earthquake takes these buildings down, he said, the whole of Chile will have collapsed into the Pacific:-)

Patio area where we had lunch. A burbling fountain and music from speakers cleverly hidden in bird houses created a wonderful atmosphere.
Patio area where we had lunch. A burbling fountain and music from speakers cleverly hidden in bird houses created a wonderful atmosphere.
A pretty fountain in the midst of hacienda's gardens.
A pretty fountain in the midst of hacienda’s gardens.

Los Lingues is a flora paradise. Trees, roses, bushes, trellises and vegetable gardens. These are all irrigated with a system that must have been created centuries ago. It is sort of like the Roman aquaduct system with gates and valves that feed water into different areas around the property. The lushness of this place makes it clear that this watering system really works!

The grounds were lush in every direction.
The grounds were lush in every direction.

Other contrasts. No stopping at a gas station for lunch today. Beautiful words “would you like lunch in the garden or inside?”  The garden, por favor. We are alone until another couple comes in as we are finishing up. The attention to detail here is apparent. There is music in the garden with speakers “disguised” inside bird houses. Quite an environment. I am happy. (That makes Cliff happy — especially after how unhappy I was yesterday.)

Honestly, this place looks as though really, really, really rich people have been collecting furniture, rugs, accessories, silver and plants for centuries. And, I suppose, they have. Our room consists of a bedroom + bath that has sumptuously carved headboards, chairs, armoires, side tables and a cozy wood burning stove plus a sitting room that is equally furnished. Dinner tonight was in a main dining room where, when there are more guests, they gather together. If you’d like to be alone, there are two separate areas where they’ll serve dinner to you separately. We dined in the big room filled with amazing pieces of silver serving dishes, a fireplace and a table big enough to seat 18…..and there were 18 matching chairs to go along with it. Our host stopped in to ask if everything was to our liking….we said, “yes, of course.” And he answered that they would have to kill someone if it wasn’t. I’m not sure he was kidding!

Breakfast buffet....even tho' we were the only ones staying at the hacienda, they set out a full assortment of meats, cheeses, pastries, fruit and juices. Yum.
Breakfast buffet….even tho’ we were the only ones staying at the hacienda, they set out a full assortment of meats, cheeses, pastries, fruit and juices. Yum.

Back to our room where they have lit the wood burning stove. How cozy. Cliff has Jane Monheit playing on his iPad. How good is this!?

Our bedroom...many of the pieces looked like old family heirlooms. And maybe they were!
Our bedroom…many of the pieces looked like old family heirlooms. And maybe they were!

Monday, Mar. 28 — Compare and contrast….Part 1

Monday and Tuesday couldn’t have been more different. Monday was our day to slog through car repairs, bad directions, even worse meals and Ann’s decidedly bad humor. After awaking to a glorious sunrise in Frutillar, the day went quickly downhill.

On a positive note….

Absolutely nothing was changed in the iPhone photo of our Frutillar sunrise. Amazing.
Absolutely nothing was changed in the iPhone photo of our Frutillar sunrise. Amazing.
The performance center in Frutillar is worthy of mention. It is a gorgeous building right on the lakefront. An annual music festival is held here during the summer -- that's December!
The performance center in Frutillar is worthy of mention. It is a gorgeous building right on the lakefront. An annual music festival is held here during the summer — that’s December!

Off we went to Avis’ downtown Puerto Montt location — no easy feat the find without a GPS. We’d discovered that our GPS problem was the result of a faulty 12volt cigarette lighter connection in the car. After getting completely lost trying to use the map Avis provided, Cliff hailed a very nice man to assist us. We were nowhere near where we wanted to be though the man couldn’t pinpoint exactly where we were on the Avis map.

Twenty minutes later, Cliff ran after three uniformed lady carabineros (complete with serious looking guns) on a busy street. They immediately asked for his identification papers (yikes!) and somehow assured him that they would help. Eventually, they called the downtown Avis location where there was no one who spoke sufficient English to assist. After about 10 minutes and several phone calls to God knows who…..with hand signals and smiles, we were directed to make a right hand turn and get to the waterfront. From there, we were back to the Avis map, but we at least had an idea of where we were and, happily, found the right street without too many false turns. Avis confirmed the problem, did not have a replacement car, but said the lighter could be fixed in 30 minutes.

We took the opportunity to make lemonade out of lemons with a walk along Puerto Montt’s waterfront, a stop for a cup of coffee and some photo taking at a mosaic filled fountain on the way back to Avis. Hooray! Car is ready to go when we get back 40 minutes later.

Giant couples sculpture at the waterfront.
Giant couples sculpture at the waterfront.
Beautiful mosaics on a downtown square fountain.
Beautiful mosaics on a downtown square fountain.

And we’re off!

Not exactly. The GPS does not recognize Salto de Laja (our next stop) as a point of interest. It does recognize a street by the name of “Salto Laja” in Los Angeles, the nearest town to the falls. Unfortunately, the street and the town are not really near where we want to go. After many u-turns and much grumbling (Ann), we look at a tiny map in a guide book and see that the falls are quite a bit north of Los Angeles. We get back onto the main highway and promptly get into the wrong toll lane which requires some sort of auto-pay card (which, of course, we do not have). The truck driver behind us generously offers his card to us — but the logistics of using it and then returning it to him seemed difficult. Eventually — again with hand signals and smiles — he backs up and we are able to get into the correct lane. Whew!  A few miles later, Cliff sees a red exclamation point light up on the car display. Not good. A message appears on the center display (in Spanish of course!) and quickly disappears before we can figure out what it says. We decide to continue to the next gas station exit. As we drive, the message re-appears and Ann deciphers “estanciamiento” as one of the words.  Aha! She’d earlier figured out that a big “E” with an arrow meant there was public parking nearby. Parking! Parking! What could it mean? The parking break was slightly on — having been triggered as Cliff was dealing with being in the wrong toll lane.

I’m not even going to give you the gory details of an earlier attempt to find “the best French fries in Temuco.” We settled for a not too bad meal of grilled chicken breasts at a gas station. This was not as bad as it sounds — but definitely NOT what we had in mind!

At least they serve wine at gas station restaurants in Chile!
At least they serve wine at gas station restaurants in Chile!

We, at last, arrive at Hotel Salto de Laja and, as promised, our room has a perfect view of the falls. They are disappointing. The room is disappointing. The bath mat is not large enough for Cliff to place both of his size 13 feet on it. The restaurant — and especially the waiter — retrieves the day from abysmal to “we’re on vacation.” We order the smallest dinners they have (grilled fish — delicious!) and a nice bottle of wine. A woman nearby hears us and comes to our table, asking if we are Americans. She is an American married to a Chilean and has lived in Chile for 41 years. She said she noticed that Cliff had ordered a nice bottle of wine:-)

Cliff at the falls....not all that exciting. This is the one place we would skip the next time (?) we do this trip.
Cliff at the falls….not all that exciting. This is the one place we would skip the next time (?) we do this trip.

Turns out that her husband is related to Sara Braun, a prominent name in Punta Arenas. She was his grandmother and he had fond memories of being at the mansion in Punta Arenas which is currently used as some sort of civic club with the sunroom now an ivy-lined pub open to the public.

The Sara Braun mansion in Punta Arenas. Quite impressive.
The Sara Braun mansion in Punta Arenas. Quite impressive.

You’ll get the compare story in the next post!

 

 

Friday – Sunday, Mar. 25 to 27 — Adventures of a less physical sort….

Travel day from Awasi was a lazy one by their standards. Just two or three hikes up from our villa to the main lodge — about 1/4 mile each way. After five days of real trekking, we were definitely ready for a bit of lazy before our 2pm departure for the two-part journey back to Punta Arenas. We bid adios to our guide Daniel in Puerto Natales and arrived in Punta Arenas around 7pm. What sounded good? A plain old pizza! With a little internet sleuthing, we found a recommended pizzeria with the unlikely name of Gyros Pizza about 8 blocks away. Delicious — with the cheese browned and bubbly and a crisp thin crust — and a definite switch from the elegant meals of Awasi. Our dinner timing was perfect for us to watch the money shot in a Spanish dubbed version of the 10 Commandments. Charleton Heston parted the Red Sea and we departed the restaurant for a well-deserved early bedtime.

King crab appetizer at Awasi
King crab appetizer at Awasi
Eagerly awaiting the arrival of plain ol' pizza!
Eagerly awaiting the arrival of plain ol’ pizza!

The next part of our trip was completely planned by me and will be a car journey. Not a perfect combination for either of us. The first challenge was the GPS unit we got with our rental car in Puerto Montt….it only speaks Spanish. We did manage to get the keyboard and the screen info into English and then quickly learned to pick out the words “izquierda” (left!!) and “derecha” (right!!) as we tooled along. Alas, the GPS gave up the ghost after we arrived in Frutillar so we drove back to Puerto Montt early on Sunday only to learn that we cannot get a new one until Monday. This change throws a bit of a wrench into our travel plans to Saltos de Laja waterfall, but I am sure we’ll recover.

We spent Easter Sunday driving around Lake Llanquihue (ay-key-whey) getting amazing views of the water and the two volcanoes which dominate the scenery. There are estancias and haciendas and shacks and weird looking housing developments to be seen along the way. I would guess that he micro-climate here is something like Vancouver’s given the lush flower beds and abundan fruit trees we saw along the way. There are wind breaks along the fields comprised of ancient poplars and eucalyptus that are spectacular. A terrific way to spend a day.

Mt. Orsino -- a moody volcano on a moody day.
Mt. Orsino — a moody volcano on a moody day.
Poplar windbreaks abound with many of them looking ancient. Eucalyptus also abundant and fragrant.
Poplar windbreaks abound with many of them looking ancient. Eucalyptus also abundant and fragrant.

We’d hoped to have lunch at La Olla in Puerto Veras — a long wait deterred us and we ended up stopping at a tiny sandwich shop immediately across from one of the official volcano viewing points on the lake. The restaurant featured llamas that you could feed for $1 🙂 The sandwiches were HUGE and a bit unusual. Cliff ordered our Spanish standby — queso y jamon — and I opted for an Italiano, which surprisingly consisted of sautéed beef chunks, smashed avocado, tomatoes and a bit of mayo. The most amazing thing about both sandwiches was their size — 8 inch rounds about 2 inches high! I think a VERY light dinner is in our future.

Cliff's hand next to 1/2 of the Italian sandwich. Who knew that Italian sandwiches in Chile are beef with guacamole!?
Cliff’s hand next to 1/2 of the Italian sandwich. Who knew that Italian sandwiches in Chile are beef with guacamole!?

And my knees are nearly recovered, too.

Thursday, Mar. 24 — I’m happy when I’m hiking…..

Sort of. Today’s excursion was fly fishing. The location: a secluded lagoon in the Sierra Baguales area. Getting there required a 1 1/2 hour hike UP hill. The lake itself was remarkable. I’d say a little less than a mile across and roughly oval in shape. The far end of the lake abutted rocky bluffs. For the most part, the edges of the lake were a soft weave of grasses. Our fly fishing skills leave much for improvement. Cliff caught a large brown trout….which threw the hook just as he was bringing it to shore. Our guide was at the ready in waders with a net….but, the fish had other plans. I had a strong nibble, but in my excitement managed to pull the fly right out of the fish’s mouth. Even though we did not have a photo of a fish at the end of our excursion, we enjoyed the day thoroughly. (Perhaps not the “walk” in!) The guide Ben and his assistant JP were phenomenally patient and totally charming. The spread out a wonderful picnic on the shore complete with wine (of course!) which I declined knowing that the “walk” back was ahead of me. I’m wobbly enough going downhill without a glass of wine!  Our guide’s name was Benjamin Vial, the director of Patagonia Lines fly fishing tours. We would highly recommend them. Check out www.patagonialines.com. The company is located in Puerto Natales but provides service as far north as Torres deal Paines national park.

The drive to our starting place was an adventure in itself, crossing two suspicious looking bridges and fording a stream filled with imposing stones and boulders. And in between, marshy spots with thick mats of green ground cover that oozed mud as we drove across them. There were several places where I was sure we would have to get out and push! But Ben gave precise directions complete with hand signals and JP got us in and back with only one or two ominous clunks from rocks. Sheep, cattle and rheas crowded the semi-flat road when we finally got to it.  JP moved forward to get them moving and most often they just ran ahead of the car for quite a distance before abandoning flat road for the dry hilly terrain on either side. A rhea did a zig zag dance in front of us before finally heading  off to a hill.

Cliff is ready to slay some fish. However, the fish were not cooperative.
Cliff is ready to slay some fish. However, the fish were not cooperative.
Now this is a really, really alfresco picnic! The guides carried all of the food, wine, plates, glasses, utensils, serving platters etc. in their backpacks. Soooo glad that we didn't have to share the load! The walk was hard enough without a backpack.
Now this is a really, really alfresco picnic! The guides carried all of the food, wine, plates, glasses, utensils, serving platters etc. in their backpacks. Soooo glad that we didn’t have to share the load! The walk was hard enough without a backpack.

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These three photos were provided by our guide Ben AFTER our trip so I could at least show you what we were supposed to catch!
These two photos above were provided by our guide Ben AFTER our trip so I could at least show you what we were supposed to catch! The bottom photo shows him wading in to net a fish — not required, alas, on our trip.

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