SANTIAGO AND CASABLANCA WINE VALLEY

Great excitement when we landed – finally! –  in Santiago. Suddenly all the tiredness and sheer relentless grind of the flights was forgotten. Through security and baggage very quickly and soon we were on La Quinta Wyndham Hotel’s free shuttle. A 10 min transfer and we arrived at this smart, modern, corporate style hotel which was very comfortable, with friendly staff and clean, attractive accommodation.For some reason we were given a double Queen room but no complaints. Good breakfast too. Very pleased with our choice once more and can recommend.

With only one day in Santiago, it was a quick change into lighter clothes, given the higher temperatures I’d seen online. The hotel stored our luggage as check in wasn’t until 3pm. Phoned an Uber (far more reliable the hotel said, than normal taxis) and in minutes, we were being driven (hurtled I’d say – these Uber drivers go at some pace!) into Plaza de Armas, the central square of Chile’s capital city. The 25 min or so journey cost about £10.

The fine sunrise had, sadly,  turned into a dull day with rain threatening. It was also MUCH cooler than the 25C temperatures recorded in the city over the past few days – turned out we’d hit the first day of rain in a long while and autumn temperatures had plunged! At 14C or less, it felt as cold as home!

Admired the buildings around the Plaza though the overwhelming smell of urine detracted from that experience. It being Sunday, Santiago was very quiet and many shop fronts were shuttered. There was also graffiti everywhere and combined with that unpleasant aroma, the city didn’t make a good first impression on us.

The Pre – Columbia Museum was next up as I’d read it was the finest in South America for the pre European period of the continent’s history. Tickets were around £12 each – we qualified for Seniors discount. It was indeed truly outstanding with a stunning collection of sculpture and art works, jewellery and various artefacts from the Inca and Mayan periods.

Not much from Chile itself but countries further north. There were a few very gruesome exhibits – one being a life – sized male figure covered in what was a representation of flayed human skin! A reflection of the Aztec’s tradition of human sacrifice. 

But mostly, we enjoyed very beautiful, interesting objects revealing the sheer artistry of these early civilisations before the Spanish conquest.

A coffee and cake stop beckoned now, as always.  I quite fancied the Museum café which had nice looking bakes (I’m always looking for a sweet treat) but the plan was to enjoy that in the Lastarria district so on we headed.

It wasn’t an attractive walk to that neighbourhood but fairly short. Once there, I was surprised at how small it was, the nicest part being basically one short,  much photographed street. 

Outwith this, there were the usual graffiti strewn walls and buildings and a general feel of grunge. Perhaps being a Sunday the back streets were quieter but they seemed quite run down.

Popped into the buzzy Guztarria café beside the Visual Art Gallery. As we found throughout Chile, very few people spoke much English.That’s not a criticism – it’s our fault for not having much Spanish apart from a slightly wobbly ability to order coffee or tea or wine, ask for the bill and say hello and thank you! In fact, a strong memory of Chile is just how friendly, smiling, helpful and genuine everyone was wherever we travelled. 

Asked for ‘dos cafes con leche’ including a Decaff (my head buzzes enough without caffeine.) Must say we had very good coffee everywhere we went in the country. Wasn’t so taken with the cakes here so passed on those.

Enjoyed that café stop a lot – it was packed with locals having Sunday brunch and had a really buzzy atmosphere.

Next stop – the Bellavista neighbourhood which was about a 15 min walk away. The river area we walked across was not attractive at all en route but seemed quite typical of what we saw overall.

There seemed a bit more to it than Lastarria but it was very touristy, and very graffiti strewn albeit more colourful with lots of murals. 

However, neither of us took to it. It felt dirty and downmarket. The restaurant and café fronts were garish and menus seemed to offer mostly cheap fast food. I’d read that visitors either like or don’t like Santiago and we seemed to belong to the latter group. Maybe if we’d had time to visit the ‘posher’ parts of the city, we would have enjoyed those better.

Despite the steady rain, we decided to go up the nearby funicular, more to have something else to do.

No queue given the weather so in minutes we were being whizzed up the hillside for the very cheap price of about £5 each.

At the top, we found ourselves in a well-developed woodland area with lots of walkways which must give fantastic views over the Andes when clear. We had bought a Combo ticket, allowing us to jump onto the cable car too.This went all the way out to the other end of the park.Loads of activities for kids here, a great family option.

I’m sure we would have loved the funicular if the weather had been even half decent but it was now chucking it down.

To Casas del Bosque Vineyard and Lunch

I’d arranged a private driver – Mauricio Fernandez – recommended on a travel forum by several people and he met us as planned at the funicular at 2.20pm (the pick up location was variable depending on where we ended up.) This was the first time we’d ever hired a driver but it was acceptable price wise given we had such limited time and were quite specific about what we wanted to do. At just over £100 in total, he took us out to the vineyard and dropped us back at the hotel, giving us time for a leisurely lunch and an explore of the grounds and shop.This didn’t seem far off the cost of the various minibus or coach tours advertised but I’d read they took quite some time to pick up and drop people off at various city centre locations; many tours were also much longer than we had time for. 

Mauricio was a friendly, professional guy driving a comfortable jeep and who was gave us a history of the city and wider area. We had noticed some very poor looking, almost ‘shanty towns’ coming into the city centre and he commented on the strict segregation of social classes in Santiago.The city has a lovely Mediterranean climate albeit we were not experiencing that today!

In an hour, we were in the Casablanca Valley and through security at Casas del Bosque vineyard. Chris loves wine but he didn’t want to do a tour or tasting (we’ve done several in South Africa, Italy and California.) Instead, as part of lunch, he wanted to choose some of their award winning wines that appealed. I was really looking forward to our visit as the vineyard has been ranked within the world’s Top 20 for food and we had a table booked in Tanino restaurant at 3.30pm.

What a beautiful place the vineyard was! It was a traditional adobe building with wooden beams, a red tiled roof and flowers everywhere. The weather had changed for the better too, the whole place bathed in sunshine. It really was gorgeous and our spirits revived.

Tanino restaurant was just perfect, opening out onto the gardens. Today, it was still a bit too cool for that so perspex panels kept the breeze out while still giving us a view.A very friendly young man served us and after perusing the various menus, we decided to go for the A La Carte rather than the Tasting option.

But first, we enjoyed the vineyard’s own sparkling wine ‘ Bo’ which was excellent, almost as good as champagne in smoothness and depth. Clinking our glasses, we drank to a great holiday and finally being in Chile.

Decided to share 2 different starters  – a superb Juan Fernandez Fish Ceviche in a citrusy marinade which was absolutely delicious plus excellent Beef Empanadas. These also came with a spicy, tasty Merquen and Green Chilli Olive Oil Salsa and little bread rolls. 

I chose the Fillet Steak with Garlic Butter fermented in Honey, as I was keen to try good Chilean beef. However, the beef, while tender, was strangely bland. Chris’s choice hit the spot though – an Angus Tenderloin stew with Chancaca Sauce and Blue Cheese.Absolutely wonderful. Melt in the mouth tasty beef and a rich gravy. 

As ever, I couldn’t resist dessert so ordered their home made Macaroons plus a very tasty Toffee, Peanut and White Chocolate Ganache Tart.Excellent, both.My blood sugar levels must have gone through the roof after scoffing that lot though I did take some away in a doggy bag – too much even for me.Chris rarely eats dessert – he always says he is enjoying something far better (wine.)

Wines – Chris opted for their Gran Reserva Chardonnay and it was top notch, buttery and rich.He also tried their cool climate red, La Trampa but wasn’t quite so taken with it; that said, he is mostly a fan of white wines.

Two hours later, we thought this had overall been a superb lunch experience and ended up being one of the trip’s highlights.

Time for a stroll around this small vineyard, the first established in the valley.

Lots of bird-song and my Birding App recognised a Rufous Collared Sparrow (a Chingolo locally) singing his wee heart out.I know many birds we enjoyed seeing will be very common locally but we like bird watching and seeing different species when abroad is always interesting.

Bought a bottle each of their Bo and Gran Reserva wines which we took to Torres del Paine with us in the suitcase (super-well wrapped!I had visions of opening our suitcase and finding everything soaked in alcohol and covered in glass.) 

Then a pleasant drive back with Mauricio, the mountains clear now and the valley looking very pleasant.

Back at the hotel by 7pm after a really fantastic afternoon.Big thumbs up for Casas del Bosque and our private driver experience with Mauricio!

Next Day: Torres del Paine at last

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