Stop #3
Santiago, Chile
Santiago, Chile was our 3rd and final stop on our South American journey in the spring of 2009. We both decided that it turned out we saved the best for last!! Well actually, that might be a bit of a stretch….it’s just too hard to pick our “favorite” between the 3 countries we visited. We loved them all for completely different reasons!!
Santiago in a word- ADVENTUROUS! The capital of Chile is perfectly situated within the long and narrow country. The downtown has a backdrop of the gorgeous Andes mountains and is only about 1 hour away from the pacific coast to the west. Santiago really has it all, in fact it reminds me of growing up in the Pacific Northwest. As soon as we landed and started driving to our B&B, all I could think of was Seattle. Everything is close to get to- mountains, hiking, beach, city life, countryside & wineries….its all so lovely and all within hours of each other.
(Here is a view of the Andes as we flew from Buenos Aires to Santiago)
Once again we found 75% of what we did in Chile on our favorite travel website Tripadvisor and once again we decided to go the B&B route. We found this adorable B&B right in the thick of downtown called Casa Moro. Marcelo & Walter are unflappable hosts and the house was old and recently redone to its former splendor. The rooms were very clean and spacious and there was a cute little deck right outside ours where we celebrated our first night with a bottle of chilean wine and cigar!
Breakfast at Casa Moro was wonderful- they had freshly made scones that were out of this world! Plus, if you want a nice & romantic dinner on their back patio, they will custom make an incredibly romantic meal for 2 for very little money and wow, the food was amazing!
One of the main reasons we wanted to go to Chile was to take advantage of all the great wineries surrounding Santiago :-). First thing we did after checking into the B&B was to go to a winery. Most wineries are in the valleys surrounding the city but there is one older winery just on the outskirts of downtown. It was called Cousino-Macul. What a fabulous way to begin our winery tours! They took us on a tour of the winery including the new and modern fermentation rooms as well as a spooky trip down into the old cellars!
Since we only had a few full days in Santiago, we had to find the best way to see the city quickly so we could go back to areas we wanted to spend more time in. Boy oh boy did we score!! We found, on TripAdvisor, hands down the BEST was to see the city and learn some history. La Bicicleta Verde Bike tours…..they had a few different tours to choose from but we did the “Locals Life” tour. Luckily we were the only ones in the tour that day so our guide, Rodolfo, was able to give us more hands on attention. The tour took us to the famous Poet Pablo Neruda’s house then along through the Patronato neighborhood where the buildings were all bright and colorful. Rodolfo also took us to the local fresh fruit & vegetable market as well as their fresh fish market. In the picture of me at the bottom with the fish guy- in order to get that photo, he made me kiss him on the cheek afterwards!! Ugh. 🙂
The tour ended by heading back to the centro area of downtown to the Plaza de Armas & the Bellas Artes Museum….great architecture! Here are some pictures from our fun bike ride around town!
After this tiring morning on the bikes, we decided to reward ourselves by heading to the trendy & chic Bellavista neighborhood for some local-style lunch. We found this adorable corner cafe and had the best shrimp stuffed avocado. David I think was hallucinating because he thought the foam in his beer looked like South America- LOL.
After refueling, we headed over to see Cerro San Cristobal- what an amazing sight to see! Truly a must do and we loved being on top of the city. There are a few ways to get up to the top of the “hill” (really a mountain!). You can walk (yea right), take the gondola, or via the funicular railway. We decided to take the authentic funicular…..um yea, a great experience but not the safest feeling I have ever had. You are virtually vertical going up the side of the mountain. The railway does stop halfway up to get to the zoo as well. Below are pictures from the top where you can see 360 degree views of Santiago & of the statue of the Virgin Mary- way too cool!
We finished up this amazingly adventurous day by heading back downtown to have some coffee at the famous “coffee with legs” cafes surrounding the centro part of town. Hilarious- in what used to be a very strict and catholic country, they now allow these coffee shops for business men & women to frequent and stare at some eye candy…all the baristas are female and they all wear super super SUPER short dresses to work- LOL.
After a couple days exploring the city, we decided to head out to the Pacific Coast. We chose to take a bus to Valparaiso, a very quaint port town about 90 minutes from Santiago. Valparaiso actually ended up reminding us a bit of San Francisco with the hillsides surrounding the harbor and old ports. What a fun day. Our hosts back at Casa Moro told us to go first thing to a hole-in-the-wall diner called J Cruz. We were not sure what to expect…the only thing we were told was that there was 1 thing to order on the menu- chorillana, which is basically a huge plate of onions, fries, scrambled eggs, and steak. We called it a heart attack on a plate but it was delicious! The alley to get to this place was a bit weird and once inside, we were surrounded by tables you could write on and antique cases were along every wall. Once you ordered the chorillana & a beer, a local guitarist comes around to all the tables singing and playing for your enjoyment….crazy crazy experience!
After this wild experience, we decided we needed to walk off that meal! We spent the day simply strolling up and down all the neighborhoods….what vibrant colors and a beautiful view of the harbor. We ended the fun-filled day with a bottle of wine at a cute bar overlooking the harbor before our bus ride back to Santiago.
OK, for our last adventure in Chile, we decided to call on our new friend Rodolfo from La Bicicleta Verde. He and his associate took us on an hour long car ride to Maipo Valley. There we had lunch at an adorable local’s home before heading off on mountain bikes exploring 3 surrounding wineries. What an unforgettable experience. A perfectly clear day, fresh air, views of the Andes in the background, delicious wine tastings, great company….really couldn’t have asked for a better way to spend the day and end our 15 day trip in South America! One of the wineries made all organic wines, another was a very old family run business, and the third had ridiculous dirt roads and views of the Andes Mountains. We were able to nibble on grapes directly from the vine at the organic vineyard and tasted Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, & Carmenere at the other wineries (thought to be extinct before being rediscovered in the late 1990’s)- all were delicious!!
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| Our Guide & Friend Rodolfo |
Since we were headed directly to the airport for our red eye home after this long day our friendly guide Rodolfo was gracious enough to allow us to go to his HOME and take a shower before taking us to the airport- amazing hospitality! Oddly enough, we recently (January 2011), turned on one of our favorite shows, House Hunters International on HGTV, and low & behold who did we see?? Rodolfo and his wife Emily searching for a home after getting engaged!! It is such a small world- we wish them all the best and can’t wait to visit again:-).
Adios a Sur America…..
Happy Travels!
Kimbra & David
One Response to Santiago, Chile…our home away from home!
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What a great write up! You guys are the best. Did you know Rodolfo was on House Hunters International? Look for the Santiago episode that came out last week. Cheers from Santiago, Chile. br /Peter – La Bicicleta Verde