From Fernando de Neronha, we fly to Santiago, Chile, via São Paulo.
We meet our friends Pete & Judith at the airport. This is our second trip together in faraway places, the first time being a pre-COVID meeting in Sri Lanka in 2019.
Once in town, we check into our lodgings and venture out on a walking tour of the neighbourhood.
Our stroll takes us around such landmarks as the La Moneda Palace and the Plaza de Armas.
Our first morning, we take the funicular up San Cristóbal Hill.
A great view of the city. The tall building is the Gran Torre Costanera, the tallest building in South America. (For now, anyway.)
We try a local drink, mote con huesillo, made from wheat and peaches.
This is a close-up of a mote.
At the top of San Cristóbal Hill is a sanctuary dedicated to the Immaculate Conception, with a 22-meter statue of the Virgin Mary. A wall displays the thanks from people for whom wonders have been worked.
Besides the explosion of graffiti that is a sad fact of the modern world everywhere, Santiago is covered with interesting, well-executed murals.
Lunch one day consists of completos, which are basically hot dogs loaded to the brim with yummy toppings. They are very messy to eat.
We indulge in a wine tour to the Santa Rita winery.
After taking a collectivo from the city, we’re ready for our private tour.
The winery also has a museum specializing in pre-Columbian artifacts. A well-behaved school group learns about their heritage with more attention than a Canadian teacher could command.
The grounds are very nice.
The tour takes us to the original cellars.
Of course, the highlight of the tour is the wine tasting.
We are provided with a tasty cheese plate to accompany our vino.
Our next stop is port city of Valparaiso.
Sight or Insight of the Day
I last visited Chile over 40 years ago, during the Pinochet dictatorship.
Things have changed, as expected. After a transition to democracy, Chile has seen a lot of unrest over the past few years. It’s still safer and more prosperous than other countries in Latin America. There has been an influx of people fleeing Venezuela and elsewhere.
There are more people eking out an existing by selling stuff on the sidewalk. But it’s still an interesting destination, as we’ll see.