Saturday 9th January

A couple of days ago I booked a tour to a winery for this afternoon which starts with a pick-up from the hotel at 1.45 so decided use the morning to go up the Cerro San Cristobal, the hill which dominates the North side of Santiago and on top of which is a large white statue which can be seen from all over the city and which I had assumed was Jesus but turns out it is the “Virgen de la Inmaculada Concepción”.  on top of it. While looking for the Chascona Museum yesterday I found the f so I was confident I could get there and back with time to spare. To be on the safe side I took the metro a couple of stops along the way. There was a bit of a wait for the funicular which was originally built in 1925 but then it was a short ride to the terrace with a few drinks stalls and from which there is a great view of the city. More steps up to the statue of the virgin. Not being catholic I have never understood the concept of her immaculate conception and the more I read the more confused I get. But obviously it is very important to lots of people. As well as the statue there is a small church just below the hilltop which dates from the 1920’s. 

Funicular

View over the City

Virgen de la Inmaculada Concepción

Serenade at the Funicular

I was hoping to get great views of the Andes but despite the clear blue sky, the view is quite hazy. Came back down in the funicular, too lazy to walk, but having plenty of time in hand, walked back to the hotel. On the way I was amused to see several young people practicing their dance steps in front of the reflective windows of one of the more attractive modern buildings. Had a ham and cheese croissant before getting picked up for the winery tour.

Two of the More Attractive Modern Buildings

Utilitarian but maybe it could grow on me? 

Grey and Forbidding

The bus took us to Mall Parque Arauco where I transferred to another bus to go out to the Undurraga winery. The mall is a bit out of the centre and looks huge. Surrounded by modern blue-grey glass fronted towers. Wonder whether they will look as dated as the 60’s and 70’s blocks in 30 years’ time. About an hour’s drive out to the winery, founded in the 19^th century and set in beautiful gardens that were originally laid out for the family who owned it. I haven’t been to that many wineries but all the ones I have visited seem to enjoy wonderful locations and weather. Our guide gave us an informative tour round and one of her colleagues was very knowledgeable about the wine making process. One of the things that comes over loud and clear is the precision of modern wine making so very little is left to chance. However he did make the point that if the grapes aren’t good to start with the winemaker can’t do much about it. And then of course we got to the important part the wine tasting, two whites and two reds. In our English speaking groups there was a German couple with a young child an American (USA) couple and a single American woman. Whenever Americans meet, they seem to go through a ritual of trying to find some point of connection; in this case the two American women discovered that they went to the same high school in a small town in Colorado!

Undurraga winery: The red roses signify it will be a red wine and are supposed to give advance warning of disease or pests

Wines being aged in oak barrels from France and USA

Time to taste it

In the shop I bought a bottle to give to my home stay hosts tomorrow. Medium price bottles were around 5000 pesos. The cheaper, Aliwen,  range were around 3000 while the Founder’s Collection went up to around 15000.

Back on the bus I arranged to be dropped off at another big, modern shopping mall Costanera, from where I could make my own way back. Had a quick look round; it could be a shopping mall anywhere in the world. But it also houses a Hard Rock Café so decided to try that later this evening. Got the Metro back to the hotel.

Metro again to the Hard Rock where I had a burger and beer. It wasn’t looking very lively by 1030 so decided to call it a night.   

Hard Rock Santiago