Santiago de Chile

28Jul08

In my last travel assignment I finally was able to capture the essence of Santiago, after visiting it before and not really getting it.

Santiago is a gray city, especially at this time of year. Indeed, Brazilian tourists are crowding it but somehow they do very little to color the scene.

I finally made it to Concha y Toro, after in my last trip I was chasing the winery with an old taxi driver who did not know where it was, my clueless self who forgot the address at the hotel and did not go back for it because ‘everybody must know where it is’, being the largest winery in all of Latin America. At the end I realized I will not make it there and catch my flight so I took the metro back. This time I had plenty of time and although contemplated taking the organized tour from the hotel I thought better of it and took the metro to the last stop and from there a micro – a small bus crowded with rowdy youngsters.

I felt like my good old Muchilero self after, well, probably ten years or so. There’s no better way to get the feel of a place than to do (or at least, feel you do) what the locals do daily.

I heard (again) the fable about Casillero del Diablo; the owner Don Melchor spread a rumor that the devil frequents the cellar to deter thieves. I visited the cellar, and invested the money I saved on the organized tour in a tasting of the Don Melchor, the most prestigious wine they make – or at least, the most expensive one.

The wine and the seafood here are amazing, and most of all the vistas of the Andes. One of the peaks visible from here might even be Aconcagua.

More about Cal y Canto, cerro san cristobal and the museum of Bellas Artes in the near future.

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Tags: Chile, travel, wine