Oceanviews, Seafood and Digestifs in Viña del Mar

January 5, 2011 ( part II)

Our hotel in Viña del Mar  ( "Vineyard by the Sea") was perched high atop the hills overhooking the Pacific ocean and took its name from the nearby Reloj de Flores ("Flower Clock"), an emblematic symbol of the seaside town. Our taxi ride up to Reloj de Flores B&B was quick and sweaty with three of us jammed in the back seat of the compact car. As it turned out, our arrival to Viña del Mar coincided with one of the warmest days of the season with temperatures in the mid-90's; much warmer than the upper 60's that was forecasted a week earlier.

The Flower Clock

Reloj de Flores B&B was much simpler and compact than the Bonaparte in Santiago, with only ten guest rooms -  basically just a home converted into a hostel (calling it a "B&B" might be a stretch). A friendly older woman served as hostess, as she showed us around to our rooms and spoke to us in nearly perfect English. Mom & Dad's room was by far the nicer of the two. It had a balcony with an unexpected OCEAN VIEW. On the other hand, the room that my brother and I shared only had a window that opened up to the central living area. The place certainly wasn't anything fancy, but it was very homey and comfortable and a great deal too (about half of what we paid for the hotel in Santiago). 

View from my parent's room at Reloj de Flores B&B

Getting ready to walk down the steep hill from our hotel!

It was getting close to to 3pm by this point, and because our little hill-top neighborhood didn't have much to offer in the way of food, we set out down the hill in search of lunch. One of our guidebooks recommended a restaurant close to the casino called Divino Pecado (pecado means "sin" in Spanish, but is very similar to the word meaning "fish" - pescado).  The inside of the restaurant was bright welcoming and our waiter friendly and professional. The only disappointment (well aside for the prices of the menu items), was they they were out of several very delicious-sounding house specialties, such as pumpkin ravioli with shrimp!  As a second choice, I ordered gnocchi with a spicy bolognese sauce, which turned out to be quite tasty. The other downer was that there was no A/C in the restaurant (or any other place in Viña ), so it was a steamy experience. However, our mood was improved when the waiter came by with post-lunch digestif, compliments of the house. We were given a selection of flavors to choose from, so we asked for one of each: araucaria (a type of pine tree found in South America), amaretto, and pisco (grape brandy, typical drink throughout the Andres region of South America). Not the tastiest liquor I've ever tried, but interesting non-the-less. //

Lunch at Divino Pecado

Mom and I with our digestifs. I cropped Dad out of this photo for his own benefit :) - let's just say it wasn't his most flattering photo of the trip; I think the no a/c thing was getting to him at this point in the meal. 

If you look closely, you'll see that the couple sitting at the table next to us also has the Frommer's guide book.  Coincidence that they wound up at the same place we did for lunch? Unlikely

Santiago to Viña del Mar By Bus

January 5, 2011

Finally, a day to sleep in - well, sorta. After waking up so early the past few days, sleeping in until 10: 00 A.M. felt very luxurious. It took the troops a while to get coordinated and since there was no scheduled activity for the day, the 10: 00 A.M. departure time got pushed back nearly an hour.

By 11:00 A.M. we were piled in a taxi, breezing through the tree-lined streets of Provedencia, on to the downtown area to the Terminal de Bus Alemeda. The bus station was a bustling scene, bordering on chaotic. I asked the rest of the family to stay put while I navigated my way through the terminal to figure out where to buy our bus tickets. There were about 50 different bus companies, each with a few different ticket windows, and each with buses leaving to popular destinations ever 20 minutes or so. Chaos. Thankfully, I had navigated a similar scene on my previous trip to Chile, which gave me a little more confidence in executing the task of buying tickets this go around. I found the company recommended by our guide book (Tur-Bus) and asked for 4 seats on the next bus to Viña del Mar, which I easily secured. I quickly rounded up the troops and we headed back across the street to platform 5, where our bus was to depart from in fifteen minutes time. A few minutes before the schedule departure time, we boarded the comfortable, air-conditioned tour bus (staffed and run very professionally) and quickly pulled out of the station. Who says everyone is late in Latin America?

We only made one other stop at another bus terminal in the city before continuing on to Viña with a full bus-load of passengers. The two hour trip was actually very relaxing; I spent the time writing and reading about our next destinations, as well as enjoying the beautiful views of the Casablanca Wine Valley.

At 2:00 PM, we pulled into the station at  Viña del Mar and were immediately bombarded by taxi drivers, hotel owners, and tourist guides eager to assist us with any of their services.We bypassed the vendors and made a B line to the taxi stand where a friendly guy took us to Hostal Reloj del Flores B&B.

Culinary Adventures in Chile: Pan Amasado & Heart of Palm

January 4, 2011 (part V)

After our chilly dip in El Balneario Termal Baños Morales, we quickly got dressed and went to have some tea and coffee at one of the small guest houses in town. As we walked in, we quickly realized that the restaurant-bar advertised on the signage outside was actually the living room/dining room of the owner's house. Unsure of the standard procedure for being served in such an establishment, we inquired if food and drink were available for purchase, and they confirmed that they were.  However, there did not appear to be a menu, so we ordered the basics - tea and bread. The tea was nothing to write home about, but the bread, pan amasado (apparently "world famous" Chilean kneaded bread) was quite interesting. I would liken it to a homemade biscuit in America - very tasty. From our table inside, we observed a group of local men - los vaqueros - finishing of a box of wine and mused at the fact that they seemed to be getting quite drunk. Apparently we had stopped by the local hangout (and the only establishment in town with any patrons). 

The "residencia" where we had tea & pan amasado. Notice they are advertising Mote con Huesillo 

Diligently writing in my journal during our team break in Baños Morales

After our coffee/tea break, we began the longish trek back to Santiago. We again encountered large trucks hauling copper ore down the mountain on the rough gravel roads, which made passing quite the challenge as we contended with the large clouds of dust they were stirring up. As the road transitioned back to pavement, we found ourselves with a new appreciation of the wonders of modern engineering and infrastructure. Along the way, we stopped in the adorable rural town of San Jose de Maipo. We stopped for an ice cream on the lazy central square and took in the local scene. 

View of the road and mountains in El Cajon de Maipo (The Maipo Valley)

Church on the main square in San Jose de Maipo

Soon we were back on the busy streets of Santiago, navigating through La Florida neighborhood in Southern Santiago and then onto our hotel Provedencia, just as the street lights began to come on. By 9:15, we were pulling into our hotel parking garage; exhausted from a solid day of exploring and ready for a quick (and easy) meal. Oh, and a glass of WINE. 


Given that it was already 10:30pm by the time everyone had showered, we settled for dinner in the elegant hotel restaurant. I ordered a Thai salad, which turned out to be MUCH different than the American version and included: heart of palm (very Chilean and SO under-utilized in the American culinary tradition), avocado, tuna, and corn on a small bed of lettuce. We polished off the bottle of wine from Concha y toro winery and I fell asleep reviewing my pictures, camera in hand. /#solid_day.