Pablo Neruda's La Chascona & Other Lovely Finds in Bellavista

January 8, 2011 (part II)

Arriving into the neighborhood of Bellavista, we soon encountered a large outdoor craft market selling various Chilean-made art & craft-type items. We browsed the shops before gravitating toward one of the more unique stands selling knitted items: sweaters, vest, neck warms; each designed with a very particular Chilean Style in hip, interesting colors. This definitely wasn't your cooking-cutter souvenir stand; we happily picked up a few items for ourselves and few more to give as gifts.

We didn't get to wonder around the craft market too long (probably a good thing for budget purposes ;), asit was nearing the time of our schedule tour at  La Chascona, Pablo Neruda's house in Santiago), which we easily found tucked away on a side street of Bellavista. We browsed the gift shop and cooled off with some iced tea in the on-site cafe The weather was was much warmer today, necessitating a bit of cooling down after our longish trek from Providencia to Bellavista.

Now, I must admit that this is where my real-time journaling from our trip to Chile ends. Upon returning to "real life" back in the States and the demands of full-time job, I quickly lost motivation to write down a play-by-play report of what occurred during our remaining hours in Chile. But I will try to reflect on the experience a bit here.

La Chascona

And perhaps it will help that this wasn't my first visit to La Chascona. No, I also visited Neruda's Bellavista home way back in 2003; back in the days before I was using a digital camera;  before Facebook had been invented; before many of the modern conveniences that we enjoy in 2011. I have pictures of this visit somewhere....tucked away in an old photo album I'm sure; certainly not available in electronic format. My visit to La Chascona occurred early in my 2003 study abroad experience, at a time when my knowledge of Chile was much more limited than in is today and my appreciation for the eccentric poet non-existent (Pablo who?). So I was thankful to have a second opportunity to visit La Chascona with the added benefit of having studied Chilean culture and Neruda's poetry in greater depth.

As Eóin's Epic Travel Blog describes, "La Chascona was actually built and named after Neruda’s third wife, Matilde Urrutia, although at the time it was built he was still married to his second wife and Matilde was a secret…Anyway, his house is just as bizarre and quirky as the man himself. It’s decked out, like all his houses, to look and feel like a ship. Curved ceilings, ship furniture, water running past the window, narrow rooms and lots of rum. You should read a little bit about his life, a life he seemed to spend constantly lying and covering things up. I suppose the title of his last book pretty much sums up his days; ‘I Confess that I have Lived’."

I particulary enjoyed Irene Gimeno Espasa's take on the life of Neruda in her post, I CONFESS THAT I HAVE LIVED: THE LIFE OF PABLO NERUDA, SOUTH AMERICA’S FINEST POET: "Chilean poet Pablo Neruda had one of those existences that do justice to life. He got a taste of happiness and love, of justice and heroism, as well as bitterness, sadness and exile."

After the tour of La Chascona, we decided to go for quick happy hour drink before it was time to head back to the hotel and prepare for my flight back to North America, cold weather and short days of little sunshine. As we enjoyed our tasty beers among the tree-lined streets of Bellavisita, Santiago summer seemed to be in full swing; groups of friends filled the cafes and street-side tables for several blocks in either direction. A warm breeze blew through the air. I could have stayed another week. Or two. 

Enjoying a beer in Bellavista

But it was time to head to the airport, which was jam-packed full of other international tourist, most of whom were destined for the same fate as myself. A fate that included a 8 + hour plane ride, followed by a not-so-pleasant experience of clearing customs at 5am, followed by many hours in the Miami airport. All ending with the realization that it is wintertime where I live. And it gets dark at 5pm. And there are no leaves on the trees. And its cold. 

Which is why it is so important to be thankful for those blazing hot days we had this past summer. 

And that is the end of my Chilean Adventure of January 2011. Now on to other blogging topics...

Sea Lions & Cargo Ships in Valparaíso

January 7, 2011 (part I)

I love old houses. This is likely due to the fact that I grew up in a Victorian farmhouse and spent many a-weekends perusing antique stores with my Dad looking for period pieces to decorate our old home. When we were planning our trip to Valparaiso, my Dad made a special request to stay in one of the old Victorian mansions that line the hillsides of the port-side city. We certainly found what we were looking for in Hotel Thomas Somerscales, and on our second day in Valparaiso, we finally took some time sit around and enjoy it's beautiful decor while enjoying a breakfast of fresh orange juice, furit, pastries, jam, cheese and of course cafe con leche served in one of the elegant vaulted rooms downstairs.

Decor at Hotel Thomas Somerscales

Around noon, we set off down the hill to the Prat Pier (Muelle Prat). Today our intention was to take a boat tour around the harbor. When I had visited Valparaiso in winter 2003 (North American Summer), we had gone out in a little fishing boat all by ourselves (at least that is how I remembered it). Today, the fishermen were sending out boats filled to capacity with large groups of tourist. Thankfully, we didn't have to wait long for a tour - a boat quickly came along and we were hustled into the hull along with 30 of our closest friends.  The seating arrangement was chummy at best - a clear example of how "personal space" has a different definition in Latin America. And I tell you, if this had been a boat full of Americans, they would have protested to the high heavens (my Mom was about to, if she didn't get a life jacket "right now!").

Boat Tours - CLP $2000 - about $4 USD

The guy in charge of filling the boat had a few people straddling cross beans and anyone under the age of 8 was kindly asked to sit on their parent's lap. No one on the boat ride was cold for the lack of body warmth! The entry to the boat was another interesting aspect - the boat rocked back and forth vigorously, only held to the shore by a few ropes that the skippers held onto. Everyone from grandmas to small children were helped on with a friendly hand (or two, when necessary).

Welcome Aboard!

We didn't leave the dock until the boat was 100% full;  and surprisingly everyone was given (and expected to wear!) a life jacket. The boat organizer-come-tour-guide commenced yelling over the motor to provide us with information about the boats in the harbor as we made our way up the coast, past large freight liners carrying fruit, a line of 100+ newly disembarked cars (presumably from Asia), as well as a group of sea linoins perched on a buoy sunning themselves. We also passed by a magnetic crane at the unloading docs where thousands of containers were being moved. Quite the logisticial feat!  After about 45 minutes we disembarked from our boat tour and began our search for lunch.

Yep, that's a sea lion!

Pirque, Chile: Concha y Toro Vineyard

January 4, 2011 (part I)

Today we rented a truck and explored some of the rural areas outside of Santiago. Our itinerary was action-packed, and included a stop at the Concha y Toro winery, hiking,  and a dip in some mineral springs.

Since my trip to Chile in 2003, the wine tourism industry has grown considerably. Given my family's love of wine, I thought it essential that we make a stop at one of the local wineries during our visit to the countryside. While there were numerous choices of vineyards, we chose to visit the largest and most widely recognized label in the Chilean wine industry: Concha y Toro, in the little town of Pirque.

We had arranged for the rental car company to deliver our 2x4 truck to our hotel at half past nine, and surprisingly, they were actually on-time. The car rental guy walked us through all the necessities (including showing us where the emergency flat tire kit was located; seemingly as a means to indicate that it was not at all out of the realm of likelihood that we might need to use it). We were all set to get out of town, but first we had to navigate our way out of the compact underground parking garage in our not-so-compact truck. And did I mention the car had standard transmission? Let's just say it was a stressful few minutes, with my Dad in the driver's seat, me attempting to provide navigational assistance, and my Mom and Brother in the backseat trying not to have a panic attack. After about 10 backup/pull forward/reverse movements, we made our way up the steep ramp to the main road.

Driveway up from the Parking Garage to the Main Road

Further challenges lay ahead as we attempted to navigate our way out of the city sans GPS (the rental company was all out, and our GPS device wasn't programed for South America - go figure). So we were navigating old-school, with hand-written directions scribbled from Google combined with additional tips and tricks provided by the rental car guy. We hit our first snag when we saw signs indicated that the road we were supposed to follow out of town was closed off due to construction. Fortunately, we were able to find an easy detour that didn't take us too much of of the way. There was a lot of stop-and-go traffic getting out of town, but overall, not too bad.

We arrived in Pirque with only minutes to spare before our scheduled tour time at the Concha y Toro winery. Going on the advice of our guide book, I had made the appointment a couple weeks ahead of time, so it was important that we arrive on time to be able to have the tour in English. We were joined on our tour by English-speaking tourist from all over the world, including Hong Kong, Ireland, South Africa and Australia. Our guide was a young Chilean whose English was good, but still had room for improvement. He seemed very knowledgeable about the vineyard and wine making in general, which was appreciated. The grounds of vineyard were beautiful and the weather very agreeable (chilly in the shade, perfect in the sun).

Entrance to the Concha y Toro Vineyard in Pirque Chile

Grounds of Concha y Toro Vineyard in Pirque, Chile

 The actual wine tasting were few (only 2 wines), but pefectly placed throughout the tour and each wine was undoubtedly delicious (they definitely went for quality over quantity). The first tasting was a a whilte wine from the Trio Collection (a mixture of several grapes and/or several vineyards), which we tasted outside on the veranda. The second wine was a first class red that we tasted after a tour of the Casillero del Diablo (Devil's Cellar), where we were given an interesting show of sorts with lighting effects and a voice over about the legend of the Devil's Cellar. According to local lore, the original owner of the Concha y Toro winery spread a rumor that the devil was in his cellar to keep people from stealing his wines.//

Our tour guide at the Concha y Toro Vineyard getting ready to pour our first tasting glass

Casillero de Diablo (Devil's Cellar)

Santiago, Chile: What is a Chocopanda?

January 3, 2011

Today's journey began a little earlier than I would have liked. We had decided to take a tour of Santiago, and the bus was coming to collect us at 08.30 hrs. After a lovely breakfast that included fresh cherries, breads, cheeses, and deli meats, it was time to head out on our tour. Annoyingly, we spent the better part of an hour collecting other passengers from various hotels throughout the city. Once a bus load full of tourist had been gathered, we convened at another meeting point where we were divided up by language. Now that all the Gringos were corralled together, we were finally able to begin the site-seeing part of the tour.

First stop was a visit to Cerro San Cristobal, where we had been the evening before. We stopped off at a vista point to snap a few pictures, and the guide pointed out the U.S. Embassy, which was housed in a fortress-like brick building, along with the tallest skyscraper in Chile, the Titanium La Portada (Titanium Tower). After a few photo ops, we circled back down the hill and drove through some plesant neighborhoods before making our way downtown, past the Mercado Central and Estación Mapocho to the Plaza de Armas (central square). In the plaza, there was a huge, Coca-cola sponsored Christmas tree alongside several police on horseback (carabineros).

Plaza de Armas

We quickly visited the cathedral and hopped back on the bus to drive to La Moneda Palace, the building that was bombed when the democratically-elected Marxist President, Salvador Allende was overthrown by the military dictator, Augusto Pinochet on September 11, 1973 (many people in Chile will be quick to remind you that they had a 9/11 long before this day became memorialized in American history). The palace is surrounded by stark government buildings and guarded by soldiers (who were quite busy being photographed on the day of our tour, I might add).

Palacio La Moneda 

After getting our fill of photos at the Palacio, we were taken to a small plaza where a pair of traditionally dressed dancers was waiting to give our group a short dance recital and therein after proceeded to solicit for tips (tourist trap #1). Next, we were transported to the other side of town to an lapis lazuli jewelery shop (lapis lazuli is a rare blue stone only found in Chile and Afghanistan). The store was located in the upscale neighborhood of Vitacura along a tree-lined street with a plethora of other boutique shops (tourist trap #2). My Mom got a bit distracted by their selection of USD $300 + necklaces, but managed to pull herself away before buying anything (Dad seemed relieved). 

Tourist Trap #1 

The bus took us back across town via the newly build freeway tunnel that runs under the Rio Mapocho (quite the engineering feat!). We were dropped off in front of the Mercado Central for lunch and were immediately bombarded by a gang of waiters encouraging us to dine at THEIR restaurant. Not wanting to get bogged down in any tourist trips (#1 and #2 above were quite enough for the day), we opted to walk inside the market and find our own spot to have lunch. Inside the market, the waiters from each of the various eating establishments continued to badger us, proclaiming culinary superiority over their neighbor. After much ado, we finally picked one of the places off the main market area, out of view of any other tourist.

Mom was ademently opposed to the whole idea, and quickly marched off to find a less rustic option. We handed her a few pesos and wished her lots of luck (she needed it, considering her limited Spanish-speaking skills). Meanwhile, back at the non-touristy whole-in-the-wall place, my brother and I were served a couple not-so-cold beers, along with a couple empanadas de camaron (shrimp and cheese turnovers). Soon after, the main courses arrive: seafood soup, fried calamari, sea bass, and some sort of sea food casserole/ thick stew. Oh yeah, and some french fires (why not?). It soon became apparent that Mom's instincts were right; this place was a bit sketchy. We tried to eat what we had ordered, but it all just tasted a bit funky. I quickly lost my appetite. 

Our culinary adventure in one of the back rooms of a Chilean Fish Market 

Sadly, and to the astonishment of our fellow diners, we ended up leaving the majority of the food on the table. We quickly rejoined La Madre, who was lunching at one of the establishments in the main market area (aka, tourist haven), and apparently having a delightful time. Somehow, she had even managed to order herself something. 

Less Sketchy Dining Option 

After lunch, we took a stroll through the downtown pedestrian malls and mosied through the Plaza de Armas to the base of another hill in the middle of Santiago (Cerro Santa Lucía), which is much smaller than Cerro San Cristobal, but very beautifully landscaped. We strolled around, eventually making it to the top before returning to the base of the hill on the opposite side from where we had entered. 

View of Downtown Santiago from Cerro Santa Lucia 

Exploring all morning had turned out to be pretty exhausting, so the opportunity to go back to the hotel for a bit of rest sounded like a great idea. We caught the metro from the Universidad Catholica stop and rode along the clean, sleek Santiago metro and observed the local fashion: rattails EVERYWHERE. After a bit of research, I've now learned that the "rattail" is called pichanguera, in Chile or more affectionately, a chocopanda because it was popular among ice cream vendors selling chocolitos in the 90's. Awesomeness.

Riding the Santiago Metro 

Back at the hotel, Dad and I set about the task of arranging a rental car for our excursion to the mountains the next day. After a bit of back and forth between the rental car company and the concierge, we were able to secure a 4 x 2 truck for our trip to Cajón del Maipo (Maipo Canyon). 

Before heading out to dinner, we enjoyed some delicious red wine from the local convenience store (one of the benefits of being near a wine producing region: lots of great wine for cheap). Since the sun didn't set until after 9pm, it was easy to loose track of time. By 9:30pm, it was getting to be dinnertime, so I suggested that we head over to Plaza Ñuñoa, which is located in the same neighborhood that I stayed in while studying in Chile during the summer (South American winter) of 2003. We flagged down a taxi driver outside our hotel who turned out to be very friendly and professional. By my request, he drove us by my old apartment building in Ñuñoa and we bonded over the fact that he himself also lived in the same neighborhood.

Our taxi driver dropped us off at the corner of the plaza and we took our time exploring the area before deciding on a small restaurant/bar call El Amor Nunca Muere (which apparently has no website of its own - weird). After learning our lesson earlier in the day, we made sure to let Mom pick out the dining location this go around. She liked this place because they had crepes on the menu, and the food really did end up being quite spectacular, even if the crapes didn't look anything like what we were used to. The crapes were served in thick bowls, covered in cheese and curry sauce with an olive on top. We also ordered a round of pisco sours, which were festively decorated with a rim of green sugar. But perhaps the highlight of the evening was the conversation we struck up with a young couple sitting next to us. Considering that they were seated less than 2 feet away from us, it seemed almost inevitable that our conversations would collide. The conversation centered on our trip to Chile, but then quickly turned to nursing after we learned that the girl was a nursing student (my Mom is a former nurse, so she immediately felt a strong bond with this woman, which was enhanced by the fact that she was about 2-3 glasses of wine deep. By the end of the night, we had plans to Facebook each other, and Mom was already plotting a way for them to come visit them at their home in the U.S. Finally, around 11pm we wondered back to the hotel for some much needed sleep. //

Family + Our New Friends