Deja Vu

Snow-peaked mountains peering over skyscrapers and a great brown cloud hovering over the whole city. Where have we seen this before? Santiago, Chile was our first stop on mainland South America. The first two Spanish phrases we learned were 'Es Frio!' y 'Mas mantas por favor!' ('It's cold' 'More blankets please')

We quickly stocked up on cold-weather gear (fleece hat from an old lady on the street $1, used ski gloves $3, wool sweater $4, seeing each other in new outfits: priceless). We took advantage of the southern hemisphere winter to go boarding in August at El Colorado (how could we resist the name?). We rode an hour on a green-palour-inducing windy road into the Andes and finally made it to the the treeless resort. Loved being back on the snow again!

Another day, we rode out to a little town in the outskirts of the capital to visit one of the many wineries in the area. At Concha y Tora vineyard we toured the colonial house and plantation tasting their wines as we went. Picked up a great story for wine enthusiasts out there:

During the mid-19th century a grapevine disease swept the globe ravaging vineyards and pushing entire varietals into extinction. Vines in the Americas were impervious to the nasty beetle. In 1996, Chile discovered that a grape it had been using to prduce Merlot was actually the Carmeniere grape thought to have been destroyed by the disease. Now, Chile is the primary producer of the rediscoveed varietal, Carmeniere. Grab a bottle of it, tell the story, win friends and influence people.

Buen Provechoi! Tera and Jim