Santiago 2

Some Aussies at the hostel invited me to join them for a tour of a vineyard so I dropped my plans and accepted with alacrity. One of them, A, was planning to do law at university. Viña Undurraga is a venerable and prestigious vineyard. The public relations manager met us and gave us a tour. He narrated the history of the winery and how they operated in the present day with a mixture of old and new technology. There were no tastings though.

Had you noticed, said A, after the tour was over, how good the PR manager was at his job? Did you notice that he kept tacking onto sentences phrases such as: in your country, as you our esteemed guests know, and so forth? A was certainly a sharp lad. He didn't seem to look forward to going home to the "real world". I hope that he has since found an adequate career for his intellect.

Back in Santiago, I bought a roast chicken and bottle (more likely a half-bottle) of wine from a supermarket for lunch. They went together well. My diary records 2145 + 250 pesos = $5.40 + $0.62. At that time, with the advantage of lower labour costs, Chilean wine was very inexpensive.  Chilean wines rank quite favourably in international competitions.

In the afternoon we went up Cerro San Cristóbal for a view of the city. The ascent was in two sections, first by funicular, then by teleférico (cable car). It was a bit reminiscent of the ascent of Urca, back in Rio de Janeiro several weeks ago. At the peak is a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary and panoramic views.

This is one of the municipal pools at the foot of the hill.

A problem with Santiago was that there were few good restaurants in the city centre; they were mostly in the suburbs I think. A took us to an unadvertised eatery which was mainly patronised by students having drinks but also served a good cazuela. It was indeed excellent. Makes you feel like you've really eaten something, no? said A.

A French hosteller from Normandy, M, joined us for the dinner. She had traveled all over the world, including Australia and had done a working stint in London. A bit unusual for a French person.

 

Postscript: I found some wine bottle labels we were given as souvenirs.

 

As you can see from the labels, they are for 1.5 l bottles (magnum) .

This is for a standard 0.75 l bottle, but the back label indicates that it's intended to be exported to Japan.