After enjoying nature in Ecuador, the move to Santiago, Chile was a big switch. We stayed in an 11th floor apartment (AirBNB) in Providencia - great neighbourhood. We took the nearby teleferico, and the funicular to the top of San Cristobal for a full view of the capital.
We toured Pablo Neruda’s house La Chascona, and were inspired again by his eccentric style, his obsession with Matilda, and of course, his poetry. We went from room to room with a listening device that gives you information about each place and Neruda’s life. Sylvie was rapt by the audio tour and refused to move on until she heard every detail, sometimes replaying it to be sure.
We went to the tallest mall in South America and Chloe got herself a chenille sweater that she is cherishing. We also caught a concert in Sculpture Park.
We took an 8-hr bus ride from Santiago across the border to Mendoza, Argentina, where the feasting began.
Zuccardi Bodega is a huge family vineyard that offered a cooking class for the girls while Mike and I toured. (Keep an eye out for Fuzion at the NSLC.) When we returned from our tour, Chloe and Sylvie had made pizza, doughnuts, and pain au chocolat (baked in the big clay oven outside with the chef, who showed them around the garden, where they picked the tomatoes for their pizzas). Then we had a three-course lunch. Bread, oils and tapenades, salad, lasagna, milanesa — and dessert. In honour of the vineyard matriarch, we had her signature wine with lunch, the Santa Julia rosé. Muy rico, as they say here.
The next day, we needed some swimming. We rented a car and went to the Termas Cacheuta 25 km outside the city. It’s a complex of 15 or so pools — big, small, cold, hot, warm, you get the picture. Great day.
The rest of our time in Mendoza we spent going to parks, plazas, a sad aquarium, a cool anthropological museum, another two vineyards, and a few great restaurants. It’s an easy city to love.
19-hr bus ride later, we’re in Bariloche, the chocolate capital, which is in Patagonia. It’s autumn here, and we’re adjusting to the cool weather. They have a chocolate festival for Easter week. The Easter Bunny is all set in this town.
That’s all for now. Eating chocolate. —K
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