Montevideo, Blog 6

Montevideo, Blog 6

 I hope you’ll be happy to hear that I survived the flight over the Andes.  For a while, I had my doubts.   When we boarded the plane, the pilot literally said, “We’re flying over the Andes.  It’s rough.  Fasten your seatbelts securely.  Don’t use the bathroom.  Flight attendants:  remain seated.”   For those of you who know how I deal with turbulence, you won’t be surprised that I prepared for death.   Fortunately, it was fairly smooth and the Andes are very narrow so we quickly flew over them and I was able to resume breathing.

Montevideo airport is large and modern.  Uruguay is in the European part of South America and was settled by the Spanish, English, French, and Italians, and people from the Canary Islands.   It was once a beautiful city, but the decay is evident.  The entire population of Uruguay is only 3 million.  It has the highest life expectancy of all the South American countries with many professionals and low unemployment.  Our hotel room overlooks the Rio de la Plata on two sides.  It is the widest river in the world and looks more like a sea.  It is impossible to see the other side.  People enjoy the long beachside promenade strolling, exercising, walking with their dogs.  The sand is soft and white.  

Montevideo is derived from Portuguese.  Uruguay is a very flat country.  By California standards there is one teeny, tiny pimple of a hill in Montevideo.  When an early Portuguese settler saw it, he said,  “I saw the mountain.”  Throughout the city, there are many pine, eucalyptus, sycamore, and a tree with a beautiful bright pink  lily like flower called the boracho (drunken) tree because it’s shaped like a bottle.   Green parakeets, which we were delighted to see, are considered pests by the natives.

On the way to our hotel, the local guide extolled the virtues of the beef in Uruguay.  We had dinner at our hotel.  The beef was so tough I couldn’t cut it with a sharp, serrated knife.  No one could.  We have 7 people of Indian descent on our tour so we always have vegetarian options.  I asked if I could exchange my beef for pasta and they were very gracious about doing so. 

Our hotel is on the main square, La Plaza de Independencia with a large statue in honor of their liberator.  Directly across the street is the main government building.  Uruguay is so small that they have only a federal government.  At the beginning of the 20^th century, the president declared the separation of church and state; abortion is allowed, and 50% of the population is agnostic. 

Two days later:  We’ve had so many experiences—I hope I can remember them.  We walked through old town, which was really underwhelming and then drove to the old port for lunch—more meat, much better than the previous night although I had chicken.  The “starter” was a delicious melted cheese with oregano and a fantastic sausage, which even I ate.  Dessert was flan, yummy.  

Eight of us walked back to the hotel through city streets.  Many of the buildings are in disrepair, but it’s possible to see that they were once beautiful—French neoclassical with many small wrought iron balconies—a bit like New Orleans.  We saw young men driving wagons led by a single tired looking horse.  On the back of the wagons, were many garbage bags.  These men go around collecting all the garbage in the city to recycle for their own purposes.

The people of Montevideo love statues, and some are truly remarkable.  The best known is a larger than life sized replica of early settlers on a wagon driven by oxen.  The detail is amazing.

In the government building across from our hotel is one of the best sculptures I have ever seen:  it depicts a stage coach with passengers, driven by a team of 6-8 horses with a lead horse and rider who search for the best way to go.  It is made of driftwood and fossilized shells.  For those of you who live near me, I will have pictures if you plead to see them.  Behind the theater is Golda Meir Square with a sculpture representing the Diaspora.  It consists of many small,  broken irregular pieces of stone representing the scattering (diaspora) of the Jewish people.  From the bus I saw a holocaust monument along the beach.

How to describe the evening!!!  Our guide got tickets to see a dance group for those who wanted to go.  Fortunately the tickets were only about $13/person.  It was the strangest performance I have ever attended.

We were seated in the second row.  The stage was flat so if we had been in the first row, we would have been seated on the stage.  It looked like ¼ of a basketball court.  Dissident music began playing and 7 people  (2 women, 5 men) walked out—7 ugly people in very ugly and grubby everyday clothes and tennis shoes.  I like modern dance, but they all lacked grace, and the choreography was too bizarre for me.  For one hour they formed groups of every possible combination:  the 2 women together, the women and men, 2 men, in various numbers. They would stand and stare at each other and then hurl themselves across the room to form another group.  At times they flung each other; at others they groped each other very provocatively—again in all possible combinations of genders.  It lasted a very lonnnnng hour.  I was sitting next to one of the women from our group; we kept looking at each other and struggled not to laugh.  No one in our group liked the performance, but the rest of the audience gave them a standing ovation.

Santiago, Blog 5

Valparaiso, Blog 5

Yesterday (Sunday  we drove about 75 miles north west of Santiago to Valparaiso and Vina del Mar, 2 adjacent cities each with a population of about 300,000.  Vina del Mar is the newer one with many modern high rises and beautiful beachside promenades. Influenced by the Humbolt Current, it is similar to the northern Californian coastline from Santa Cruz to Carmel complete with sea lions, pelicans, (but no whales) and freezing temperatures—55 degrees.  Nevertheless, people were out sunbathing and playing in the water because it was an unusually beautiful day. 

We first stopped to see one of the few authentic Easter Island heads outside of Easter Island.  It was made of coarse stone but fairly symmetrical.  One of the benefits of travel is the opportunity to see things “in person”.  My favorites are the Xian Warriors, the Great Wall of China, Bayeaux Tapestry, and the Pyramids/Sphynx. I never thought I’d see an Eastern Island head!

Valparaiso is a UNESCO World Heritage site with multi-colored homes built on steep hills.  Before the Panama Canal was built, it was the major port in South America as people came around Cape Horn.  Consequently it has many European influences in its architecture.  According to our guide, during the California

Gold Rush, hundreds of thousands of Chileans went to San Francisco and many streets there have Chilean names ??????  Any idea which ones?????  We had lunch in a small, charming restaurant on top of one of the hills.   It was in an old, restored building with a vaulted ceiling of stained glass and ferns hanging in all the windows, which overlooked the port.  Lunch was more like dinner and very delicious.   We started with the ubiquitous Piso Sour, which is too strong for me, followed by a variety of appetizers:  artichoke hearts, hearts of palm, seviche, and a sweet tomato pickle relish.  From a choice of 4 entrees, Dan had veal (Elaine—definitely not milk-fed!) which was like a short rib and I had a wonderful white fish—reiñeta.  I passed on the wine that was included.  We had a typical  Chilean dessert—very finely chopped fresh fruit topped with whipped cream...very refreshing.. To get back to the bottom we took a funicular over 100 years old.  I always think funiculars are fun, but some of the women didn’t agree, but they put their big girl panties on and coped.

The ride to and from Santiago goes through the Coast Range and fertile valleys.  I was surprised that there are many palm trees and cactus, which look like saguaro.  Evidently Darwin was, too, when he was here.

Dan has his usual terrible allergy cough so he stayed in while I went out for a very light dinner (caprese salad) with another couple who are from Kentucky.  They paid us the high compliment of saying that if we lived in the same town, we’d be the best of friends.  It was very nice to hear.  I think it’s because they are fairly close to our age, have 1 son, and 2 grandsons, 8 and 10 and we can share grandson stories!

This morning we leave for Montevideo, Uruguay.   

Santa Cruz, Blog 3

Santa Cruz, Chile   Blog 3

Whenever I travel, I always wonder if I’m going to like my latest trip as much as my last.  Each one is a wonderful experience, and today was no exception.

Right next door to the hotel is the Colchagua Museum considered one of the best museums in all of South America.  What a surprise to find this superb museum in a town of 32,000!  It is a privately owned collection put together by a controversial figure, Carlos Caroden, who is an arms dealer.  He also owns the hotel we’re staying in and the winery we visited. I can’t justify the basis for his income, but I have to admit I like how he spent his money.  I googled him and came up with a San Francisco Chronicle article about him from 2003.  He sold arms to Saddam Hussein in Iraq in the 80s, but many believe it was with the knowledge and approval of the U.S. government. Our government is still looking for him to arrest him.  He “hides out” in an isolated winery that he gets to by helicopter. Look him up if you’re interested.

The museum traces the history of Chile and the  other coutries in the Andes through fossils, dinosaurs, the prehistory of the indigenous peoples,(including the oldest mummies in the world),  the Spanish conquest and so on  all the way up to modern times.  Do you remember the saga of the Chilean miners just a few years ago?   There is a large exhibit devoted to their rescue. I especially liked the Inca exhibit because I covered the topic when I was teaching seventh grade social studies.  The Incas had no written language but they had a method of keeping track of information through knotted strings called a quipu.  It was thrilling for me to see authentic ones including one that was ginormous.

We next took our comfortable bus on a ride on the Cochagua Valley Wine Route.  It is very much like Napa Valley with fields of grape vines some going in terraces up gently sloping hills.  One of the reasons I like Vantage Tours is that they specialize in “cultural connections.”   Today we had lunch at the home of a charming woman (Cota) who shares a huge grape growing business with her 3 brothers.  In 2010 Chile had an 8.3 earthquake very close to this area. She just finished rebuilding her house, which was severely damaged.  We ate outside on her terrace overlooking a beautiful expanse of lawn surrounded by trees.  Her niece and a friend of her niece were visiting.  Amazingly the friend was from Israel!  We communicated in Spanish with Israeli and American accents.  Lunch was a mixture of salads, salads, and a tamale- like dish all accompanied by apricot juice (delicious!) and wine with fresh fruit for dessert.  After lunch we walked through eucalyptus groves past horses (her brothers ride in competitive polo) to the grape packing plant.  The grapes are exported to the U.S. and Russia.  I’m sure I’ve bought them at COSTCO.  By the way, when we got off and then back on the bus, she kissed all 23 of us on both cheeks.

On the way back, we stopped by Santa Cruz Vineyard where we took a funicular to the top of a mountain that had exhibits of the indigenous people (the term used in South America instead of Native American).  The people were the Mapuche, the Aymaras, and the Rapa Nui from Easter Island, which is owned by Chile.  We also took a tour of the winery and tasted 2 wines—not very good.

When we returned to Santa Cruz, the annual wine festival  celebrating the harvesting of grapes had started.  We walked along a street where people were selling arts and crafts of excellent quality and high prices.  A straw hat was $60!  I never, no-how, no-way eat food from street vendors in foreign countries; however, I was tempted in Chile.  The vendors wore hygienic head coverings and plastic gloves.   They were selling empanadas and skewers of chicken and meat.  We ended up eating at the hotel because there are very few restaurants in Santa Cruz; it was not wonderful.

The stage with musicians was directly opposite our room. While the music was very good, it was LOUD.  I put a pillow over my head and fell asleep.  Dan said the music ended around 11 PM>

Santiago to Santa Cruz, Blog 2

Santiago to Santa Cruz  Blog 2

The countryside from Santiago to Santa Cruz is like a combination of the Napa Valley and California’s Central Valley.  Peach, pear, and apple trees extend for miles.  There are two types of grapes grown in the area:  Chilean table grapes, which we get in San Jose, grow on tall vines forming a canopy with no space between them.  The wine grapes look more like the traditional vines you see in California, Italy, and other wine growing regions.

The hotel in Santa Cruz is beyond charming—simple and small from the outside but large and decorated in a colonial style inside.

The floors are typical tile.  At the top of each of the four floors, is a sitting area with beautiful stained glass.  Outside is a free formed swimming pool, bars, and a spa.  The dining room is exquisite with a stained glass vaulted ceiling d with huge vases of fresh flowers around the room.  Our room has a small balcony overlooking the plaza, which will be noisy tomorrow night as it’s the celebration site of the annual grape harvest.

We met our tour group this evening.  Again, we are probably among the youngest people on tour which includes couples, pairs of single men, pairs of single women (widows & widowers), and a family of 7 who are ethnically Indian but the core family was born in Kenya.  I don’t think we’ll form any close friendships with any of them as we have on past trips (you know who you are), but they are all pleasant.

Our main guide, Roberto is outstanding.  He is probably in his

60s and has over 30 years of experience.  He is funny, knowledgeable, and more than competent.  If first impressions continue, he will be the best tour guide ever!   Marco, our guide for Chile, is equally wonderful.  Tonight we watched a demonstration of how to make a Pisco sour, a drink made from an alcohol called Pisco.  Evidently there is a very real and serious dispute between Peru and Chile over who “owns” the Pisco sour. Our guide asked who wanted to taste the first drink.  One of the Lees quickly jumped up!   I’ll let you guess which one.   We also had a demonstration of how to make empanadas followed by a tasting.  They were delicious.

We had a buffet dinner with about 8 different salads, fish and turkey, rice and potatoes followed by about 5 desserts including one of the best I’ve ever had—a crème caramel (flan).  Since this is a wine region, we had a choice of a cabernet sauvignon and a pinot blanco. 

Tomorrow we are going to tour a museum, have lunch in a private home, and go wine tasting.  Someday I’ll go on a beer tasting tour—oh, wait!   I did that in Germany!

Hasta luego.

Blog 1, Santiago—Mostly observations—nothing hilarious

Our flight from Dallas to Santiago was delayed 2 hours because of a problem with the fuel pump.  I screamed, “Get me off this plane,” but a very sweet flight attendant calmed me down. (I hope you know I exaggerate).  Consequently we didn’t eat dinner until almost 11 PM.   One Ambien, one Benadryl—I slept until they woke me for breakfast, which I think I ate with my eyes closed.

American Business class is very comfortable, but the food was less than mediocre. 

Miracle of miracles—all of our luggage arrived!   If you’ve followed my previous blogs, you know this doesn’t always happen.

We had arranged to meet the rest of the group when they arrived the following morning at 7 AM (we did our own flight arrangements).  Normally Vantage won’t provide transfers unless you book air with them, but we had a 2 hour drive to Santa Cruz, and Dan kept nagging them to put us on the bus.  Dan also chose the best possible hotel.  We walked out the door of the airport, across the street and into a modern, clean, spacious, friendly Holiday Inn.  No taxis!  No worries! 

After a 4 hour ‘nap’, we crossed the street and got on a bus—clean, comfortable with A/C to city central.  Because it was rush hour, it took about 45 minutes, but we enjoyed the tour.  For some reason, Dan thought Chile would be a third world country—definitely not true.  Santiago has a population of 6,000,000.  The infrastructure is excellent—you can even drink the water.  Although there is graffiti everywhere, the city is clean.  Chile is the safest country in South America, and Santiago is the safest city.  It obviously has a booming economy mainly from metals, minerals, and agriculture including wine. 

We walked by the Presidential Palace with a flag at half -mast.  I told Dan, I bet that’s for Hugo Chavez.  He was skeptical so I went up to a guard and said porque esta baja la bandera?   He said, Hugo Chavez!    Dan was impressed.   Would we lower the U.S. flag if the presidents of Canada or Mexico died?  

En route to the city, the scenery was a bit like California in early fall, which it is here—think the first week in September.  The grass is brown and tinder try. To the east are the foothills of the Andes, whose pinnacles are covered with snow year round.  To the west is the coast range that look much like the mountains around San Jose—maybe a bit taller and not quite as rounded. A variety of trees including palms dotted the landscape. 

The historic center of the city has a very wide boulevard lined with trees and a park down the middle.  Of the 6 million people, I think 1 million were out walking the streets—young, old, families, teenagers.  We passed a couple of large shopping centers, small stores, street vendors, pharmacies.  Despite my ergonomically correct shoes, I was developing blisters so I went into one of the pharmacies, and told them in what I thought was correct Spanish, “My toes are sore.”  (I didn’t know Spanish for blister).  The pharmacist didn’t have a clue.   Two women, also customers, were kneeling on the ground examining my feet and trying to tell the pharmacist what I needed.  He brought bandages, which I already had.  Even though I don’t speak Italian, the Italian pharmacist  in Florence gave me the perfect remedy. 

If I may say so, I’m so impressed with my Spanish. I studied it at Cal over 50 years ago but, but I only learned to read and write it not converse in it.  Here everyone understands me despite my terrible accent.   With the exception of a few vocabulary words I don’t know, when I read Spanish, my brain automatically translates without conscious effort. 

We arrived at the airport at 7 to meet the rest of the tour.  We waited until 8:30 for everyone to show.  There are 23 people on the tour. 

We drove 2 hours to Santa Cruz, a town of 18,000 people in the wine region.  Our hotel is a charming colonial style on the main plaza where tomorrow will be the opening of the wine picking festival. 

Usual disclaimers:  I apologize in advance for spelling/grammatical errors and again there was nothing too funny happening so far.