Category: Viña del Mar

20Jan14

Today is Chris’s first day of school. He’s taking Spanish classes — 1/3 grammar, 2/3 conversation — for 20 hours a week over the next three weeks. When we met a guy from Sacramento last week, he said he took similar classes and found them to be really helpful. There are two other people in the class with Chris: one from Canada and one from Zimbabwe.

I’m a little jealous that Chris is getting to go out and make friends. So what did I do while Chris was in class?

Go to the beach, of course! Here’s a kid about to brave the cold water at Playa Acapulco. In the background, you can see some ships going to and from the port in Valparaíso. The beach trip was a good opportunity for me to work on fixing my terrible shoe tan.

But honestly, there’s nothing I can do about this. It’s probably permanent.

If you’re up for seeing some way better photos of Chilean beaches, as well as other amazing sights in Chile and Peru, you should check out the latest blog post from the folks at Our Open Road. This is a husband/wife/toddler trio driving through Latin America in a VW camper van and their photos are absolutely fantastic. So fantastic and beautiful they’ll make you tear up a little.

They also tell an amazing story about what happens when their clutch goes out and they’re faced with a highway toll both. It’s a bit Little Miss Sunshine-esque. I hope to be as awesome and brave as them someday.

Speaking of bravery: just because we’re not in the States, doesn’t mean we don’t know what day it is. Here’s to Dr. King and his legacy of bravery and love.

January 20, 2014
18Jan14

This is Chris relaxing at the sparkling wine bar at Viña Casas del Bosque in the Casablanca Valley. Chile, because of its unique geography (Pacific on the left, Andes on the right) and climate (sunshine, sunshine, sunshine), is a great place to make wine. In fact, it’s the fifth largest exporter of wine worldwide. We’d heard these facts, but could not be satisfied until we’d tasted it ourselves right from the source. 🙂

We had a great splurge day, with a tour, tastings and lunch. But what’s even better is that we didn’t have to pay USD$400 — the average cost for two people for a wine tour. Splurge and save? Yes.

Like most wine regions, Casablanca Valley is rural so it’s not easily accessible except by car. And everything we’d read said that Chile is not as lax as the U.S. when it comes to driving after a taste or two, which leaves organized tours. The kind where you’re herded around from winery to winery with people too scared to try to speak Spanish. We read on TripAdvisor that it’s possible to do a do-it-yourself tour of the Casablanca Valley, so we went for it.

1. Pick up bus in Valparaíso. At the main bus terminal in Valparaíso, you can pick up a bus through Buses Casablanca. I don’t know how often they arrive/depart, but we only had to wait five minutes. The ride took about 40 minutes and was beautiful. Since we are in Viña del Mar, we took a quick metro ride to Estación Barón and walked three blocks to the terminal. Cost per person: USD$0.75 for metro and USD$2.25 per person for bus

2. Grab a taxi in Casablanca. Your bus ride will end in the town of Casablanca, at the Plaza de Armas. There’s a big church, some stores, and taxi stands. The taxis are black with yellow roofs. Just tell the driver which winery you’d like to go to. Ours offered us his card so he could come pick us up when we were done. Taxi fare: USD$3.75

3. Enjoy the winery! We took a brief tour followed by a generous tasting, grabbed appetizers in the outdoor sparkling wine bar, and splurged on big gourmet lunches with wine at the restaurant. While the food at the restaurant was great, in hindsight we would have picked up one of their picnic baskets with wine and found a spot in the vineyard — we always forget that lunch is the big, heavy meal here. I had the mahi-mahi with a sauv blanc and Chris had the lamb with cabernet. Cost for tour, food and wine per person: USD$60

4. Ready? Reverse! So we called our taxi driver…and his phone was off. So we went into the wine shop and the girl called the cab company…but there was no answer. Eek! This is when we thought our grand DIY plan failed. But after standing in front of the winery for two minutes, someone else pulled up in a cab so we were able to take theirs. Success! He dropped us off right at the bus stop at Plaza de Armas, and we made our way back quickly and efficiently. Same costs as above in steps 1 and 2

Total cost for two people: USD$139.50
Savings compared to organized tour: USD$260.50

Now, many of the organized tours go to two or three wineries, so add on some extra taxi fare and tasting fees if you really want to recreate the experience. But honestly, it was nice to just spend a chunk of time at one winery and take in the view. You can even rent a bike for an hour so you can explore the far reaches of the property on your own.

And honestly, that’s the best part of any trip — exploring on your own.

January 18, 2014
17Jan14

This is Valparaíso at night taken from Viña del Mar. Summer is alive and well, so there’s no need for a jacket at night. We took a walk along the boardwalk and, despite being relaxed and “on vacation,” we simply can’t stand to walk behind people who aren’t walking with purpose. Maybe one day we’ll adjust to strolling.

The one thing we haven’t had any trouble adjusting to is onces, or afternoon tea. Since Chileans eat dinner late at night, many cafes and restaurants serve onces. A typical option is tea, a cortado — 2/3 coffee, 1/3 milk — or an espresso paired with two media lunas. With a small glass of agua con gas. Who wouldn’t want this? Are you starting to think we should rename this blog Our Eat Year?

I could eat this three times a day. But we try not to since we’re in a beach town and should try to be presentable in bathing suits. However, that’s just for the sunbathing.

While the sand is warm, the water here is cold. It’s an effect of the Humboldt Current, which basically brings up water from Antarctica. Yeah, that icy place. The water is also really rough, so there are a number of signs advising against swimming. Here are some waves we saw during our bike ride to Reñaca the other day:

Tomorrow, we’re going to try to make it out to the Casablanca Valley for some wine tasting, unless we aren’t able to figure out which bus to take…which is what happened to us today. Traveling: it’s humbling.

Speaking of the benefits of traveling, I came across this New York Times story called Tours for the Younger Traveler that profiled a company called Yomads. It puts together exciting and semi-structured getaways for people in their 20s and 30s if one of your 2014 resolutions is to travel more.

January 17, 2014
14Jan14
This week’s Travel Tip Tuesday: water bottle economics.

We’ve already written about the importance of bringing a water bottle when packing for a trip. It seems obvious, but we see people with disposable water bottles all the time. Now we’ll go a little deeper and offer some extra tips and advice. (Even if you’re going somewhere with safe tap water, like here in Chile.)

When You Can’t Drink the Tap Water
If you’re someplace where tap water isn’t safe to drink, you’ll have three options:
1. Buy bottled water (easy, but expensive)
2. Boil tap water (time consuming and impractical without a stove)
3. Filter/sterilize tap water (not easy, or unhealthy for more than a couple days)
We actually brought a water filter with us. While it’s great for camping, the volume and speed make it impractical for day-to-day use. Same with boiling, even though we have a stove. You drink more water than you think, and you don’t want to be boiling and filtering during your free time. Plus, boiling and filtering may make water safe, but often the taste is no bueno.

However, forking money over to bottled water mega-corporations can also leave a bad taste in your mouth, both because of their business practices and the cost. See everyone walking around with those small, 12-16 oz. water bottles? Let’s assume they cost an average of USD$2 — less at a store or street vendor, more at a restaurant. That’s anywhere from $8-10 per day, per person! Or $100 for a five-day trip for two people. That’s just loco.

What We Recommend
Whether you’re traveling for a weekend or several months, stop by a local convenience store and pick up a large bottle — say, six liters or so, or more if possible! — to keep in your hotel room, hostel or apartment.

Those will run you $3-5 and last you a couple days at least. Then, you can just refill the water bottle you brought. Cheaper, better for the world, and more convenient than boiling or filtering.

Important Tips and Tricks
- Let’s say you do want to boil or filter, or you’re in a place where tap water is safe…but tastes awful. (We miss you, San Francisco tap water.) Pick up a lemon or cucumber at a nearby store and add a slice or two to your water bottle.
- If you’re short on carrying space, consider bringing collapsible water bottles that can fold up very small when you’re done with them.
January 14, 2014
13Jan14

Caption contest: What is Chris pondering as he looks out over this pond?

The Jardín Botánico Nacional was a nice afternoon walk, with ponds, trees and — my favorite — hydrangeas.

It’s roughly eight kilometers away from downtown Viña del Mar, and the recommended way to get there is by bus. The buses, called micros, can get you everywhere, but they’re super confusing. There are usually eight locations listed on the front of the bus. Which is the destination? There are also several different fares. Which do we pay? Local, direct, hill, school?

Anyway, we managed to figure it out, so we celebrated with a trip to the bakery afterwards.

January 13, 2014
12Jan14

Valparaíso is only a quick, 10-minute metro ride away from us. So today we decided to venture over and take a free Valparaíso walking tour to get a lay of the land. We met several other travelers, including a young woman from England who decided to make the most of her layoff and travel for a year, and a guy from Sacramento who had to remind himself that it was OK not to be watching the 49er game right now.

The tour took us up a couple ascensors, or funicular trains. They’re incredibly steep, but very charming — as is most of Valparaíso.

But the best part of the day? We learned our first Chilean slang!

Apparently, men would leave the office for an extended lunch and tell their colleagues they were going out for “pollo al velador,” which translates to “chicken on the nightstand.” It was basically a euphemism for going to a hotel/motel for sex. Eventually, some hotels started serving chicken in rooms too. Probably to both add some legitimacy to the phrase, and because people were hungry. Nowadays, it’s just a slang term for sex in general. #nowyouknow

We also saw this statue that locals have nicknamed the Statue of Injustice. She stands in front of the courthouse, but she a) is not blind, and b) isn’t holding up the scales.

Lastly, another traveler who’d just come from Argentina told us all about the Argentinian currency-exchange black market, and that you can get a better exchange rate if you sell your dollars on the street. Seriously. Click the link to learn more about the Dólar Blue.

That’s all for now. This is going to be a great month. We love it here. Hi and bye!

January 12, 2014
11Jan14

Someone wearing a tuxedo t-shirt approached us on our first day here with a flyer for a summer concert series here in Viña. Soon, we began noticing signs for the series everywhere.

So this evening we forked over the CLP$3,000 (or USD$6) to see the Santiago Philharmonic Orchestra at Quinta Vergara, the city’s big outdoor amphitheater.

Neither Chris nor I are sure exactly how those things stay suspended above the amphitheater. But what is life without a little wonder? So without further ado, here is a little taste of the concert — as well as the street performers we saw while having a beer beforehand.

January 11, 2014
09Jan14

After smuggling Holly onto the two-hour (and very comfortable) bus ride, we arrived in Viña del Mar yesterday. Viña del Mar is the town just north of Valparaíso and is famous for its annual music festival held every year in February since 1960. (Follow along on Twitter: @ElFestival)

We are renting a room from the friend of a friend we met in La Paz who owns The Bagel Shop and is originally from Chile. He teaches architecture and does long-distance bicycling. The other guest in the house is a man about our age from Russia who is doing his own version of a leap year and visiting Bikram Yoga studios all over the world. We spent most of today walking around and getting acquainted, and we’ll head to Valparaíso to check it out in a couple days as well.

Between the great weather and sights (check out the view from our bedroom window below) and our friendly housemates, we’re very happy campers!

The other thing Viña and Valparaíso are known for are their hills. And we’ve sadly realized that our San-Francisco-hill muscles have atrophied.

Many of the big hills have escaleras, or staircases, so you can access the hills from downtown with relative ease. The photo at the top of this post is the bottom of the staircase near our apartment. There are several flights of stairs and switchback ramps. Or, if you’re feeling a bit sluggish, you can take the funicular train for 250 Chilean pesos per person, or roughly 50 cents.

We’re really enjoying ourselves so far and are excited to experience more!

January 9, 2014