Even though Chile is long and skinny, it does not take long to find unbelievable contrasts. Yesterday morning we were saying good-bye to the beach at Vina del Mar and a few hours later we were deep into the wine district just south of Santiago. It is unbelievable for me to be surrounded by mountains. Because I now live in Costa Rica on one of the best beaches in the region, I guess beaches are old hat to me but to see the mountains for the first time is really inspiring. Today is the third day of summer and there is still snow at the top even though I am not sure you could get to them even if you wanted to. We did visit the famous hot springs hotel in the area called Termas de Cauquenes but I was not impressed. Having seen the hot springs at Arenal where there are so many pools with different temperatures this one was rather dingy.
As you can see in the pictures, they are a million rooms with literally a little bathtub in each. How dreary, even for Charles Darwin who apparently visited this place and probably saw exactly the same things I saw since I do not think they have upgraded very much in the last few (hundred) years.
As you can see in the pictures, they are a million rooms with literally a little bathtub in each. How dreary, even for Charles Darwin who apparently visited this place and probably saw exactly the same things I saw since I do not think they have upgraded very much in the last few (hundred) years. The vinyards, on the other hand, were really nice. Even though we have been to the great vinyards of the world, like Niagara-on-the-Lake, to say nothing of France or California, I do not remember seeing them surrounded by mountains and flowers. Interestingly enough, the woman told us that the roses gave an indication of possible plague when they start to die which gives the agronomists a head start on eradicating the problem before it gets started on the grapes.
There is one growing season and the grapes are harvested from March to May. Even though we are obviously in Chile, I it doesn’t seem to strike me as “this is Chile”. We were in a mall yesterday and it could have been anywhere in the world, unfortunately. The same stores, the same boring faces of kids hired to sell the merchandise and the worst of all the same Christmas carols sung in English! Yuk. Am I in Toronto or Rancagua a name I cannot even pronounce. It is Christmas Eve and Sylvia and I are just going out to explore the little town near our hotel. I know there will be nothing to do, but who knows, maybe we will fall into a church or two.
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