8pm, Santiago, bus station…..located in the middle of the city down some back street, it’s definitely not located in the nicest part of town, but hey… it is a bus station….To save a few bucks and to see a little of the countryside (more to save a few bucks), we decided to take the 10 hr bus ride to Puerto Varas instead of hopping on a plane…the savings, $49 for one way bus ticket to Puerto Varas versus $200 for the one way flight…I think worth the bus ride…

10 hrs on the bus...at least it was during the night and I managed to get som sleep...

Puerto Varas is one of Chile’s most charming villages, located on the shore of  Lake Llanquihue (one of South America’s largest lakes). It is an adventure travel hub, and it is also the  gateway to the Parque Nacional Vicente Pérez Rosales. Unlike its neighbor  Puerto Montt, 20 minutes away, it is a spruce little town, with wood-shingled  homes, a rose-encircled plaza, a beautifully designed casino (btw. this casino sucks…they charge an entrance fee to gamble!!) and a distinct “German” feeling.  This is probably because in the 1800’s, the Chilean government encouraged German immigration and set aside land in Puerto Varas to be farmed by the new immigrants. The city was  built by the sweat and tenacity of these German immigrants, and later it became a port  for goods being shipped from the Lake Llanquihue area to Puerto Montt (mostly  timber).

Walking into town along the shores of Lake Llanquihue...

Map of the town....not a whole heck of a lot!!!

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Osorno Volcanoe in the background of the lake...they say it's still "live"

Now back to the food part of this blog….so far, the food during this trip has been pretty average at best (once again, this could be cause of the places I’ve been eating at) with the exception of some great beef in Chilean Parrilla house (grill restaurant)…sorry, forgot to take some pics of that…until we found a seafood shop in Puerto Varas!!! The name escapes me right now, but it is an old seafood restaurant that is styled after an old German couple’s basement (if you have any German friends and been to their parents house, you know what I’m talking about). Although the decor left something to be desired, the food was amazing (and I don’t even like seafood!!)…I had the corvina (which is sea bass) with a shrimp sauce which consisted of a ton of shrimp loaded on top of a huge chunk of corvina…It was awesome!!! But I gotta say what Adriana ordered stole the show…crepe de la centollo (I’m not sure if this was the correct name as I’m going off memory) which amounted to a massive mound of king crab smothered in a buttery creme sauce covered by a crepe. i don’t even wanna know how much butter they used in this, but with every taste, I could feel my arteries harden, which in this case, happens to be a good thing!!! Needless to say, this was the best meal we have had so far and probably the best deal as the whole bill with drinks, appies and dessert was about $50….If you ever go to Puerto Varas, I’ll dig up the name for you, it’s a must do!!

Fried corvina (sea bass) with a shrimp sauce....look at all that shrimp!!!

The pic may not do it justice, but this plate was huge!!! and most of it was king crab!! Best meal we had so far...

Ok, done with the food and also done with Puerto Varas….one of the main reasons we came here was to take the bus/ferry tour across the Andes mountain range into Argentina….It’s another 8hr trip and begins tomorrow morn….

Back to the mainland and Santiago, Chile….we are here for a couple days before we are back on the road heading south again…Never thought I would ever be standing in the middle of Santiago, but here we are!!!….It’s amazing what a little time and a Visa card can get you!!

Santiago de Chile is the capital and economic centre of Chile. With its many museums, theaters, restaurants, bars and other entertainment and cultural opportunities, it is also the political and cultural center of the country. The metropolitan area has about seven million inhabitants. The climate is cold and rainy in the winter.  It only snows up in the Andes, which are an hour and a half from the city.   Temperatures at night fall to around 0ºC.  and it gets progressively hotter towards the summer.  Summers are fairly dry although you may experience some humidity at times.  The temperature can reach as high as 35ºC. It is springtime now so the temps are pretty moderate, highs about 22 and lows to 12 and mostly cloudy with some sunny periods, perfect for touring the city….enough with the weather report…we really only had a couple of days in the city, so we really got to it in the morning…10 am, meet by the big Chilean flag in the center of town for a walking tour of the city…10am rolls around, no guide…10:30, still no guide…luckily the brochure we had for the tour included a map of the actual tour, so off we went doing our own solo walking tour…FYI, we weren’t the only ones waiting for the tour so it wasn’t a mistake on our part…the tour guys just didn’t show!!!…we spent about 3hrs walking about the city visiting various prominent sites, the only thing missing was the commentary!! It actually was a great way to see the city at our own pace and there was usually some info explaining the different sites, so a guide really wasn’t needed, just a map…

The Big flag where the walking our was supposed to start....no show guide!!!

La Moneda Presidential Palace...we just happened to catch the "changing of the guards"

Changing of the guards at the Presidential Palace...it was quite an intricate ceremony!!

Inside the main Cathedral....one of many!!!

More Cathedral.....

When you go to Chile, as when you go to the Okanagan, one thing you must do is a winery tour!!! The next (and last) day we hopped on a bus one hour south of Santiago towards Concha Y Toro winery, the second largest producer of wine in the world (second to E&J Gallo). The Concha y Toro Vineyard was founded by Don Melchor de Santiago Concha y Toro and his wife, Emiliana Subercaseaux, in 1883. To start the winery, he brought grape varieties from the Bordeaux region in France.The grapes that he brought were: Cabernet Sauvignon, Sauvignon Blanc, Semillon, Merlot, and Carmenère. The vineyard was incorporated as a stock company in 1923 and shares were sold in the Santiago stock market. Concha y Toro began exporting wine in March 1933 to the port of Rotterdam, Holland. In 1950, the winery began to acquire more vineyards and also began the process of adapting its business to new markets and meeting a higher demand. We spent about 2hrs at the winery touring their facilities with several samples along along the (in my opinion, not enough samples!!) then back on the bus back to Santiago…..

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Don Melchor de Santiago Concha Y Toro, the founder of the winery

The entry gate to the winery...

The original home of Don Melchor on the winery....over 4000 sq meters!!!...currently used as office space now.

Baby cabernet savingnon grapes......

The original storage cellar still used for to age special vintages...can you see the devil in this pic?

after sucking back a few samples (including a 1996 cab sav that was outstanding!!), we were back on the bus to Santiago…actually, to catch another bus, this time to leave the city and head south to Puerto Varas which is located 10 hrs (by bus) from Santiago located on the shores of one of South America’s largest lakes….10 hrs on a bus???? not exactly what I’m used to, but i’m willing to give it a shot…..