

We originally wanted to do the tour in Spanish so we could practice a little, but the tour guide came over to us beforehand and asked if we wanted to do it in English (and he strongly recommended it). So, we did, and we ended up being the only three people on the tour. And we did not even have to pay more for our own personal tour guide! Que rico! The tour included a tour of the grounds of the viña, which was the first Chilean vineyard to export wine and sits on about 300 hectares of land in the foothills of the Andes, a tour through the mini museum and the aging rooms for the barrels.
I came home, not to Mama Maria, but to Barbara, my host mom’s niece, and her 3-year-old, Esperanza who was a little girl with quite the attitude. She let me color in her Mickey Mouse coloring book with her and after they left I spent the night recovering from a long, hot day.
Today we did a little Santiago sightseeing. The three of us went to Cerro San Cristobal, which is a tourist hot spot that boasts an enormous statue of the Virgin Mary at the top of a mountain, as well as an unbeatable view of Santiago. We rode a funicular up and meandered around a while, even though the afternoon was only drawing hotter by the minute. After descending the mount and entering back into the extremely visible Santiago smog, we searched the streets for a cheap, yet reliable restaurant for lunch and cheap is exactly what we found.
We then walked over a disgustingly brown river and through a gorgeous park to the police station to get our visas registered, only to discover that it had closed an hour and fifteen minutes ago. We then made our way to the bus station and bought tickets for our first expedition! Within minutes we were able to book bus tickets to Valdivia, a southern coastal city, where we will be spending the next three days. We came back to my place and after booking a hostel, I was able to enjoy a nice, much barked at by stray dogs, jog in the evening sun and came back to a delicious dinner that had been waiting for me since lunch. Mama Maria really fits the bill for the Chilean hospitality, and I know for a fact that I will not go hungry anytime soon while in Santiago. I’ll be back on Sunday, pray for safe travels! Nos vemos!
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