Our Glacier calving on Feb 26

Wednesday 4 March

Today we had our city tour of Santiago. Our hotel is located in the business suburbs and there were lots of people flooding out of the subway station and walking to work. There were also lots of commuters going into the city and it took a while to get there. 

Our first stop was at the Plaza de Armas, then the cathedral. We also went into an old building that was once a large family home that had been cleverly turned into a mall, for a coffee. We also toured the financial district and the justice buildings. It was here I had my photo taken with a female police officer and a couple of their horses. They were all heavily armed and protected with gear, even the horses. There was some activity on the streets - lots of police movements, and our local guide suggested we move on and leave the area. They are very vocal and political here so there might have been a protest brewing! 

All the buildings and statues, even churches, have political slogans painted on them, we’ve never seen anything like it before. We all left the city and went to one of the quieter suburbs for lunch and a beer and then back to the hotel or further walk about (as everyone wished). We enjoyed one last steak dinner with the group before the tour finishes in the morning.

It has been another hot day, 30C again. We have one more hot day before we have to face the Canadian winter again.

Tuesday 3 March

We had a day out of the city to visit  Valparaiso, a seaport town built on the hillsides. There were lots of narrow cobblestone streets with plenty of street art and political graffiti, often right next to each other. Our first stop was at La Sebastiana, one of poet Pablo Neruda’s homes, now a museum. After that we had a walking tour through some of the narrow streets before moving on to Vina del Mar, a popular beachside resort for our lunch and an ice cream break. After that we headed back to Santiago for a rest at the hotel before heading out for a light dinner and beer.

Monday 2 March

Today was our wine tasting day. We left the hotel at nine and arrived at the first winery (Alta Vista) about ten. We had a tour of the facilities first, then made a bee-line for the tasting room. We tried a sparkling wine first, then a white, followed by three reds. Most of the Argentinian wines are red, including the most popular Malbec.

Our second vineyard was Susana Balbo’s winery, not too far away, and we were a little early so we sat on their terrace having coffee first. It’s was Susana Balbo’s winery - she was the first Argentinian woman to run a winery. 

Our tasting here, also consisted of five wines and a lunch. The wine was running freely and everyone enjoyed themselves. 

Afterwards, we went back into the city and had ice creams (or whatever) before heading to the airport for our 45 minute flight to Santiago, Chile. Most of the officials were wearing masks due to the corona virus concerns. Everyone had their temperature read as we entered the country. We arrived at our hotel about ten, just in time for bed!

Sunday 1 March

We set off quite early this morning (8:30) for our city tour, this was to avoid the heat. Being a Sunday morning, the streets were fairly quiet. Our local guide told us lots about the city, which was destroyed by an earthquake in 1861. Irrigation channels and ditches have been built between the sidewalks and roads of most streets - they turn on the water periodically to keep the shade trees and parks healthy. We saw the ruins of an old Franciscan church, the new church (1920) where mass was taking place, lots of squares and San Martin park. Some of the fountains had red water in them, for the wine festival. 
We had the afternoon free so we walked around, stopping for a lunch of delicious empanadas and coffee on an outside patio. We stopped for a beer later at The Liverpool Pub as it ended up being 35C.
Our dinner tonight was the last Argentinian one of the tour - last opportunity for the giant steaks! I decided to have the salmon and Ian tried the goat. No desserts tonight we were both stuffed!