Chile, part 2

We arrived in Santiago on Thursday morning and we were to head back home on Tuesday night. We decided it would be fun to take a tour to maximize our last two days in Chile, and so we set one up through Liz Caskey. We visited the coast abotu an hour's drive west of Santiago, spent the night at a winery, and then visited some coastal towns the next day before heading back to the airport.

We left the W early on Monday morning and were picked up by Annette, our guide from last year's visit. Carter remembered her and was excited to see her! We hit the road, excited to get out of the city for a couple of days. Carter took this picture of me in the car.



Our first stop was at a winery along the way to the coast. We had a tour and tasted wine, and Carter was very patient!







From the winery we drove to the dramatic and beautiful coast.



We had lunch at a seaside restaurant in the village of Quintay.















After lunch we spent a little time hanging out on the beach in this incredibly picturesque setting. The fishing boats are real, not just for show like they would be in many more touristy places. This is one of the things that's really cool about Chile!

















From there we headed to the guest house of the Matetich Winery. We stayed there last year as well, and we were really excited to return! It's nestled in a beautiful valley near the town of San Antonio. There are about 8 guest rooms, but it feels very private, as if you're staying there all alone.





Doug and I visited the winery that afternoon while Mom and Carter explored the grounds and played on the playground.











Watching this helicopter take off was a highlight for Carter!



When we came back from the winery Carter was hanging out in Mom's room playing.



We hung out in the Casona's lounge before dinner, enjoying some wine and listening to our radio show on Sirius (which we managed to stream through the Casona's wireless). Carter was a little taller and better able to tackle the pool table this year.



Dinner was served in our own private dining room, and it was fantastic.



This is one of the things that's amazing about traveling in South America: you couldn't get an experience like this in North America, Europe, or Asia for this price. It's just so special to have a private dining experience with our own waiter, in a beautifully appointed room. We felt like the only guests there!

There were sofas in our dining room, and it wasn't long before Carter fell asleep on one. That was actually quite convenient, since we could relax and enjoy our meal!



We turned in early and got a good night's sleep! I'll post the last part of our trip tomorrow. :-)

Chile, part 1

Back in August, we went to Santiago, Chile for a long weekend trip to celebrate my 40th birthday. My mom went with us -- her very first trip outside of North America! We had a blast. Unfortunately I lost my camera about halfway through the trip, and so I lost all of my pictures. Mom took a lot of pictures, though, so I'm going to post hers, heh.

I've been meaning to make this post for a while now. I wanted to get it done before I posted anything else, and here it's almost the end of September and I'm just now getting it done. I have a ton of posts I want to make, so there may be more posts coming in the next week. Doug's been out of town for three weeks and only just got back, and I think it will be a little easier to get stuff like this done. I hope, anyway. :-)

So, on to the trip! We arrived on a Thursday morning and met Mom (who had a crazy travel day and had to be rerouted through Washington DC) in Santiago. We went straight to the hotel, the amazing Santiago W, and had breakfast while waiting for our room to be ready.



I love, love, love this hotel. It's probably my favorite hotel in the world! Here are some pictures of the gorgeous lobby.







Carter loved this puzzle.



Here are some views from our room. Doug got us a gorgeous suite with a balcony, and we really enjoyed that outdoor space.



Carter loved this park across the street from the hotel.



We spent some time playing in the park that first morning.







Carter was really happy to see his Nana!



We had lunch at a nearby pizza place that is one of our favorites.



Afterwards we went back to our rooms and everyone slept. Even though there's no time change, we were all exhausted! We had dinner that night in one of the hotel's amazing restaurants, and Mom took Carter back upstairs for a bath while Doug and I enjoyed a drink in the bar.

The next day was my birthday! The big 4-0, yep. Crazy! That morning we went up to San Cristobal, the mountain looking over the city. We rode a funicular up, which Carter liked.



The view from the top is amazing!



We wandered around the hilltop for a while and let Carter explore.











Afterwards we went to Azul Profundo, one of our favorite seafood restaurants. Chile is known for its amazingly fresh seafood, and we enjoyed our meal tremendously!





When we got back to the hotel there was a gorgeous and rich birthday cake waiting for us. The pictures are, unfortunately, lost, but it was amazing! It was composed of 1/4 inch thick layers of cake, with layers of caramel and some kind of jam between each layer. Carter took one look at the cake and took a huge bite out of the side, which we all thought was hilarious! It was incredibly rich, but we did our best. :-)

That evening Mom stayed with Carter while Doug and I went out for a birthday dinner at a steak restaurant.

On Saturday morning, Doug and I went wine shopping (we'd brought special boxes for the purpose of bringing wine home with us), and Mom and Carter played on the playground. He had a lot of fun, and Mom took a lot of pictures.







It was so nice to be cold! That afternoon we went to the Mercado Central to look around and have some lunch.



I believe we spent the afternoon hanging around in the room while Carter played on the balcony. We opened some bottle of wine and enjoyed the weather and the view! That night Mom hung out with Carter again while Doug and I had dinner with our friend Liz Caskey.

On Sunday we went shopping! We rode the subway up to the Los Domenicos craft market. This turned out to be Mom's very first subway ride ever.





After lots of shopping, we had lunch in the market. Here Carter is playing with a wooden snake we bought him. Something I love about Latin America is that fresh juice is available everywhere, and it's so amazing! I think this one is raspberry.



We then watched Carter play at a nearby park for a while before making our way back to the hotel with our purchases.



Give him dirt, and he's happy, basically!



This is an awesome picture on so many levels! Look how happy Carter and Mom are, and then look at the snow-capped Andes in the background!



We spent the afternoon lounging around the hotel room again, mostly on the balcony. Carter played and the grownups drank wine, and Mom and I compared photos. I still had my camera at that point, but had forgotten to pack the cable to transfer pictures to my computer. If only I'd remembered the cable, I might have some of the pictures I'd taken!



We went to dinner at a teppan yaki restaurant down the street, Carter loves teppan yaki, and the place even had a kids' play area! It was pretty much perfect. Except that it was sometime during this outing that I lost my camera, sadly.







The next morning we started the second part of our adventure. That will be part 2, perhaps coming tomorrow. :-)