A trip to the coast and the last of Santiago

Friday, December 01, 2023
Santiago, Santiago Metropolitan Region, Chile
Wednesday, after dropping off some laundry, we decided to head over to Barrio Italia to check it out.  It is another neighbourhood that is supposed to be a good one to stay in, with lots of bars & restaurants, etc.  Now, it was morning when we got over there, but it was pretty quiet.  There did seem to be to be a lot of restaurants and bars along a couple of the main streets, but it was limited to a fairly small area.  We did find a nice little spot for lunch (a nice beef sandwich, with a seared tuna salad, yumm) after a bit of wandering.  Then we headed out to Avenida Alameda Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins, the main thoroughfare across this part of the city.  O’Higgins was the other main figure in the liberation of Chile, along with General José de San Martín.  We had seen a number of interesting buildings along this street when we were heading out on the bus for our wine tour and we wanted to check some of them out. Then we headed back to pick up our laundry, right on time which, of course, meant we were too early.  Later we grabbed dinner, a nice veggie pizza with added pepperoni, at a place right at the corner on our street, called Tres Valles.
Thursday, we had a tour booked to visit the Pacific coast, to Valparaiso, and Viña del Mar.  Only problem was, the tour we booked was not the tour that we got.  It was supposed to be a small group tour and it ended up being a big bus tour, which we hate.  They picked us up in a small van, but then loaded us onto a big bus halfway out of the city.  And the itinerary was very different from what was listed.  We were not amused, to say the least, but we made the best of it.  We first went to Valpo, as it is called, and entered from the top of the hills and got off and did a walking tour down to the center of the city.  Valpo is a busy port city but it is also a very artsy town, so art is everywhere.  We were there in the morning, so it was pretty quiet, since the artistic types don’t normally get up before noon.  And it was a very cloudy, hazy day, so not the best for photos.  We did get to take the little funicular for the last bit of the descent.  (We do like our funiculars!) 
 Then we headed down the road a bit to Viña del Mar, sort of a typical beachfront wealthy playground city, a stark contrast to the gritty port, but artistic, vibe of Valpo.  We had a very good fish lunch at Chinqui, a Peruvian place just off Reñaca Beach and then just wandered along the beach a bit.  Didn’t really get to see much of the town. Then back on the bus and back to Santiago to begin the arduous process of dropping everyone off at their lodgings– one of the joys of big bus tours.  For dinner at a place at the end of our little street, we finally tried chorrillana, which is sort of the national dish in Chile – French fries piled with cheese and braised, shredded beef, often with a fried egg on top (we skipped the egg).  OK, but doesn’t hold a candle to good poutine.   It is filling, though.
Friday morning, we headed back over to Bellavista for some souvenir shopping, then came back across the river for lunch at a place called Républica Independiente del Pisco or CHiPE Libre, after the imaginary country comprising all of the parts of Chile and Peru where Pisco is produced.  The place had always been packed when we went by, but we had though it was more of a bar.  We got there just as they were opening and by the time we left it was jam packed.  We had been craving a salad and had an excellent one along with some wonderful hummus.  And the rest of the menu looked really good, too.  We of course started with Pisco sours and finally got a bottle of Chilean Pino Noir (from the Casablanca Valley).
Then home to rest up before a belated Birthday Dinner for Carol (we hadn’t wanted to book anything for after our tour on Thursday).  We went to a place called Peumayen Ancestral Food, a trendy place that does variations on traditional indigenous dishes, in a variety of tasting menus.  We opted for the 6 course wine pairing menu and it was very good overall.  Some items were a bit weird, but they were all in very small portions, with 3 different items per course.  The 6 wines, from Clos des Fous, were all very good, in particular an excellent 2015 Malbec.  Unfortunately, Carol was not feeling very well, so did not get to fully enjoy her Birthday Dinner.
Saturday, back to Panama for a quick, 2 night stop on our way home.
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2025-02-15

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