Greetings! Chile is a long and narrow country knifed in between the Andes mountain range to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. The country's climate is quite suitable for wine production such that Chile is now the fifth largest exporter of wine in the world after France, Italy, Spain, and Australia.
With this in mind, during
my stay in Santiago, I took a full day excursion to visit a winery, then Viña del Mar, a coastal resort town, and Valparaiso, a port city on Chile's coast, about 120 km (75 miles) north west of Santiago.
First stop was at Casona Veramonte winery where red and white wines were available for tasting and purchase. The main building is nice with high ceiling and large windows. All around the building are grape vines, shining in the sunlight. I walked around the vineyards a bit and watched the staff loading wine barrels onto a truck, presumably to transport them to a store.
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| Grapes at Casona Veramonte |
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| Vineyards basking in the Chilean sun |
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| Red or white or both |
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| Wine barrels |
Second stop was at Viña del Mar beach front. The town looked very developed with many residential buildings and vacation rentals. We passed by a casino but did not go in. The beach was nice and mostly empty, probably because it was a weekday. We also visited the Flower Clock before heading to a local restaurant with ocean views for a delicious seafood lunch.
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| Ocean view, Viña del Mar |
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| Viña del Mar beach |
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| Viña del Mar flower clock |
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| Viña del Mar promenade |
The third and last stop was Valparaiso, the port city, known for its steep funiculars and colourful houses. I read that Valparaiso was built on forty two hills. Well, I walked seven of them before taking El Peral funicular, a historic monument built in 1902, to ground level to visit the busy port.
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| View of Valparaiso port |
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| Hillside houses in Valparaiso |
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| Colourful houses in Valparaiso |
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| A pretty balcony, Valparaiso |
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| Valparaiso, Chile |
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| Downhill towards the sea, Valparaiso |
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| El Peral funicular, Valparaiso |
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| Valparaiso port, Chile |
I enjoyed the excursion very much. I'd recommend visitors to Santiago to venture out of the city, either to the Pacific coast, and/ or to the Andes mountain range, for a variety of wonderful sights and experiences that Chile has to offer.
