Santiago, Chile - Andes, Culture, Wine, Skiing, and McDonalds

Santiago, Chile Slide Show

Santiago is the beautiful capital city of Chile that is surrounded by the Andes mountains. On a clear day, which we were fortunate to have all 4 days, the views of the city and the Andes mountains are spectacular. The picture to the left is a huge statue of the Virgin Mary on the top of Cerro San Cristobal, the highest point in Santiago. On a day that we rented bikes, we biked up to the top for some incredible views of the city.
Sometimes everything goes your way in a city when traveling. By chance, we happened upon a great apartment in the middle of Santiago, close to everything that we wanted to do and was within our budget. It had a nice kitchen, a separate room for Noah, and Satellite TV! We even let Noah go to McDonalds to quench his appetite for "American French Fries". Jennifer and I did not participate in this event. We were able to get to anything we wanted to quickly being near the Santiago Metro (Subway) that runs constantly to every part of the city. During rush hour, you even get to try and set a Guinness Book of World Records to see how many people you can squeeze into one train.
The city of Santiago is wonderful to wander around and there are unlimited amounts of day trips you can take. One day trip that Noah and I took was to Valle Nevado, a ski resort only 40 miles outside of Santiago. The scenery on the ride up through the Andes to the ski area was worth the price of admission. The skiing was unique in that the entire ski area is above the tree line. The highest lift takes you up to over 12,000 feet. The sun was so bright against the sea of white snow that we had to have sunglasses on at all times. The spring weather made for some warm, slushy skiing. It was an awesome day! The other benefit of Noah and I going off skiing is that it allowed Jennifer to wander the city without having a 13 year old roll his eyes at every cultural stop along the way.
Another great side trip was to the Concha y Toro winery on the outskirts of Santiago.We took a wine tour and enjoyed a couple samples of some excellent wine. Concha y Toro is Chile's largest winery. The most common brand that you will see in the United States is Casillero del Diablo. We tried a 2005 Cabernet Sauvignon. Casillero del Diablo translates as "The Devil's Cellar". They told the locals that the devil was in the cellar to stop them from going into the cellars to steal their wine. The high end wine of Concha y Toro is Don Melchor. We were able to taste a 1998 Cabernet Sauvignon that was as good as we have ever tasted. Since Noah is only 13, we were able to get his samples. At the end of the tour, we met Rob, a former Savage, MN resident who now lives in Ohio. Having a driver from his hotel while on business, Rob gave us a ride back to Santiago so we were able to avoid another bus and subway ride. Thanks Rob!
On the day we rented bikes, we came across Dan "Gringo" Brewington, the General Manager of Radio Santiago. an English speaking radio station. After exchanging stories, he asked if we would go on the air to be interviewed. He was intrigued with our around the world travels. He has quite a story to tell himself as someone who is from New York, has worked as a police officer in London and is now managing a radio station in Santiago. Unfortunately, we were heading off to the airport, so the interview didn't work out. We might do an interview via Skype in the future.
To see a slide show of Santiago, click on the following link ==> Santiago, Chile Slide Show.
By the way, the Twins are in 1st Place! Go Twins!