A Run on Cerro San Cristóbal (St. Christopher Hill)

For exercise I'm fortunate to have access to Cerro San Cristóbal, a hill that rises about 1,000 feet from the rest of Santiago.  Running the 4 blocks to the hill takes me past Pablo Neruda's home, now a museum, and up past the National Zoo.  The smells can be strong and there is usually a bit of activity from visitors and cyclists on the paved paths on the hill.

The climb to the top is fairly steep, and the views of the city are impressive.  Round trip for the path I take (which goes about 2/3 of the way up) takes about 45 minutes.  Running near sunset is best, with nice views of the shadows on the surrounding hills.

Stretching out in front of my building.

Past Pablo Neruda's old home, now a museum.  This is an outdoor ampitheatre just outside the museum.  During events it becomes a water sculpture, with water being released from the top level and running down in-between the seats.

The main entrance to the park. 

Past the Zoo on the hill.  The animal smells here are quite strong!

Many biciclists frequent the roads on the hill.  A hard workout going up and a thrill to fly back down.

A view of the city.  The tower there being built will be the tallest in South America when it opens in the next year.

Past the palm trees in this very tranquil area.

View from the back of the hill.  I love how the shadows appear on the angular parts of the hills in the evening.

Street art on the way back home.

Trip to Mendoza, Argentina's Wine Country

Julia and I set out in late February for a trip to Mendoza, the center of wine country in west Argentina, about 120 miles northeast from Santiago.  The trip takes about 7 hours by bus, including a one to two-hour stop at the customs office at the border, deep within the mountains.

Our trip started out at 10 pm on Friday night in the bus station in Santiago.  We rolled out shortly after, making our way toward the mountains.  The clear, starry sky could be seen from the bus windown in-between light segments of sleep.  At about 2 am the bus slowed after the steepest climb of the trip -- nearly 30 back-and-forth switchbacks that brought us up to the Chile-Argentina customs office.  After standing in line in the chilly air, getting our passports stamped and processed we made our way back to the bus which finally took us to Mendoza by about 5 am.

Julia and I slept on the uncomfortable bus station benches until the station coffee shop opened and we could get some authentic café con leche and medialunas (pastries).  We then made our way to Hostal Lao, whose #1 rating (in South America) wasn't hard to believe -- we were greeted courteously and found the place to be clean and stylish.

I had contacted a fellow Ohio State Alum who had given us some advice for Mendoza -- namely, to take a bike tour of the wineries and to attend the evening wine festival in the center of town.  Taking Leti's advice, Julia and I finally were able to grab a bus for the 45-minute bus ride to the south of town where we connected with Bicicletas Baccus (Baccus meaning the God of the Grape Harvest), picked up our two-wheeled rides, and cruised the lazy, rocky streets to two wineries.  At the first, Nieto Senetiner, we experienced the typical tour and wine tasting.  At the second we just had a simple lunch and glass of wine.  Personally the experience was fun (riding bikes, seeing the city), but the specific wine tour I could take or leave (IMO -- once you've seen one of 'em, you've seen 'em all).

In the evening Julia and I shared a 1 kilogram steak at the stylish Florentino Café Bistro in Mendoza, then made our way to the wine festival where we met up with Leti (and thanked her for all her good advice), cruised the booths, and drank a few glasses of the area wines.

The trip was capped off with the busride back through the mountains on Sunday afternoon.  The views are breathtaking and the switchbacks were relentless (about 30 hair-pin turns in total). 

A wait in the wine cellar signing paperwork for our rental bikes.

Cruising the tree-lined streets in south Mendoza.

Our first winery.

Rows of grapes next to one of the winery buildings.

Streets of Mendoza.  Large trees run down just about every street.

Saturday night wine festival.

Hostal Lao backyard.

Back to Chile over the Andes.

Rolling past deserted ski lodges and tiny villages.

My Commute

A quick peek at my morning "commute."  It takes me about 15 minutes to make it to the city center, where most of my classes are held.  It's a real joy to be able to get to work on bike -- I really like making my way through the city streets, past the people going to work, the vendors selling newspapers and drinks, and the sleeping dogs.

Today my first class started at 8:30 am.  It was a very rare day in Santiago because of the all the cloudcover.

Down a flight of stairs, hit the buzzer and go through the front gate.

Get ready to shove off from the building.

Down the street, making my way toward the center of town.

Past the University of Chile School of Law building.

Over the Mapocho River toward Plaza Italia, one of the main hubs of Santiago.

Take a right, cross the street and enter Parque Forestal.

A few minutes on the gravel through the park.

Back onto the road.  The buildings are getting a little bit bigger now.

Past the Bellas Artes metro stop.  This spot is very important to me as this was where I got my start in Santiago in early September 2010.

Weaving back onto the sidewalk to beat the traffic.  Notice that the sidewalk has been "watered," a very common practice in Chile (not sure why).

Making my way through the Plaza de Armas, the tradicional, old center of town.

Some of the buildings in the Plaza de Armas.

Location of my first class of the day, in the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, directly across from La Moneda.

La Moneda, the President's palace.

Past the giant Chilean Flag in front of La Moneda.

Down the sidewalk on Alameda (officially Avenida Libertador Bernardo O'Higgins).

Past an old church.

Past 38 Londres, infamously known as a place of torture and cruelty during the first years of the dictatorial regime in the 70's.  

Intersection of Londres and Paris streets -- very European.

Arrive at the office, door is on the left.

The Coast for a Day -- El Quisco, Isla Nega and the Home of Pablo Neruda

A daytrip to the coast to visit Pablo Neruda's house and do some exploring started with an 8:45 am bus in Santiago.  Julia and I arrived in El Quisco around 10:30, a small, dull beach town about 2.5 miles north of Isla Negra (and Neruda's house). After a breakfast of turkey and cheese sandwiches on the beach started our way south along the rocky coast toward Isla Negra. The path included scrambling over large boulders and through marshy fields of flowers and brush, talking to some locals about how to get to Isla Negra, relaxing on a large rock to take in the sight of the powerful waves, and walking about a mile along the main, paved road until we arrived at the signs pointing to Neruda's house.  In between we stopped at a restaurant on the road to fulfill my desire for a steak and share a liter of beer.

Neruda's house (and the accompanying museum/gift shop) has a less-than-stellar review in the guidebook.  Visitors must take a tour to see the house, at a cost of 3,500 pesos (USD$7) for the English tour and 3,000 pesos for the Spanish tour.  We took the Spanish tour, which was led by our guide with a theatrical voice and presentation of the elements of the home.  The house was filled with trinkets and ship memorabilia, namely sculptures of women and other objects that were at one time affixed to the bows of ships.  There were also large collections of other unique objects, masks from Africa, musical instruments, a large bug collection (with some GIGANTIC bugs), shells and a life-size wooden horse for which Neruda threw a house-warming party.  The doors and hallways were very small (like a ship) and the views of the ocean and coast from the large windows were breathtaking (especially from the second-floor bedroom).

Overall it was a worthwhile trip, and the experience at Neruda's home far surpassed the lame review in our guidebook.

View from the bus, traveling east from Santiago.

Long walk along the rocky coast, very large waves here.

Artsy bus stop, made partly of glass bottles.

Helloooooo.

Path down to Pablo's house.

Neruda's house.  We weren't permitted to take photos inside.

The house, built like a ship with small doors and tight hallways, had an amazing view of the rocky coast and powerful waves.

Front of Neruda's house.

Fitting meal:  empanada with mushrooms, chicken and cheese. 

Cruising back to the bus station.

New Years in Pichilemú

As New Years Day approached plans were made to travel to Pichilemú, a small beach town about 4 hours south of Santiago best known for its surfing and super-casual vibe.  Our destination was Hostal Verde, an eco-conscious hostel a short taxi ride out of the main city center (if you can call the main dirt road and small number of shops a city center).

When we arrived we were greeted by Rodgrigo (aka Pete, pronounced "Peh-teh"), the young hostal owner and his dog Flaite (see caption).  We soon learned that Pete was known for his cooking skills and the large breakfast that he served every morning (b'fast included in the price -- nice!).  We made the decision to stay at the hostal for the New Year's celebrations, after seeing the large bonfire and spread of food for the guests.

As the Friday evening went on we sat around the campfire, passing around meat, fish and other good food cooked by Pete and others and chatting with guests from Chile and Belgium.  Just before midnight most of the group made their way to the main beach to watch the fireworks show.  Some of the group stayed behind to enjoy the starry sky and fireworks show from the large hostal balcony.

The next day included a hike along the coast toward the main beach, followed by a surf lesson and surfing for the afternoon.  We ate some bad pizza later in the afternoon, and spent a relaxing evening on the hostal hammocks, taking in the dark night sky filled with stars.

View from Hostal Verde front porch/balcony.  You can see and hear the crashing waves in the distance, and the patio made for a decent view of the New Year's Eve fireworks off in the distance.

Hostal lounge area.  Very comfy.

Campfire circle.  Good food and good times were had around the flames.

The hostal dog Flaite (a common Chilean word for "shady one" most-typically used to describe young thugs who linger at night in large cities).  Flaite was a gentle, but ferocius dog, who could differentiate a hostal guest from a crook with his nose.

On a walk to Pichi's main beach.  The rocky areas were good for exploring.

 

Taking in Alejandro's surfing instructions.  His talked included about 5 "cachái"s a minute (the Chilean "know what I mean?").

Catching one of my first waves (with a little help from Alejandro).

Strong anti-smoking government regulations.  A real buzzkill (and I don't smoke).

Big Sunday morning breakfast.