DAY-22: San Antonio, Chile - The Wine Region
DAY-22: San Antonio, Chile - The Wine Region
Day – 22: Tuesday, March 10, 2020
Starting Location: At Sea Aboard the M.S. Marina
Interim Location: Moored at San Antonio, Chile
Ending Location: At Sea Aboard the M.S. Marina
The ship arrived into the commercial port city of San Antonio, Chile around 8 AM this morning. The cruise "terminal" is located amidst thousands of shipping containers for what is a bustling port.
Apparently, after the Chilean earthquake and related tsunami of February 2010 the port of Valparaiso was slow to recover and San Antonio blossomed into its present day level of activity.
Cruise ships prefer San Antonio because of stevedore union issues in Valparaiso according to Dr. Kus, our South American enrichment lecturer.
After breakfast we departed the ship for our tour; today it would be the wine region of the Casablanca Valley and a "rodeo" demonstration by Chilean cowboys in our tour entitled "Live the Chilean Spirit: Wine and Horses of Casablanca".
South America is loaded with graffati; we saw it in Argentina and Uruguay and Chile is not to be outdone. The "art" shows up on buildings, walls, highways and almost anything with a flat surface. Most of the graffiti is politically motivated especially now with Chilean citizens having a contentious relationship with government authorities and policies.
Here are a few pictures from San Antonio, including: people waiting for the bank to open (with graffiti),
great looking pastries,
and of course a Chinese restaurant, making San Antonio an official city if you follow the belief of one of our long time friends.
Our guide for the day, Ricardo, explained that this region of Chile geographically equates to the San Francisco latitudes of California and in riding out from San Antonio it was notable that the terrain and apparent climate was very similar.
Around 10:30 we stopped at the Casa Del Bosque Vineyard.
Some would say that 10:30 is a bit early for a wine tasting but apparently not the case here. Actually our guide, a 30-ish looking young man with "gorgeous looks and a cute pony tail" told us he was in fact 57 years old but the daily wine dosage of the region permitted him to retain his youthful looks. In that case, bring it on!
The winery was a beautiful facility in a picturesque location.
They grow a wide variety of grapes including Merlot, Cabernet, Chardonnay, Malbec, Pinot, etc.
The tour included a view of thousands of acres around the winery and up the local hillsides. We ventured into the processing areas where Chardonnay grapes were being brought in for de-stemming and all that goes on with that step in the process.
In one of the barrel rooms we had a tasting of three wines, two reds and a white.
Everyone was generally pleased with the tasting. With Sheila focusing on the whites I often get a double dose of red; perhaps I'll grow younger at double the rate.
No trip to a winery would be complete without passing through the store. The prices in Chile are very reasonable with the exchange rate of 800 Chilean Pesos to the U.S. Dollar, so our money spends well in Chile. We bought three bottles of wine, two because of the "eye catching" fancy containers and one for the wine. With only a few days left on the ship, buying heavy, space consuming bottles was probably not our brightest idea.
Just after noon we arrived at Puro Caballo where we would have lunch and be introduced to the horses of Chile.
Upon arrival it was a bit Disney-ish, with three horse-mounted vaqueros posed at the entrance in culturally appropriate costumes. Sheila found her caballero!
Sometimes even vaqueros and señoritas have to catch up on their phone messages, Instagram their BFFs, check on stock quotes, see what the weather will be like for the weekend, etc.
We were given empanadas and Pisco for starters and then given a description of Chilean horses, their genetic traits and the style in which they are groomed. We also listened and watched a music and dance routine.
Following drinks we moved over the the grandstand and arena where the rodeo portion of the tour was to take place. The Chilean rodeo, at least for tourists, does't include bronc riding, bull riding, calf roping, barrel races or rodeo clowns. This performance was much more about the training of horses to move around the arena in a coordinated fashion and perform various stepping moves and gallops.
Not exactly Lipizzans, but the show is similar in that it's a showplace for horsemanship and well trained horses. The show was nice, and of suitable length, not too long.
Unfortunately we had a minor PETA-ish incident with one of the ship's assigned tour assistants ("The Artist"), not officially a crew member, but representing the ship just the same. She loudly questioned the rodeo's emcee about what happens to horses after they can no longer perform; she didn't accept the emcee's answer and made her statement about animal treatment.
Following the show we headed over to the dining area where we were served a nice lunch consisting of roast beef, mashed potatoes and a wide variety of vegetables served up with a choice of drinks and of course wine. While we ate the musicians played.
As we were leaving this little green and blue critter showed up.
Following lunch we boarded the bus for our return to the ship. San Antonio appeared to be a somewhat modern city, small when compared to Santiago but of economic importance due to its coastal location and safe harbor.
Today, the ship bunkered or took on fuel,
so the "smoking lamp was out" for most of the day. The ship was underway for Coquimbo, Chile at around 7 PM.
Here are few shots from the departure including pictures of a couple of small boats coming out to give us a send-off.
Later at dinner we heard from fellow guests about tours to Santiago and Valparaiso; in both cases it seems that the typical schedules and itineraries were modified to avoid areas of ongoing turmoil and protesting related to the distain for the sitting president and the world wide issue of wealth distribution disparity.
Tonight's dinner was "ALL NAVY'! We ate in the Italian restaurant Toscana with two other USNA couples 64/68/70.
One surprise at dinner was additional "anti-viral" service changes. Tonight when we arrived we were shown to a blank table, linens in place but plates, glasses and silverware not to be seen. The new format has tables being set only after guests are seated, more of the on-going virus exposure minimization thing.
We closed the restaurant at about 10:30 and called it a day.
Interim Location: Moored at San Antonio, Chile
Ending Location: At Sea Aboard the M.S. Marina
The ship arrived into the commercial port city of San Antonio, Chile around 8 AM this morning. The cruise "terminal" is located amidst thousands of shipping containers for what is a bustling port.
Apparently, after the Chilean earthquake and related tsunami of February 2010 the port of Valparaiso was slow to recover and San Antonio blossomed into its present day level of activity.
After breakfast we departed the ship for our tour; today it would be the wine region of the Casablanca Valley and a "rodeo" demonstration by Chilean cowboys in our tour entitled "Live the Chilean Spirit: Wine and Horses of Casablanca".
South America is loaded with graffati; we saw it in Argentina and Uruguay and Chile is not to be outdone. The "art" shows up on buildings, walls, highways and almost anything with a flat surface. Most of the graffiti is politically motivated especially now with Chilean citizens having a contentious relationship with government authorities and policies. Here are a few pictures from San Antonio, including: people waiting for the bank to open (with graffiti),
and of course a Chinese restaurant, making San Antonio an official city if you follow the belief of one of our long time friends.
Our guide for the day, Ricardo, explained that this region of Chile geographically equates to the San Francisco latitudes of California and in riding out from San Antonio it was notable that the terrain and apparent climate was very similar.
Around 10:30 we stopped at the Casa Del Bosque Vineyard.
The winery was a beautiful facility in a picturesque location.
The tour included a view of thousands of acres around the winery and up the local hillsides. We ventured into the processing areas where Chardonnay grapes were being brought in for de-stemming and all that goes on with that step in the process.
Everyone was generally pleased with the tasting. With Sheila focusing on the whites I often get a double dose of red; perhaps I'll grow younger at double the rate.
No trip to a winery would be complete without passing through the store. The prices in Chile are very reasonable with the exchange rate of 800 Chilean Pesos to the U.S. Dollar, so our money spends well in Chile. We bought three bottles of wine, two because of the "eye catching" fancy containers and one for the wine. With only a few days left on the ship, buying heavy, space consuming bottles was probably not our brightest idea.
Just after noon we arrived at Puro Caballo where we would have lunch and be introduced to the horses of Chile.
We were given empanadas and Pisco for starters and then given a description of Chilean horses, their genetic traits and the style in which they are groomed. We also listened and watched a music and dance routine.
Following drinks we moved over the the grandstand and arena where the rodeo portion of the tour was to take place. The Chilean rodeo, at least for tourists, does't include bronc riding, bull riding, calf roping, barrel races or rodeo clowns. This performance was much more about the training of horses to move around the arena in a coordinated fashion and perform various stepping moves and gallops.
Unfortunately we had a minor PETA-ish incident with one of the ship's assigned tour assistants ("The Artist"), not officially a crew member, but representing the ship just the same. She loudly questioned the rodeo's emcee about what happens to horses after they can no longer perform; she didn't accept the emcee's answer and made her statement about animal treatment.
Following the show we headed over to the dining area where we were served a nice lunch consisting of roast beef, mashed potatoes and a wide variety of vegetables served up with a choice of drinks and of course wine. While we ate the musicians played.
As we were leaving this little green and blue critter showed up.
Following lunch we boarded the bus for our return to the ship. San Antonio appeared to be a somewhat modern city, small when compared to Santiago but of economic importance due to its coastal location and safe harbor.
Today, the ship bunkered or took on fuel,
so the "smoking lamp was out" for most of the day. The ship was underway for Coquimbo, Chile at around 7 PM.
Here are few shots from the departure including pictures of a couple of small boats coming out to give us a send-off.
Later at dinner we heard from fellow guests about tours to Santiago and Valparaiso; in both cases it seems that the typical schedules and itineraries were modified to avoid areas of ongoing turmoil and protesting related to the distain for the sitting president and the world wide issue of wealth distribution disparity.
Tonight's dinner was "ALL NAVY'! We ate in the Italian restaurant Toscana with two other USNA couples 64/68/70.
We closed the restaurant at about 10:30 and called it a day.
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