Wine, wine, wine...

Autumn arrived and the end of summer is normally time for the traditional grape harvest. Since Chile is a major wine producer (excellent wines by the way), the event is celebrated with festival events in the different towns along the wine region, just south from Santiago. One of these towns is Santa Cruz, small and charming, about two hours south of Santiago. I rented a car for the weekend and together with my Portuguese house mates, we went for a small car trip to see the Santa Cruz wine festival and then go to the coast as well.

As soon as we arrived, we realized we had to stay overnight... The festival included wine tastings in the central plaza, together with music and dance events. We paid around 4 Euro and they gave us a big wine glass and 5 free tastings! When we went for the first one and realized that the tasting was half a glass, we knew we wouldn't be able to drive that day. In the end, between bought and some offers, we had 12 half glasses of wine (equivalent to 2 bottles!) each, during the whole afternoon. The experience was amazing, the food and wine, excellent, we met a lot of different people and even had the oddest experience in Chile: I was found by another Portuguese on the street. It never happened to me, not even in Santiago, and it had to happen in a small town in Chile!

The next day we went to the coast, to a small fishing village called Bucalemu, which is famous for being one of the favourite rest destinations of Pinochet, back in the dictatorship days. From there, north to Pichilemu, along the coast, which is a very famous surf town. In the way we stopped the car by the road and walked in the direction of the sea, until we reached this beach, extending forever and without any footsteps on it. The water was damn cold and it was very windy, but still it was nice to feel the sea again, the salty breeze and the warm volcanic sand beneath our feet.

La Isla Negra

Pablo Neruda is one of, if not the most famous chilean poet. Like all art-related people of his times, he had a political connection, which granted him many enemies. Before Salvador Allende's times, he was chased and lived hidden for long time due to his communist ideologies, until he managed to exile himself in Argentina. When Allende won the elections, he came back and lived in Chile until he died of a heart disease a few days after Pinochet's coup. He had three houses in Chile, open to the general public, where his legacy is still kept: one in Santiago, one in Valparaiso and the third one, the most famous one, La Isla Negra.

La Isla Negra is not an island, it is a coastal village about one hour south of Valparaiso. It is a tourist spot, with Pablo Neruda's house as the only attraction. It is indeed a very special place. The house has a gorgeous view over the ocean and it was built to take advantage of that, with large strategically placed windows. It has two wings, one for the rooms and social divisions and the other for writing. Pablo Neruda was a collector, he had objects from all over the world, most of them connected to the sea, like boat prows or sea shells, but also artifacts of different cultures. Together with his third and last wife, Pablo Neruda is now buried in front of the house, overviewing the sea, his passion. This was a one-day trip, on a sunday, with a rented car and some friends. There was time to drive north along the coast to Valparaiso, before returning to Santiago. I am now only missing one of the houses, curiously the one in Santiago...

Half way through

I recently completed one year in Chile... Damn, time goes fast! I still remember the day I arrived, the bad spanish and the first impressions. I didn't even have time to look back and realize how much I did and how much I have changed during this year, how much I grew as an individual. There was however something certain: I wanted to stay longer and, after a lot of paperwork, I got it! I got my contract renewed! I will stay another year! It took me quite some time to build a life here, to have good friends, to start routines, to settle... It would feel deceiving to leave without taking advantage of all that. It happened the same at work, I am now more aware of the systems, still learning each day, so I could still progress at Paranal as well. Now I have my visa extended, my contract renewed and even a chilean driving license that took me 15 minutes to get. My mission shall then continue, my personal and professional goals for this next year are defined. It ain't over yet!

Well, in fact I at least took the time to build a list of the best 15 moments of this first year in Chile. For very different reasons, those were 15 snapshots that I will never ever forget and that I decided to gather in a small photo album, featuring many new pictures. You can see the album here.