Well, I finally feel like I’m
back at school: the calendar has filled up and the homework is piling on.
But that doesn’t mean that my
duties as a foreigner can be ignored either. That means visiting. Today our
program coordinator, Carolina, Emanuel (her bf), and Joel (our classy driver
who makes me think of Higgins from Agatha Christie’s Poirot) took us to Casa Blanca, a famous wine valley about half an
hour from Valpo. The first vineyard was up on a hill, so despite the clouds we
had a nice view of the rows of grape vines. We had a good explanation of the
harvest, fermentation, and storing of the wine (did you know good wine barrels
made of French Oak coast 1,000 bucks a pop? Empty? And you can only use them 3
times? I was impressed). Then we moved onto the tasting, where we learned how
to change and access the flavors of the wine by smelling, swirling, and taking
in air as we drank. We tried a sauvignon blanc, a pinot noir, and a sauvignon
cabernet (French is finally useful for something).
I guess the cabernet is the most Chilean, but Emily and I both liked the blanc
best. And now I feel ready to serve a dinner party, since I know at least 3
kinds of good wine and what kind of food they go with. Classy education.
We visited another vineyard briefly to do the same sans
tasting (I think Carolina was testing stuff out to get a feel for future
visits). The main building had a neat wooden and terracotta roof, and we stared
a little bit at the Brazilean tourists before heading to Quisco for lunch and
more adventures.
The beach town of Quisco is home to many restaurants with
many seafood options. We enjoyed Abalone and clams before our main dishes. For
me, I tried a crab casserole. Heavy, but quite good. With some coffee to round
everything off we were ready to hit the main attraction of Quisco: Isla Negra,
the home of Pablo Neruda.
As the Poetry Foundation says, Pablo Neruda is probably the
most internationally famous poet that North Americans forget about. Probably
because he was a communist. He also has a house in Valpo, but Isla Negra, where
he spent his last days, is the more famous of the two. The stone walls of the
house are the real deal, made of non-standard rocks with occasional additions
of mosaics or glass bottles, and the interior is covered in beautiful wood
paneling and furniture. And then there’s his collections. Whether it’s the
mermaids from the prows of ships, funny-shaped bottles, shoes, hats,
butterflies, Brazilian masks, or seashells, intriguing objects filled up the
beautiful rooms overlooking the sea. We weren’t allowed to take pictures
inside, but take a look on Google Images, it’s worth seeing. Outside we ogled
the view and saw Neruda and his wife’s graves. Very cool.
On our way home we stopped to see what used to be the
world’s largest swimming pool. Which, ironically, is next to the ocean…oh
mankind.
The drive back through the countryside was also beautiful,
what with the sunset and the high dose of urban living we have been receiving.
Hills, cows, horses, trees, flowers…did my heart good.
No comments:
Post a Comment