Minitrip to Mendoza

Our first holiday abroad together since we arrived to Chile was the famous wine land Mendoza in Argentina. Apart from numerous vineyards and olive oil factories, Mendoza is a mecca for all adventure sports' fans. You can do cabalgatas (= horseback riding), rafting, trekking, canyoning, hiking and skiing in the winter. At first, as I had already seen Mendoza in 2005 and its many adventurous possibilities, I wasn't really keen on going there. However, the trip turned out to be amazing in its simplicity!

After the cold and hectic Santiago, Mendoza was tranquil and soothing, and the weather was warm and sunny. Mendoza is village-like eventhough it has about one million inhabitants.

Along the ride to Mendoza some impressions of Chilean countryside.

Little village by the road.





The Andes looked menacing at this light.

At the boarder, waiting for our turn to get the passports checked.

The flag of Argentina at the border.

The bus trip from Santiago to Mendoza over the Andes takes about 6 to 7 hours depending on the Aduana, Customs where we had to queue an hour to get our passports and luggage checked.

The trip went smoothly thanks to a great book and comfortable seats. The busses here are cheap to travel with and as comfortable as a business class seat on an airplane. They even serve some snacks and show films.

Flying over the cordillera, however, takes only about 38 minutes. Just enough to sit down and stand up.

When we finally arrived to Mendoza, it was already late. We just went for pizza and beer near our apartment. We got the apartment at the last minute - every other hotel was booked out because of the feriados in the honour of Christopher Columbus. Día de la Raza is celebrated on October 12th. It's the day when Columbus arrived in 1492.

The next day in the city we met the owner of the apartment we were renting, Martin. One of his grandparents were from Germany, so he was speaking German. He gave us many useful tips concerning the life in South America and must-sees in Mendoza.

The pedestrian street, Peatonal Sarmiento.

Plaza Independencia.

Of course, when in Argentina, you have to have steak.

We were strolling along this beautiful avenue to a park called Parque Gral. San Martín.

The whole way there were these cute little houses.

The park was wonderful for relaxing and enjoying the outdoors.













Because of the Día de la Raza, hispanic heritage of Latin America was presented in many forms: typical Spanish paella, sangria, flamenco, and many other ethnic and cultural influences were seen.

Everyone on Plaza España was on party mood.


San Juan

The next day we headed 2 hours up north, to San Juan.

On the road to San Juan.

Lukas relaxing.

First thing we did after arriving to San Juan was to go to our 5-star hotel's, Hotel Del Bono Park's, pool.

Too bad the water was too cold to swim!

The little boy was braver than I was.

After Office Party Story

On one warm Wednesday night three girls decided to go out and have fun. The party of three included one Chilean, one German and one Finnish girl.



The place where the After Office event took place was an castle on the top of a hill in the centre of a big metropolitan.



The staff of Castillo de Hidalgo welcomed the girls who just wanted to have fun with leis, which they hung on their necks.



With the help of some relations, the girls were able to get in for free and also enjoy the VIP services.



The girls were able to make some new contacts and meet potential business associates in the finest atmosphere. The party was purely business. And almost like Cinderella, the girls disappeared and took off with their wagon after midnight.



The modern shoes as in business contacts the girls left behind will hopefully create fruitful possibilities businesswise.

The End. To be continued next Wednesday...

Fantasiland and the World's Biggest Swimming Pool

On Saturday we continued exploring Santiago. We found an entertainment park inside another even bigger park called Parque O'Higgins.

One of the most ridden rides of Fantasiland. Lukas tried the Boomerang but I stayed firmly on the ground.

A Boomerang's loop.

Second ride was called Kamikaze.

Again Kamikaze took the passengers upside down to the sky. Umm, not for me!

You can have an adrenaline kick also in machines that don't throw you upside down!


And again we ended up on the coast last Sunday. To leave the Metropolitan turned out to be a very good decision, since in Santiago it was raining but warm and sunny by the beach.

Algarrobo

San Alfonso del Mar is a huge building complex in the village of Algarrobo with the world's largest swimming pool that's even mentioned in the Guinness World Records. It's over a kilometre long, so as you can imagine, the entire pool was hard to get without a helicopter.

The houses are by the beach but the shore is not apt for swimming due to the rocky sea. Luckily they have the pool.



We were pretending to be potential clients so we got to visit a prototype apartment. A week's holiday costs about a thousand Euros, but buying a flat is cheaper in relation.

Even little sail boats fit in the pool.

Swimming is not recommended.



Lukas strolling on the beach.

There were also other prettier buildings which I'll bet are much cheaper than San Alfonso del Mar.

El Quisco

After Algarrobo we drove a few kilometres to the south and ran into a cute fisher village called El Quisco.

The owner of the boat gives in without a competition: "Yours is better"

The local delicacies so close to the sea are of course sea food and fish. The restaurant Caleta Miramar had both, but this time I rebelled and took chicken.

This hungry stray kitten joined us at the patio of the restaurant. She finished almost my entire chicken!

Mermaid Johanna.



I assume this statue is some kind of fishermen's protector.

The pelicans are enormous!


La Isla Negra

In Isla Negra is the second one of Pablo Neruda's three homes, and since we were already there, of course we had to visit it. As fascinating and unconventional as this house is, I thought La Chascona (the house in Santiago) had more character.

Again it reflects his obsession to the sea - this is also the place were he is buried with his third wife, Matilde Urrutia. From his bedroom the view was, how else, to the sea.

Casa de Isla Negra was Pablo's favourite house - again, made as a replica of a ship with low ceilings and narrow passageways. As he was a passionate collector, the house was filled with ships in bottles and ship figureheads.



A painting of Pablo.