Argentina Comes To Chile

This evening I thought I would treat myself to a special meal, and since I had spied a new restaurant literally half a block from where I’m staying, called “Bariloche”, I thought I would try it. If you have followed any of my previous trips to South America, you've heard the word “Bariloche”. San Carlos de Bariloche or Bariloche as most would refer to it, is a resort town in Argentina just over the Andes Mountains from the southern Chilean town of Osorno, on the shores of lake Nahuel Huapi. Bariloche was settled primarily by Austrians, Germans, Slovenes, Chileans and Italians. To make a long story short, until now, the best meal I have had was in Bariloche. Any ways let’s get back to the restaurant in Santiago. As many of you already know, I have a soft spot for Argentine beef, mostly around my stomach. The beef that comes from Argentina is the best beef in the world, bar none!
As I walked into the “Bariloche Restorante” the first thing I noticed was a strong odor of leather. Argentina is known for its leather products. There was indoor and outdoor seating; I chose to sit indoors so my meal would not become prematurely cold. The indoor seating was all booths, booths lined with suede leather, and place mats made of quarter inch leather. No Happy Meals here! I knew right away, this culinary experience would be special.
The waiter came to the table and asked if I would like something to drink, I ordered a bottle of “Casillero Del Diablo” (Conch Y Toro) Merlot 2009. An excellent wine to accompany the “Bife Chorizo” 500g (Delmonico steak) and the accompanying Mediterranean Salad. The waiter brought bread and garlic butter to the table, and was not shy about keeping my wine glass properly filled.
The salad arrived first, and was accompanied by olive oil, balsamic vinegar and lemon juice. About the time I finished the large salad, the meat showed up. The meat arrived in a dish so hot it sizzled. The piece of meat was so thick (2 inches), I cut it down the middle and put it face down in the plate to cook a bit more. It took a while to get through the two halves of meat, but the food was excellent. Cooked to perfection!
Once the meal was finished, I ordered an Espreso. This was as good a meal as I’ve had in any part of South America. Only thing missing was Sharon. Next year for sure!

Meeting New Friends

Taking a break in Olmue

Estancia El Cuadro

Lunch with friends

The group as we were leaving

Luis and his wife on the way back to Santiago


Sat. Jan. 8, 2011
Friday night I was invited to the home of Martin Schneurer and his wife, part of our group that will be riding to Argentinain a couple of weeks. Also invited were two other members of the group, Luis Vergara and his wife. We had a very nice evening talking about the upcoming trip and many other things. We also made plans for a motorcycle ride on Saturday in the direction of the Pacific Ocean.
On Saturday we met at the Copec gas station at 10:00am around the corner from my place, and from there we made our way north out of Santiago on Rt. 5 until we reached the town of Til Til. From Til Til we headed west over the mountains and Cuesta La Dormida until we reached the town of Olmue, where we stopped to take a break.
After resting for about a half hour, we rode south west through the towns of Limache, Villa Alemana until we reaching the outskirts of the ocean resort city of Vina Del Mar. Turning south here, we caught up with Rt. 68, the main route between Santiago and the ocean port city of Valparaiso. Valparaiso is Chile’s most important sea port. We rode Rt. 68 east exiting at the town of Casablanca, where we turned north to a beautiful vineyard tucked far in the northern end of a valley. The vineyard is called “Estancial El Cuadro”, (33°16'2.66"S - 71°17'14.55"W) a very nice place. Here we met up with more friends of Martin and Luis and sat on the outdoor patio overlooking the vineyards and the horses grazing in the pastures.
After wine and or devours, we were invited into the dining room for a wonderful four course meal full of good conversation and of course, great Chilean wine. One of the wines served was a special white wine made exclusively for guests of the Estancial El Cuadro. It is not sold or exported anywhere and of course was wonderful.
Once the meal was finished, our group visited the Wine Museum on the premises before going outside to take pictures of the beautifully landscaped grounds of the winery, prior to our return to Rt. 68 and the trip into Santiago.

P.S. Amazing that all of this is indirectly the result of me falling off my motorcycle last year!! Life is definitely a trip.

Tying Up Loose Ends

Three hour vehicle inspection


Wednesday
Jan. 5, 2011
So, first full day in Santiago and the cloudy weather we had yesterday has given way to a gloriously warm sunny sky with not a cloud in it. Yesterday I had a set of crash bars installed on the bike to insure we don’t have a repeat of last year. This morning I went to the DMV to make sure all my bike documents were valid, and all but one passed the test. I already knew that the bike needed to be inspected this year so I took care of that this afternoon. An experience to be sure! It took no less than three hours to get one motorcycle inspected! What a system! First, you have to get into a line of vehicles that snakes out of the inspection facility and up the block. Once off the street and in to the inspection facility, you realize that the long line wasn’t so long after all. In the inspection station, one line now becomes five and you are now in with no less than a hundred other vehicles waiting to be inspected. This reminds me of the border crossings in Argentina! Now, once you get near the actual inspection area, you leave your vehicle and an attendant takes it from there. You go into the building to pay and wait. The only good thing is that by this time your throat thinks it’s been cut, it’s so thirsty. Guess that’s why they have a small convenient store inside. After two cold drinks, they call your name, and you go up to the window where they hand you back your keys and documents and you’re free to go. Fun!
Now the good news, We have a new Applebees right around the corner here in Las Condes, so after the inspection, I took full advantage of the two fer Happy Hour and downed a plate of Boneless Buffalo Wings. They were better than back home!! Just another reason to love it here. "Sumthin Good In The Neighborhood"

So Close And Yet So Far

Monday
Jan. 3, 2011
This trip to Chile has been an eventful one so far, to say the least! I have never knowingly been in a faulty airplane before, but this time was a first. The Delta Airlines MD-88 left the gate in Buffalo as every previous flight has, and there have been many. That’s where it all ends! As we approached the end of the runway and where cleared for takeoff, we sat at the end of the runway for what seemed like an inordinate length of time. Soon we heard “Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your Captain. We seem to have a problem with one of the systems onboard the aircraft and we are talking to maintenance to see what we can do to fix the problem”. Another ten minutes went by and again we hear…From the Flight Deck, it looks like we are going to have to return to the gate so we can get maintenance to try and fix the Deicing system that is not working”. Not what you want to hear on a cold January evening in Buffalo! About an hour later the Captain comes back on the PA system and announces that air traffic control has given special permission for us to takeoff for Atlanta, but we are going to have to fly south at a much lower altitude until we can get away from any clouds that could cause icing. So they loaded extra fuel onboard and off we went, an hour and thirty five minutes late. NOW, remember, I only had a two hour layover in Atlanta and more than an hour and a half is now gone!
By the time I got off the plane in Atlanta, I was panicking! There was no gate ready to pull the plane up to, since the plane was late, and when the plane did come to a stop at the gate, I swear, everyone got out of their seats and just stood in the isle for what seemed like ten minutes. No one moved! I was ready to scream!
Atlanta-Hartsfield Airport is huge, and it takes a lot of time to get from point “A” to point ”B”, and I didn’t have much time. If it wasn’t for the fact that the plane to Santiago was delayed by 20 minutes, I would have missed the plane for sure!

Adventure 2011 Starts Now

This years adventure in South America starts today. Departure time is shortly after 4:00pm today, with a stop in Atlanta, and then a direct flight to Chile.Keep an eye on this site for all my updates.

The Cruise Is Off... for me at least

Looks like the cruise has gone down with the ship! Turns out there are no single rooms on board the Cruise Ship, so unless I want to pay twice the price, I've decided not to go on the cruise. I will instead meet the group on their return and ride the Argentina portion of the trip with them. Sharon and I are planning to do this cruise together next year instead!

Cuise To The Glaciers

Mountains and Ice

Looks like there's room at the bar!

The vessel "Mare Australis"

January 21, 2011 will be the departure date for nine of us to leave Santiago, Chile and ride south to the town of Castro on the big island of Chiloe in southern Chile. There, the group will board the cruise ship "Mare Australis" for a five day cruise to the southern ice fields of Chile, specifically Laguna San Rafael. The equivilant of an Alaskan inside passage cruise. Upon returning to Castro we will again mount our bikes and head into Argentina to the resort city of San Carlos de Bariloche. After leaving Bariloche, we will ride north to the city of Mendoza before returning to Santiago once again. This should be quite the trip!!