The Ritz Carlton in Santiago upgraded our room to a junior suite. That meant that we got an extra set of chairs and a coffee table in the room. 
We arrived too late last night to enjoy the desserts and the after dinner drinks in the lounge, but we got breakfast this morning! 
This is a better picture of the honey comb. The honey dripped down, and you used the wooden tool to drizzle honey on your croissant or bowl of oatmeal.
Aren’t these flowers in the lobby gorgeous?
We didn’t get much sleep last night as the temperature in our room never got below 23 C, which is 73.4 F. We usually like it best when the room is 67 or less.
We are off to visit the winery in Casablanca. I think that Rick and Ilsa have already departed.
9:30 is a great time to arrive. No one else is here.
We got to look at unripe grapes.
Also some grapes that looked more ripe. I didn’t try to eat any as there were guards everywhere.
Here is our guide JP with the crazy hands trying to explain something to Steve. Steve is just going “uh huh, uh huh. If you say so.”.
I was busy watching the marching ants going off it both directions.
This was in the gift shop. I thought it was pretty cool. You put it in your bottle of white wine and it automatically chills the wine as you pour. It’s great if you forgot to chill your white wine and you need some chilled white wine ASAP! I guess you could be a peasant and just throw some ice cubes in it!
Our table was all set up for our tasting.
Five glasses of wine at ten in the morning. Oh My.
First up were two wines from the Ritual line.
Next were from the Primus line.
This was our last bottle. It is their flagship brand. It is named in honor of the indigenous people, The Mapuche. 
We were given snacks to eat with the wine. I ate the cheese and chocolate. Chopped liver or headcheese are things that I won’t eat. I don’t eat innards. We have a friend M, who is now a vegetarian. When she did eat meat, her favorite dish growing up was liver and onions. Can you imagine? Well if you are M, you can!
Here is our beautiful wine instructor.
You can see that I didn’t drink much. Steve did. Or wine instructor either caught Steve in mid blink or he is besotted with me! Or in other words a “love fog”.
James Suckling really liked their wine. 
This is where some of the packing took place. We had a tasting, not a tour. If you want to goo on a tour you will have to read the rest of this blog post. 
We had never tried Carmenere before we stayed at Coyhaique. We liked it very much.
The vineyards grow halfway up the hillside.
Let’s check out our next winery, shall we? Vina Casas Del Bosque. But you already knew that as all of you can read!
Steve looks like he owns this place doesn’t he? 
Steve fell in love with this chair, and thought that I would look amazingly cute in it. I think that it is wonderful that he still finds me cute. Now if he found me adorable that would be even better as I would likely get away with more nonsense then! I stayed very still so that he could center me in the frame. If the subject is not moving he does very well with his picture taking. Steve didn’t even get his fingers in the picture! 
I know many people that would like this coffee cup. 
We joined a tour already in progress. We started after the guide talked about the grapes. 
Everyone had a good laugh when we realized our tour guide was not saying “Friendship Barrels”, but “French Oak Barrels”! Did you know that China, Japan and Korea are the largest consumers of Chilean wines? Now you do!
“
Here is wine being aged in the barrels. There was something important to know about the red lines on the barrels. I did for about twenty seconds, and then promptly forgot. Maybe you should go on the tour next time, and remember for me. Steve’s expression is “Enough already, let’s try some wine!”. 
You can see the wood chucks holding the barrels in place. During the last earthquake there was some damage to the winery. I will allow you one guess as to what is being stored in this barrel. 
We are ready for the wine tasting. Those are neither my legs, nor Steve’s
This is our new friend G from Canada. She is trying to determine if she liked this wine. G and D flew into Santiago from Toronto to go on a cruise form Valparaiso around the tip of South America. They are with five other couples that belong to a curling club. 
G was very much in thought regarding this wine. G and D couldn’t get on their ship until late afternoon as the ship had to undergo deep cleaning due to the presence of a Norovirus on the last sailing. We had a lot of fun hearing about the cruises that they had been on. They advised us to start with a river cruise, and if we like that go on a bigger ship. Steve does not want to cruise until he is every older and more decrepit. I must admit that now a few years have passed since we were on this trip and my body is decrepit enough to go on a cruise. 
Here is D examining the wine’s color. It looked red to me. 
D drank all his wine. 
Our tasting package only allowed us to sample three wines. 
These were the yellow buttons we were given.
D and G had ordered the deluxe package tour and got five wines to sample! I will miss D and G, they were a lot of fun.
Lots of empty glasses after our tasting!
Our Canadian friends hopped on their bus and we went to have lunch at the winery.
A fried bread with cheese inside on the left. Chilean rolls on the right. They were very hard.
Next up was a fried shrimp brie and nuts on a green salad. The waiter would always ask us ten minutes after we got our food if we wanted fresh ground pepper.
Three French fries, and a little filet with a fried egg on top.
My wines with lunch, their level didn’t change much.
Dessert was lavender Creme brûlée.
I thought you might want a closeup of the chocolate branch. I am not sure if it is hard to make or not.
Finally espressso and a little sweet. I promptly spilled my espresso all over after I took this picture!
At the end of the meal the waiter was there quick as a button with a big smile to tell us that tip was not included in the prepaid lunch.
On our way out we saw another bus load of tourists arrive for their wine tour.
Good bye wine tour, and one last crazy pose for Chile!
At one of the toll stations on the super highway there were peddlers selling stuff. Water, candy, soda, and food. Peddling is not allowed, but people love the convenience.
The peddlers would place their wares on the concrete and you would tell them what you wanted.
Sandwiches and in his hidden hand horse jerky.
Before we knew it we were at the airport in Santiago.
At the duty free shop, I found these bottles of Pisco. I wonder if I will find them in Poughkeepsie!
Will I be able to find these in the local liquor store?
When I saw this lady in the line at the airport I thought she was topless at first. No, just in need of a good bra.
Premium Economy on LAN from Santiago to Guayaquil is an empty seat between you and your seat mate.
Good bye Santiago mountains through the haze. Good by JP and your crazy hands!
Hello clouds that look like a snowbank.
Pork, pumpkin risotto, salad and gooseberry mousse.
Our flight path, the trip would take us about four hours.
Sunset in the air.
Somewhere above Guayaquil, Ecuador.
This map will give you a recap of our travels so far. We flew from NYC to Santiago, Balmaceda, Puerto Montt, Santiago, Isla de Pascua(Easter Island), Santiago and then to Guayaquil where we have just landed. We then fly to Galapagos, Guayaquil and then home.
Are you old and decrepit?
Would you rather drink three glasses of wine or five?
What size suite do you prefer, junior, one bedroom, or Presidential?
Good morning from Easter Island!
I asked if we had time to look inside the grocery store. 
This is the post office, we would go here to get our passports stamped.
At the post office you could get your passport stamped. Easter Island is not a separate country, but they do have a cool stamp! 
Many people were selling locally grown vegetables and fruits.
There were beautiful pineapples for sale on the street.
We had arranged to have massages before our next two days of airplane flights and car rides. It was pretty magical listening to the rain during the massage. 
Lunch was a turkey and cheese on a baguette. 
This was the best salad at lunch, all baby greens and no escarole. I hate escarole! 
Outside the airport flower leis were being sold to put on arriving guests. 
Good bye fake Moai! 
This guy was all garbed out for hiding in the gardens!
Good bye Easter Island airport!
Steve had a Pisco Sour and I drank water. It’s five o’clock somewhere isn’t it? 
Good bye Easter Island! 
I called these Moai clouds! 
Dinner on the plane, the beef was tough and the cake overly sweet. 
Today we are going to visit Ahu Akivi.
Ahu Akivi is said to represent the seven men who first came to Rapa Nui. It is very interesting to note that the seven are all of equal size and shape. It is also a celestial observatory, that was set up in the 16th century. They exactly face the sunset during the spring equinox and their backs face the sunrise during the autumnal equinox! 
You can see the cement where the heads were reattached.
Here is a baby pineapple!
The cave is hidden by the trees and the banana plants. Bananas do not grow on trees as the plant has no woody tissue!
Down we go! This is the largest cave on the island. There are several interconnected chambers totaling a length of seven kilometers. 
It was damp. Water was dipping down from the ceiling. Lilli drank the water and said that we could to, as it had been purified by going through so many layers of basalt rock. I didn’t want to risk any indigestion of any kind, and passed on the opportunity. 
Ah, the end of the tunnel appeared. I was so happy to see the end of the tunnel. We could have gone further through the tunnel and seen the ocean through lava windows, but I knew that we had to return and would have another hike in the afternoon. 
Yay! Steve came out right behind me. We had to use a flash light on our walk in the cave, and the flash light app on Lilli’s phone. The sharp lava rocks made the hike very difficult.
I was hot, tired and sweaty and we still had to hike a long way to get to the van. 
Lilli found a sweater left by a guide on a previous walk. She was bringing it back to where we had left our van. 
The path was really muddy and slippery. I never fell completely in the mud, nor partially, but it was tough going in a number of spots. 
You can see the guava fruit growing on the tree in this picture.
Lilli showed us a guava. The horses love to eat them.
They were easy for Lilli to twist open. 
My sneakers were a mess, along with my pants of course. Good thing there was a shoe cleaning station back at Explora! 
More Moai! 
You were not allowed to go past the markers as the ground is sacred. 
These guys might have had a story but i forgot what it was.
Here is Steve studying the two Moai. This site was restored in 1974.
This one got really eroded over time.
He is the only Moai on the island with coral eyes. The eyes are a restoration. Don’t the coral eyes make him really seem alive? He also has the top knot. He is called Ahu Ko Te Riku.
Didn’t Lilli take a great picture of us? Someone’s keeping an eye on us!
You can see the crane in the distance unloading goods to be brought to Easter Island.
This picture has all the Moai in it. 
On our way to town we passed by a cemetery. 
If you didn’t have much money you could go camping. 
Remember me telling you about the richest man on the island? He owns this car rental agency. He also rents mopeds and motorcycles.
We drove into town and saw this Moai. I had mentioned in a previous post about the festival that was going to be held in a few weeks. Part of the preparations was erecting a painted Moai.
Lilli is explaining to Steve that it is made of concrete. 
Lilli said he would be painted yellow, the color that the original Moai were painted.
This shows the coloring a little bit better. It will be quite dramatic when it is finished!
I was hoping that I didn’t get the van too dirty. I really was a mess!
Soon we were back at Explora and it was time for lunch.
Minced vegetable tortellini.
Creme anglaise with caramel for our dessert! Yum, yum!
Since our next hike wasn’t until four, we decided to have massages.
This is the way back to our room where we got ready to go on our afternoon hike.
Now it is time for you to learn about top knots, or pukao. What are those strange things on top of the Moai? They are pukao, the top knots. How did they get up there? 
More information regarding the pukao. 
This is how some of the archeologists believe how the top knots were placed on top of the Moai. 
We headed back to the van and passed by many top knots that never made it to the tops of the Moai. Our guide carried a back pack filled with emergency gear, and he always had a walkie talkie with him to contact the hotel. 
My last picture of our hike for the day. I was so tired of walking around. Steve got out of the van at our next stop. 11,000 steps were enough for me! We still have a week left on our vacation in South America! Yikes!
Lovely green salad. 
I had the duck confit.
My dessert. It had bananas in it. Steve doesn’t usually care for fruit.
Dessert number two. Which was guava cake. I asked the waitress which dessert was better. She told me to have both. I actually only ate 3 bites of each. That is my story and I am sticking to it.
Good morning from Easter Island!
Before we eat anything, let’s take a look at the kitchen. 
Here is the display of all the fresh juices and fruits available at breakfast.
There are many seats to choose from. We will have our dinners and lunches here also.
Steve appears to look a little worried. I would be also if I was married to myself!
Ah, nothing to worry about, his beautiful omelette has arrived!
The red marker shows you where our hotel is located. Orongo is the crater and the little island south west of it is Moto Nui, where part of the Bird Man ceremony occurred. Ahu Tahai is the restored ceremonial site. The quarry or Rano Raraku is located in the eastern part of the island. Near there is Ahu Tongariki, where the 15 Moai are located.
Here is a topographic map. The green areas are all National Parks.
Later when the European sailors arrived they spread disease. The first European on Easter Island landed on Easter Sunday in 1722, hence the name Easter Island. Europeans all wanted to see the Moai. Then slavers from Peru carried off a large portion of the population. The Rapa Nui people felt that they were no longer being protected by the ancestors. So the Moai were destroyed. 
A competition was held to be the first man to return with an egg from the island. The very first competition elected the king, we have heard from our different guides that there was a new king every year or that the subsequent completions were for pride. Notice on the head of the warrior an egg holder. These guys look like our modern day hipsters with man buns.
Lots of different businesses in town, these guys offered tours. There is no standard for being a guide, so if you didn’t stay at a reputable place you might end up with a guide spouting nonsense, All the guides from Explora had several months training and supervision. All our groups were to have a maximum of eight travelers. Steve and I were often the only ones on our outings.
Here is the Catholic Church. Priests who arrived from Europe were able to convert most of the people to Catholicism. Offering schools, hospitals and food, they filled the needs of the people. The population had decreased to around 110 people! Now there are about 7000 people of whom 3000 are Rapa Nui.
This is someone’s Christmas tree!
More free range or town horses.
The countryside is so green. They even grew big puddles with all the rain!
We saw lot of horses that were laying on the ground. We were told that since the horses were free to roam all over the island they frequently ate plants that would make them sick, and then die.
Why don’t my pictures look like the professionals’ ?
This Moai is quite eroded.
It is all so dramatic!
We started our walk along the cliffs. Here is a piece of obsidian that Natalia found. It is illegal to take any rocks from the park.
We had to get up early to drive south from Valparaiso to the airport in Santiago to catch our flight to Easter Island. It wasn’t hard to wake up early as we barely slept. The gulls outside our windows drove us crazy all night long! Wake up call at 5:30 for a 6:00 car pickup.
Good bye Valparaiso graffiti!
The pretty drive to the airport.
Steve got us some coffee so we could stay awake on our flight. As the hotel was not open for our early breakfast we were given a bag breakfast of a ham and cheese on stale bread and a nectarine. All we really wanted was coffee! The Dunkin’ Donuts had no milk and only artificial sweetener. I tried to pretend I was drinking a large espresso.
We were flying business class to Easter Island. Did you know that it will take us 5 hours to get there?
We leave the mainland. Next stop Easter Island! It is called Easter Island as it was discovered by Jacob Roggeveen,a Dutch Explorer, on Easter Sunday in 1722.
Plane breakfast. 
Easter Island is in the middle of nowhere! It is a long way from there to any other inhabited land.
You can see where Valparaiso was. On the coast and north of Santiago. Look at all the mountains!
Easter Island.
Yay! We have arrived! 
We have landed! Looks like I could use a brow lift and possibly an under eye tuck. Would you believe that a hair dresser I once went to suggested I get an eye lift, and Botox in my cheek folds? I always call them Fred Flintstone’s as his face had some really big ones.
Wilma doesn’t have any at all. Maybe she had Botox! Her hairdresser will never tell!
Just follow the signs.
Here is Steve checking us in. Everybody gets a lei!
Don’t I look lovely with my beautiful lei? At least my chin looks firm! Unfortunately the flowers looked good for only about 30 minutes!
We had iced tea, it was very lemony.
Followed by ham and cheese on a baguette.
Several of the Moai were toppled over and broken into many pieces.
You can see how big the quarry is in this picture.
The water looks inviting but it was so cold!
I think that Steve is looking at me like Fred looked at Wilma!
Bread to start.
There is always a salad isn’t there?
Followed by soup. Before and after they ladled the soup in the bowl. I love soup that is a production in the presentation!
Our fish.
Yummy dessert.
Look how far west we are!
After a fitful sleep at we woke up and went to breakfast. Unfortunately the room had no air conditioning and it was quite warm outside. We left the windows open so that we could have a breeze, but the gulls were always squawking! In addition, there was a park below with lots of people hanging out late into the night!
Here is another view of the hotel. Our room is on the third floor of the building on the upper left by the arched window.
This is a picture of the outside of the restaurant where we had dinner last night and breakfast this morning.
Off we went with JP, and Maxima our driver in our Peugeot van. ValparaÃso is so colorful!
I am used to signs showing evacuation routes from super highways due to snow closures. This was the first time I saw a sign for a Tsunami escape route.
Houses were built anywhere there was a place to support a house. Even though Chile has lots of earthquakes, there are not many deaths, due to the strict construction guidelines.
The sun was blinding here. JP and Steve are shielding their eyes from the glare.
JP was into crazy poses. I’m not really into them, and don’t do crazy well, but I am a good sport. Here we are anyway at the famous floral clock doing a crazy pose.
We are now in Viña Del Mar, it is known for its beautiful gardens. It is within the ValparaÃso region, and is Chile’s fourth largest city. The chef at the hotel last night called ValparaÃso the San Francisco of the third world!
Here we are, on the Promenade. It is early, so not many people are out and about.
Here is JP pointing toward Valparaiso.
Here is the other direction, toward Con Con.
Here is the Casino, as I don’t gamble and it was early in the morning; we didn’t go inside. Plus the men in tuxedos, and the women in gowns and fine jewelry are probably still asleep, so there would be nothing to look at and report on!
We continue our stroll along the Promenade like the two love birds that we are. I smartly suggested we remove our dorky hats for the picture. See that white shirt I am wearing? Well, I will leave it in the hotel tomorrow by mistake and not ever see it again!
Ah, some energetic joggers. The rock in the background is called the “Michael Jackson” rock as it started out black. #imjustrepeatingthejoke
Above the u shaped rocks, there were seals playing. They were fun to watch jumping and diving into the water. That is ValparaÃso in the background.
We depart the beach with JP and Steve looking for babes in bikinis.
Let’s go into the park Vina Del Mar which was named after Jose Francisco Delvarga.
This is an old house across the street from the park. This is what many of the houses looked like when the city was founded. Now it is mostly skyscrapers.
They host many concerts here. Preparations were underway for a concert in two weeks.
Inside the concert arena.
We could not understand this sculpture hanging down from the rooftop of the amphitheater.
We continued our walk in the park and examined many of the old specimen trees.
JP was very upset that so many of the tree limbs had to be cut down due to the rot that the old tree had.
This is a photo of the house where Senor Delvarga lived.
You can see damage from the earthquake that is being repaired.
We depart Vina Del Mar and all its flowers.
We go to the Mueso La Sebastiana next. 
Neruda’s home had charming views of ValparaÃso. He loved to get together with friends, especially on New Year’s Eve when the bay lit up with fireworks. During the summer at our house in Lake George, I am always running up and down our deck looking at the fireworks over the lake. I am easily entertained.
The colorful house from below.
Here we are in a normal pose.
We left the museum as the crowds began to gather.
Mural of a young boy fishing.
The houses are all a mishmash of styles. JP told us that a number of the houses are built right on top of each other, so it can be difficult finding the right address!
Panoramic view of ValparaÃso.
I spy something.
The murals have many different themes.
Many of the murals were commissioned by business people or the city.
I found this one creepy.
All through the neighborhoods were murals.
To get to our restaurant Maxima had to back the van up a narrow street. Well, it was that or back up after he dropped us off. I think he wanted to impress us. He did!
Lunch was at Maralegre, (
Steve and I were pretty hot and tired from all the walking around in the sun. It was nice to take some ibuprofen and not be on our feet. Steve has felt a sore throat for the past few days. I think it’s all the smog. We shall see when we get to Easter Island as there won’t be any smog there!
Here I am equally happy, this vacation has been so wonderful!
My view over Steve’s shoulder.
A closeup shows a house with earthquake damage, or ready for renovation or both!
We were offered tomato berry watermelon gazpacho to start. I drank Steve’s as he doesn’t care for tomato juice, or fruits. It really helped to cool me off.
Fresh rolls and butter, much better than stale rolls! As the lunch went on the butter melted completely in the hot sun.
Salad was greens with cheese, thinly sliced pear and quail eggs.
I ate half before the waiter brought out the dressing!
Steve had a Pisco Sour, I had an Aperol Spritz.
We were offered a palate cleanser of apple anise ice. It was quite refreshing.
Steve had the tagliatelle, sun dried tomatoes, sage and almonds.
I had the wagyu beef, shrimp angel hair pasta with truffle oil. No I did not finish!
Before dessert I had Steve and I change seats, just like at my fancy candle lit dinner parties!
My new view.
The dessert was called chocolate vanilla or vanilla chocolate in Spanish!
The waiter poured hot chocolate on the mousse so it melted like a reverse volcano. This might be my Vulcan Hudson afterall!
More graffiti.
Steve with improper arm placement for my picture taking. I could however, ask him to move his arm at any time and he would do so. I just like to make fun of him!
This is called the English section. When the English immigrants came to ValparaÃso they married the Spanish aristocracy and stayed in this area. They were considered of higher status because they were English. The Germans moved to the Lake District. These homes were painted pastels: blues, purples, whites and greens.
A panoramic view of the port.
We could see four cranes constantly moving containers.
Here I made JP and Steve do a crazy pose.
This house was in very bad shape, but it had an amazing view.
Graffiti and laundry hung out upstairs to dry.
The main square. There was an artisan market under the canopies.
Because the city is a UNESCO site the original outsides of buildings are protected. You must keep the outer facade protected, but can erect a modern building inside! The result is bizarre.
A tomb in honor of the naval war heroes that died in a battle in 1879 against Peru. It is continually protected by a sailor, who you can see on the left of the statute wearing dark pants and a white shirt.
#thisiswhyitakethepictures
Have you ever ridden on a funicular in ValparaÃso? Come along.
Our car enters the station.
Enter brunette bombshell. Steve keeps his eyes properly elevated. When he is married to a bombshell like me, what more does he need?
We are off! Higher we shall go.
Still higher.
After our ascent in the funicular, we walked to our hotel. 
We wanted to soak in the wood fired hot tub, but the fire was out and the water was cold.
We went back to the room and while we were changing we heard sirens going off. We weren’t sure if it was pre warning for an earthquake or a fire in the hotel. We were in hysterics trying to decide if it was better to run out of the room naked, or to put your clothes on first. By the time we put our clothes on the second set of sirens was over. Phew!
We went to dinner at the little restaurant across the park from our hotel. The place where the all night revelers held court!
Steve was his usually happy self at dinner. He only gets grumpy in the morning after he has had a bad night’s sleep. Then, once he gets his coffee he is good to go. I must admit that whenever I say or do something I shouldn’t,he gets disappointed in me. Of course, that rarely happens. Ha Ha! Well, maybe once a month. Would you believe week? Okay, maybe I misbehave once a day, but then it is an accident!
Here is our waitress telling JP, “No, that is not available.” We could only choose from a third of the menu!
I ordered a blueberry Pisco sour. They also offered ginger, mint, or regular.
We had the salmon with potatoes and it looked disgusting. It was delicious. You might call it salmon with glop sauce!
Here is a view out my window in the restaurant.
Close up we can see that these people had a dinner party going on. How lovely!
For dessert I had the strawberry mousse. Of course I finished the whole thing! Unfortunately there was no chocolate anything or ice cream on the menu for Steve.
JP had apple pie for dessert. We had a nice discussion about politics and taxes. The previous mayor of Valparaiso was accused of corruption and the new mayor is only 31! He was elected because everyone thought he was too young to be corrupt!
Santiago is inland and surrounded by mountains. There are three major tunnels between the interior of Santiago and the outskirts. Smog gets progressively worse as you near the city center.
As we say good bye to Puerto Montt, I will give you a little more Chilean history. Chile was declared independent from Spain in 1818. The government felt that it was important to exert sovereignty over the south of Chile and 212 German colonists came to Lake LLanquihue to farm. It is interesting to note that what you and I consider middle Chile, is considered South Chile to Chileans. Further south, where the Fjords and Patagonia are was not colonized until the middle area was established, and was already considered the South! Confused? I am. Just remember Patagonia is south of south Chile.
Good bye Lake LLanquihue! Good bye Volcano Orsono!
Hello clouds!
The clouds lifted the further north we flew. You can see the Andes again.
A closer view of some of the volcanoes. The one on the left already blew its top off and a glacier sits in the cone. You can tell the volcano is inactive as you can see the glacier.
When we landed I found out that the large group with us on the plane was an Alumni group from Harvard. Even though they went to Harvard, they had to board the bus with us to go to the terminal.
JP, (Juan Pablo, who was our guide earlier during our stay in Santiago) and our driver picked up and drove us to Valparaiso. It took about a 90 minute drive from the airport. Did you know that there are 5 Valparaiso’s in the world? Valparaiso is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and ValparaÃso is also the third largest metropolitan area in the country. Before the Panama Canal was created, the city was a major port for those traveling between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The city is known for its funiculars, graffiti, cobblestone streets, and colorful clifftop homes. There is lots of graffiti here, the city has not banned spray cans yet. ValparaÃso is in the process of installing street cameras in hopes of decreasing the amount of graffiti.
There are beautiful murals all over.
After winding through many narrow streets and hills we arrived at our hotel. You can see how narrow and steep some of the streets are.
Hotel Palacio Astoreca 
The hotel was damaged in an earthquake about ten years ago. The inside has been renovated and it has a quite modern style. I don’t really know how to describe the outer architectural style.
This is a reception area off the lobby. The reception desk is off to the left.
There was a lovely library in the hotel and Steve climbed the movable stairs to get a couple of books. He now knows many facts about Picasso.
Our room was on the third floor. Thankfully there was an elevator! We were assigned room #17. It was the receptionist’s favorite room. We liked it too!
Steve examining the rooms before our bags got unpacked and spoiled the pristine room.
This was another view of the bed. For some strange unexplained reason there was a strange wooden frame around the side of the bed. It made it very difficult to get in and out of the bed. Steve considered this an “unfriendly bed”.
The bath with a waterfall shower head.
Hmm, should we see if this leads to the outside?
It does! Steve is a good sport and imitates an exhausted traveler lying on the chaise lounge. Now I must tell you that some of these clever posed pictures are not Steve’s ideas, but mine. He takes great pictures of his fingers so I have to direct him in the poses that I want commemorated. He is a good husband and plays along with me, I think that I will keep him.
Here is one of the views from our patio. Con Con on the top left, Reñaca a little to the right. Vina Del Mar is across the water above the large salmon building in the center of the picture. Valparaiso follows to the right and the bottom of the picture. Our room had a beautiful view of the bay, although I think all the views from the hotel were fabulous!
Let’s go to dinner at the hotel, shall we? We need to descend the spiral staircase to the restaurant on the first floor. (I hate spiral staircases!)
It’s 7:30, and we are ready for dinner. Most people in South America don’t eat dinner until 8 p.m. Your eyes are in focus, I am trying the blurred shot to soften the wrinkles in Steve’s face. Just kidding, I don’t know what went wrong!
A lovely Pisco Sour, the orange on the foam is a dash of bitters, which cuts the sweetness of the drink.
Our rolls couple, ready to be slathered with butter and eaten!
For his starter, Steve had the house special. Bacon foam, mashed potatoes, and Scallops topped with a saffron foam. It was ethereal!
My skinny knife for my beef entree.
I had the beef filet with gratin dauphinois potatoes, topped with a muleteer salad and pickled zucchini cubes. Steve had the salmon. I forgot to take a picture of it!
It’s years later, and I look at this menu, wishing I could have one of everything right now. However we were too full that night to order anything more. However, if the menu was prix fixe, no doubt I would have insisted that Steve and I each try something different and share! The pricing was in Chilean Pesos. Now 1000 pesos is equivalent to about $1.50.
The sun had set before I got a chance to take a picture of it glittering over the water. I sure didn’t miss the street signs, and utility poles! Does this win the prize of worst picture ever? No! It doesn’t have a finger in the view!
Back up to the room, I discover our special treat!
I love pistachio macaroons ! In fact, I love all macaroons!
We didn’t have champagne at breakfast, but we might have if we wanted to.
The rain clouds rolled in and their were no volcanos to be found anywhere. You can’t expect beautiful weather every day while on vacation!
Good bye to one of the staff. She was the waitress at breakfast this morning and not the bruja. Notice the lack of broom.
Good bye beautiful front gardens.
Open Sesame and good-bye Quincho.
We are off now to see Fruitillar. This was a community like Puerto Varas that was settled by Germans in the early 19th century. After the Napoleonic Wars Spain had little money left and said to Chile that they could have their independence. It costs too much money to take care of you!
So the government of Chile asked people to come. The British and Germans came gladly to settle the country. The British stayed in the cities and the Germans went to farm in the country. They fell in love with the Lake District as would you if you came to visit.
This farm had the cows grazing right next to the house!
The farmland goes right down to the lake. Farming has so many challenges and it is difficult to earn money as dairy farmers. The farming life is not so popular and many of the farmers are selling some of the land for vacation homes, or for those that want to start new businesses in Puerto Varas.
This house was being gutted from the inside and the frame was kept. These. are not tear downs as the owners want to keep the historic outside.
Another house in need of repair.
So we arrive in Fruitillar. This house is owned by someone very wealthy. They have a great view of the lake. The living room drapes were up inviting passers by to cross the street and admire the furniture.
Of course I would cross the street! Here the lady of the house would sit with her friends and eat Pflaumenkuchen (plum cake) and keep up with all the news. I think I could fit in very well. I could seriously have a good time here!
So Isabel is explaining to Steve why Fruitillar is so well preserved. Something about some wealthy families who own a lot of the land and don’t want development. Or at least I think so.
Really neat old houses.
This one was also an inn.
More explaining. If I didn’t take so many pictures, I would know what is going on!
It’s a cake store, but not open yet.
It was cool and the weatherman predicted rain at 11:00.
See how visible my new red Patagucci jacket is? Now Steve will always be able to find me.
Isabel is short, but the hydrangeas are still big!
Yankee-Way! Now you can speak Chilean also!
Orsono is someplace behind the clouds!
Red Hot Pokers?
Love it!
Off to the museum to see how the German immigrants lived. 
A closeup of the famous shingles that the area homes used in their. construction. These were from a tree that was more widespread in the past, but is now a protected species. They no longer make shingles with this wood. You could get a lot of money on a tear down of one of the homes with these shingles.
This map shows you the development of the community on Lago LLanquihue. Lago is Spanish for Lake. The dark brown is the original town.
Steve giving you a demonstration on how light the slats were. He does have the top of a head, I just didn’t center my picture properly.
A fuchsia bush!
A carriage from a later era than my Regency Romance novels. This gentleman was rich, the seat cushions look well padded, and the carriage looked like it was well sprung!
These hydrangeas are even bigger than I am posing in my lovely red Patagucci jacket!
The kitchen in one of the old house replicas.
The bedroom upstairs with the bed warmer sitting on the coverlet and the chamber pot on the floor.
Somehow Isabel got me to climb a small hill and some stairs.
Here are some of the blossoms, all on one Hydrangea plant!
By this time I had enough of wandering around in the cold. “No Mas!” I told Isabel. So Fernando brought the car around and we went off for coffee.
Our next stop was the Performing Arts Center in Fruitillar, Teatro del Lago. It cost $25 million to build. The outside is a replica of the wooden sheds that the Germans who bounded this community built to store their boats. This picture was from a cover of a book in the lobby of the Center.
So off we went for a coffee.
The outside of the building looked so pretty with many types of wood.
A Cappuccinni Cappuccino! It tasted as good as it looked!
Steve was so happy.
Isabel was pretending to be interested in what Steve had to say.
We had a plane to catch, but first we had a tour of the building scheduled. We were getting worried. In Chile you don’t have to be too early to catch your flight. We were still worried.
This art work hanging form the ceiling represents piano keys.
The man on the right is the artistic director for the center. He got us into see the main auditorium instead of having to wait with the rest of the big group. Check out the leg room and the width of the seats!
The main theatre seats 1178 people.
Upper floor seating is best for seeing the dance patterns in a ballet. The front is best for seeing the hands of pianists and the musical instruments. All seats are equally great to hear the music.
We got to take a peak at a youth choir practicing. Children from all over Chile receive dance and music scholarships. On a beautiful day you can see the lake and the volcanos through the glass windows behind this stage surround.
Good bye LLanquihue Lake!
Goodby humongous white hydrangeas by utility poles.
Incredible.
Isabel’s husband on LLanquihue cool as a cucumber.
Neat!
This is from Isabel’s girlfriend from Puerto Montt. It looks like computer generated images from a movie.
Hello pouring rain on the way to the airport.
We finally got through all the airport lines and got to our gate to wait for the plane. Isabelle had asked her favorite baker to make us a lunch with love. Steve wanted to eat it in the car, or at least check it out, but I shook my head no. I told him we couldn’t, we had to check it out at the airport. I didn’t want Isabel to see unhappy faces if we hated the lunch.
I had a sneaking suspicion that I would not enjoy the sack lunch. I was right, it did not appeal to me at all. Dark bread, cream cheese, tomato and dill. Where is there a good deli when you need one?
The pumpkin muffin was meh.
I saved the raisin nut mix for later.
Of course the water bottle that I opened was not still water, but water with gas. So much gas, that the water bottle gushed water all over. My pants got wet, but not my upper body as that was protected by my Patagucci Gore-Tex jacket!
Steve bought some almonds for his lunch. He didn’t eat any of the sack lunch Isabel provided.
Our plane finally showed up. The gate for our tripmkept on changing and we had to keep a sharp eye on that.
We were amused by the snack cart. I can’t imagine anyone buying a cheese wheel to bring with them on the plane. Perhaps it was a gift to be brought to someone when you got off the plane.
What I did find amusing was this lady trying to bring pool noodles on the plane!
Steve was happy the lady with the noodles wasn’t sitting next to him.
Here is a recently active volcano. It is called Calbucco. It erupted two years ago. It spewed ash, not lava. Unlike Orsono is does not have a glacier on the summit as it has erupted frequently. No one died as all residents behaved properly and evacuated.
You can see how unafraid we are. We have a very fast and competent driver!
This is the ash.
The pumice was quite light.
Next we drive to the first National Park in Chile. The Green Lagoon.
Very tall beech trees.
The water was so green.
I loved the reflection of the trees.
The Laguna Verde has gotten stagnant due to the lowering of the lake levels. As this is a national park they can not enlarge the channel.
Here Isabel is telling us the myth of LLanquihue.
Once there was a beautiful maiden. Her head is the right part of the mountain. She was laid to to appease the spirits of the mountains. (Her breasts are in the cloud bank.) Her heart was removed and tossed into the volcano. Her loving prince who couldn’t save her in time turned himself into a condor and circles the volcanos to this day looking for her heart. Very sad.
Orsono is in the background. Getting closer!
We stop to examine a fissure where excess steam can escape. More husbands need this. This is a linear volcanic vent through which lava erupts, usually without any explosive activity.
Here is what is called a false volcano. It is not the main eruption point.
Almost to the parking lot where we will start our hike.
The parking lot elevation, longitude and latitude. We’ve are at almost the exact latitude as Poughkeepsie, except south of the equator. It could be downhill from here, but of course it is not.
The ski area on the side of the Volcano Orsono. It’s summer now, so only hiking, no skiing.
Volcanic ash.
Let’s follow the ash road and see where it shall lead us.
Steve in his sexy floppy hat to keep his face protected from the sun. Mine is just as bad!
There was a rain storm and much of the ash eroded.
They call this the iron hill, due to the iron deposits.
Some of the steps were tricky. You had to watch where you were going or you could get your foot twisted in the log supports and take a tumble.
Steve admiring the view on the way up. That hat doesn’t look so bad from this angle.
Slow and steady and I just might make it to wherever Isabel says is as high as we will go.
Yay ! We are done! No why didn’t someone reframe the picture so that lady wasn’t in it?
This is as far as we got. Thank heavens! Not the top, but who carries ice crampons in their luggage? That hat looks especially bad from this angle.
Our high point. This ascent was enough for me.
So here Steve and I stand with Argentina behind us. That is Volcan Puntiagudo behind us. Do you know how long that took me to learn? It even looks like we are above the clouds!
This lady is waiting at the zip line jump off spot. No thank you, although I was awfully tired of walking.
Steve and Isabel just before we make a left to head down to the parking lot.
Take that you volcanic pile of dirt!
Isabel is leading us down. She is in terrific shape as she takes guests on this hike a couple of days a week. Maybe this is why she said it was such a short walk!
Here is a lousy job. Volcanic ash shoveler.
Just a little bit more down the hill! Ha!
Wait! Nobody told me we could take the chair lift up!
I swear I am going to kill Isabel!
They are leaving me in the volcanic ash dust.
Almost to the parking lot as we can see plants.
Isabel is telling us that the parking lot is just ahead.
Steve’s sneakers were full of ash.
In the background on the deck is the actor Anthony Daniels, who played C3PO in the Star Wars movies. He had been on the same hike that we did to the Verde Laguna. I did not recognize him as he wasn’t wearing his gold costume from the movie!
Good bye Orsono!
Down to sea level from the slopes of Orsono, we see bamboo trees again.
Lunch will be at Don Salmon.
Isabel leads the way in.
We were ushered to a table with a lovely view of LLanquihue Lake. It was too cold and windy to eat outside.
Empanadas with pico de gallo.
One must always look at the dessert bar first!
Food!
Food!
And more food!
My mixed assortment of a lot of different stuff to eat. No dessert pictures, they were hard to plate and I made a mess.
Steve liked this display, I wonder why!
Gaucho hats used by the staff to wave people driving down the highway into the restaurant parking lot. On our first day in the town of Puerto Varas we noticed many people with signs stating “House to Rent”. Can you imagine? You have no idea what you are getting into. The place could be a dump! Even worse, you could find an axe murderer waiting for you in the house you want to rent for a weekend! No thank you!
This place was similar to an upscale Cracker Barrel Restaurant, except it was a buffet.
Shirts for sale imported from China with Gander Mountain New Jersey label!
Parking lot was halfway full when we left. An hour later when we drove by again it was totally full. The hat wavers had returned to other duties.
So we get back into the car. Francisco our trusted driver will hopefully step on the gas and get us out of trouble if their are any volcanic eruption warnings!
Our next stop is to the famous Chilean waterfalls named after the horse fly! Thankfully we were not bothered by them.
This is an illustration that is hard to read as I had a bad reflection from the sun. The lakes flow from left to right and then into the inner Chilean sea that then flows into the Pacific. The Andes mountains are in the background.
This is just a side channel of the real falls.
The best is still yet to come. This creek was dry a few weeks ago.
Orsono to the left middle. Lago Llanquihue on the bottom. The falls drain from Lagos Todos dos Santos. Aqui is where we are.
Notice the German on the sign. The area was settled by German in the 1850’s. More on that tomorrow.
Todos dos selfies y el Rio in elbackgroundo. Doesn’t that sound Chilean?
Now how pretty is that?
I’m trying to get you to ignore the railing.
A double volcano with double waterfall and double Lant shot. Can this be topped? I don’t think so! Don’t forget the double sunglasses and tan pants! If only I had a plaid shirt.
It was crazy crowded. Isabel says every Chilean visits here once in their lifetime. It was not a bad walk at all. Lots of pretty waterfalls and rushing water. Plus volcanos in the background!
That water was a lovely shade of green.
There were a few guards around to prevent people from being stupid and standing on the fences to take selfies. No guards in this picture, they must have been chasing away somebody else!
Doesn’t Steve look like he is crazy in love with me? Or do you think it is gas?
Can you figure out what this means?
Obviously these Chileans don’t follow the rules. They could be Argentinians on a day trip. Isabel was always shaking her head about people that that. She thought they were from Argentina. Steve’s feet are fully behind the red line. Both of us are sticklers about rules, especially me!
Many salmon live here. Fishing is only allowed further downstream.
Isabel is explaining the rock formations. The lower rocks are in a fan shape. The upper layer is in a horizontal layer. This shows you that there has been geological movement of the rocks.
Isabel needed a pick-me-up, so it was Mate time.
You knew I would take some if offered, didn’t you?
Steve tried it also, he didn’t go for seconds.
We needed to drive back to Puerto Varas before we returned to our hotel as I somehow managed to leave my rain jacket in Coyhaique. I emailed our travel agent to see if it could be located in Coyhaique and then sent to me care of the Ritz Carlton when we returned to Santiago later in the week. We knew that if we brought a new jacket mine would be found and returned. If we didn’t get one it would pour on our trip to Easter Island and the Galapagos. So since I might have accidentally on purpose (not) left my jacket in Coyhaique we went to the Patagucci site in town and got me a beautiful red Goretex jacket. It is so beautiful and has many special flourishes (hidden pockets, an elongated hood to protect my proboscis from the rain)! It is bright red so that Steve will always be able to locate me! I am so in love with it. It was even on sale! Only 219,000 Chilean dollars! I do wish they would do something about all the zeros in their prices!
We never did dip our toes in Lago LLanquihue. It did look very popular, with many people frolicking on the beach.
We returned to Quincho with my new love, a red Patagucci rain jacket. In case you don’t know or already know, and want to be reminded, Patagonia products are affectionately or derisively called Patagucci. I must admit that I am not as cool as I thought, as I did not know they were called Patagucci until I met Isabel. It’s a play on the words Patagonia and Gucci!
One of the fence posts covered by lichens.
Our room was on the second floor. It had a lovely view of LLanquihue.
Another view of the back of the house. We were the only guests staying there Sunday night, so it was as if we had the whole house for ourselves!
Gorgeous hydrangeas!
There were some red bushes down a path. I told Steve we would not go down the path, as that meant we would have to go back up on the way back!
Another view of the back of the house. I looked up our room on the internet and we are staying in the honeymoon suite!
Pretty pink and whites.
They don’t have deer problems here!
This purple color I am so crazy about!
Steve enjoying the view. He told me we should buy property here. I told him he is nuts. Better to vacation and not have any worries.
Purple.
Purple pink?
Lilac colored.
Fuschia.
These yellow flowers were in a vase in our room. Isabel used to work here and she called the woman on the housekeeping staff a Bruja-a witch who does magic and straightens everything out.
They even had a soccer field where the young children of the family played when they lived here ten years ago.
The barn where the crew shells were stored. Maybe they had the barbecues here?
The front of the house.
Window on the right is above the jacuzzi in our room and the one on the left is in the walk in closet. The room was humongous!
It was just the two of us at dinner tonight.
The blue white hydrangeas on the dinner sill.
Fresh rolls.
I had the sweet squash pie with blue cheese.
Steve had Chilean Hake Seviche to start.
Steve had the grilled trout, corn pie and grilled vegetables. (Yes, that does look like an omelette!)
I had veal filet for my entree with vegetables, potatoes and Chilean sea weed (bull kelp). I circled the bull kelp for you as I knew you were curious!
We had creme brûlée for dessert. I have never had one so soupy before, but I still finished it!
Our driver and our guide Isabel meet us at the airport in Puerto Montt to bring us to the town of Puerto Varas located on the shore of Lago LLanquihue. Lago means Lake. Llanquihue is pronounced “Yankee-Way”! The town has become quite a popular place to live and the townspeople tell all their friends who don’t live here “You don’t want to come here, it is a terrible place to stay!”. They are hoping that the place does not get bigger and change in a bad way.
We drive down the driveway with beautiful purple hydrangeas to our hotel for the next two nights, Quincho Casa. Quincho means Barbecue, and there is a large barn on the property where the former owners used to host barbecues. Now the house has been renovated to be a four bedroom hotel.
We enter the main room and are offered a glass of Sauvignon blanc.
We are staying in the Ibis room. This is the former owner’s master bedroom.
In the entry way is a tray of fresh fruit.
Too pretty to eat!
Our room before it is trashed with our clothes strewn all over with me looking for my rain slicker that I seem to have misplaced.
The bed with beautiful woven pillows and blanket.
Fresh flowers from the gardens.
Our view of the Orsono Volcano from our room.
Here’s a closer view. You can see this volcano from town also. I think it would be exciting to live near a lake the size of Lake Tahoe, with active volcanos nearby. Orsono is inactive, but there are other active volcanos nearby.
The view towards Lago Llanquihue.
One side of the walk in closet. I am not sure what the racks on the lower left are for. Since I don’t have such a fancy closet at home I wouldn’t know.
The two person bath tub.
Here is a picture of the bathtub. It even has a mirror in it in case you want to shave or reapply your lipstick!
The sink area, no picture of the toilet or the shower that looked like it was big enough for four people! I love those heated towel bars.
We descended the stairs to go to dinner. The staircase was a work of art, with a beautiful curving handrail. This place must have cost a fortune to build!
Our table awaits. It is so nice to be able to eat dinner at the hotel and not run into town and look for a restaurant.
Fresh rolls. We had four, but Steve grabbed one before I could take a picture!
Fresh greens.
I had the venison with squash. It was so tender and yummy!
Steve had the salmon with quinoa.
We were told to watch the Volcano Orsono at sunset.
The colors would change every few minutes!
So pretty!
Good night!