Steve's visit

Steve's Visit

March 30--April 5, 2006

A friend who worked with Artie more than 25 years ago in Florida and who now is corporate vice president in charge of Health, Environment, Safety and Security arrived from Dallas Texas. After Steve spent a couple of days on business here, he extended his stay to learn more about Chile and enjoy some time with us. We began Saturday morning with an early metro trip to Concha y Toro vineyards.

The scenes are beautiful in this largest of wineries of Chile, from the tall and odd looking Monkey Puzzle Trees, also called Araucaria, to the sweet tasting grapes ready for picking. We sampled a few, and then later sampled the wine.

While a touring artist captured the scene, the tour guide prepared our glasses for the first of two wine tasting opportunities.

We learned about how the grapes are grown, harvested, and prepared for their variety of quality wines. Their first sample was a lower cost option, and the last one, just before the gift shop, was their higher-end wine, of course.

We also toured the wine cellar, and the location of the devil's cellar. Outside, the autumn colors were starting to show on the trees, though the air was still warm. We headed home on the new metro line, complete with our Concha y Toro wine goblets and some other souvenirs from the day.

To complete the day, we enjoyed a special Chilean dinner, pastel de choclo, prepared by Mónica. Then the following morning, Sunday, Steve got up early for his first tennis opportunity on clay courts at the Prince of Wales Country Club (PWCC) with one of their pros, Piero. Steve did great!

A fun practice followed by a filling breakfast!

Morning walks and enjoying the Sunday antiques fair at Plaza Peru, across the street from the apartment, provide neighborhood entertainment opportunities before heading out to explore the beauty of the nearby Andes mountains.

Even before getting to the upper portions of the mountains, these foothill stream views were picturesque stopping points to get out of the car, explore a bit, and of course take pictures. We then headed up the 60 hair-pin curves to reach a spectacular look-out point, off the paved road, where we could take in the thin-air, 9,000 foot elevation expanse of mountains, valleys, and local wildlife. A great way to spend an afternoon!

A quick nap on the way down from the mountains, followed by some grocery shopping and all were re-charged for wrapping up a full day of fun.

On Monday, Steve and Mónica headed out to see the city of Santiago, including shops like the one pictured here, at Santa Lucia, as well as historic locations like those shown below.

Then Tuesday was a full day of sports: a morning follow-up tennis practice, with Mike and Artie watching, followed by 18 holes of golf with Erhard, Sergio, Mario, Mike, Steve and Artie. A tiring but enjoyable day for sure.

A beautiful golf course, a splendid day, and fun times for all.

You can see the friendship in these end-of-day photos on the course, and during the wrap-up refreshments we all needed afterwards. During less than a week's visit, Steve got to meet new friends, learn about the Chilean culture and customs, and see sights from vineyards to mountains, and neighborhoods to metro train rides, while also relaxing with several home-cooked meals. We all look forward to his return visit, hopefully with his lovely wife, Anna, soon!

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The scenes are beautiful in this largest of wineries of Chile, from the tall and odd looking Monkey Puzzle Trees, also called Araucaria, to the sweet tasting grapes ready for picking. We sampled a few, and then later sampled the wine.

		While a touring artist captured the scene, the tour guide prepared our glasses for the first of two wine tasting opportunities.

We learned about how the grapes are grown, harvested, and prepared for their variety of quality wines. Their first sample was a lower cost option, and the last one, just before the gift shop, was their higher-end wine, of course.

We also toured the wine cellar, and the location of the devil's cellar. Outside, the autumn colors were starting to show on the trees, though the air was still warm. We headed home on the new metro line, complete with our Concha y Toro wine goblets and some other souvenirs from the day.

To complete the day, we enjoyed a special Chilean dinner, pastel de choclo, prepared by Mónica. Then the following morning, Sunday, Steve got up early for his first tennis opportunity on clay courts at the Prince of Wales Country Club (PWCC) with one of their pros, Piero. Steve did great!

		Morning walks and enjoying the Sunday antiques fair at Plaza Peru, across the street from the apartment, provide neighborhood entertainment opportunities before heading out to explore the beauty of the nearby Andes mountains.



Even before getting to the upper portions of the mountains, these foothill stream views were picturesque stopping points to get out of the car, explore a bit, and of course take pictures. We then headed up the 60 hair-pin curves to reach a spectacular look-out point, off the paved road, where we could take in the thin-air, 9,000 foot elevation expanse of mountains, valleys, and local wildlife. A great way to spend an afternoon!

A quick nap on the way down from the mountains, followed by some grocery shopping and all were re-charged for wrapping up a full day of fun.


Then Tuesday was a full day of sports: a morning follow-up tennis practice, with Mike and Artie watching, followed by 18 holes of golf with Erhard, Sergio, Mario, Mike, Steve and Artie. A tiring but enjoyable day for sure.


A beautiful golf course, a splendid day, and fun times for all.



You can see the friendship in these end-of-day photos on the course, and during the wrap-up refreshments we all needed afterwards. During less than a week's visit, Steve got to meet new friends, learn about the Chilean culture and customs, and see sights from vineyards to mountains, and neighborhoods to metro train rides, while also relaxing with several home-cooked meals. We all look forward to his return visit, hopefully with his lovely wife, Anna, soon!