Familia!

On Saturday (9/15/2012), I went to Santiago to meet Max and my mom at the airport.  Their flight was a little delayed so I waited for an extra hour to see their wonderful faces, but it finally happened!  After a little crying and a lot of hugging, we were off to Valparaiso!  We spent about two hours on a bus, and then took a taxi to the apartment...

This was our apartment for the 5 nights we spent in Cerro Alegre.  It was really spacious, comfortable, and even had central heating (very rare for houses in Chile)!  It was also close to some good restaurants and cafes.  It was situated on the top of the hill so it had a great view, but also meant a lot of walking uphill...something I think we're all still a little sore from.  Got some great calf muscles out of it, though!  

On Monday, we explored the Casablanca wine valley.  We first went to a little winery, Quintay where we tried all of their wines and even got a free tour of the warehouse!  The woman explaining the wines to us was so nice and absolutely adorable!  She even gave us three wine openers as a parting gift.   

We then went to Casas del Bosque, where we tried three different wines.  The tasting room was gorgeous!  They had wine glasses in the middle of the table each filled with a different substance (strawberries, chocolate, vanilla, etc.) so that we could pick out different smells in the wine.  The wine was great, but the guide was a little less enjoyable.  He was not the most informative person when it came to the wine and I think he was in a rush to get out of there.  We still managed to have a great time though!  

On Tuesday we ventured into Viña del Mar where we saw the Reloj de Flores (flower clock).  

 Then we went to the famous Sibariticos for lunch!  Anthony Bourdain visited this place when he was traveling through Chile, so you know it's good!  

I meant to order two completos (because that's what Anthony Bourdain ordered), but ended up ordering two of these gigantic sandwiches by mistake, and by the time I realized I had ordered the wrong things it was too late.  We were stuck with them.  They were pretty delicious, but way too much food for two people!  They had beef, avocado, and tomato. 

We did eventually get Max his completo though!  It's basically a massive hot dog with sauerkraut, tomatoes, cheese, and avocado.  I think he liked it! 

After lunch, we headed further into Viña for the fonda (a carnival they had set up for fiestas patrias).  We enjoyed a few terremotos and then headed back to the apartment for some downtime.