Afuera de Santiago...

So last year at this time, I had already been travelling a lot and I had plans to travel even more. This year has been different. I haven't really had time to do as much traveling and I would like to save more money this time around. But, every once in a while I do like to venture "fuera de Santiago" to get out of the city. Last week was Dario's birthday so we went to Viña del Mar. From there, we took a bus to ConCon and signed up for a horseback riding expedition in Ritoque. It was absolutely beautiful. I had never been horseback riding on the beach so I really enjoyed it. We also had to cross a laguna and the water came up to the horse's belly so we had to lift our legs up to the horses ears which was very difficult and I was VERY sore after riding for 4 hours haha. We saw the sunset on the beach which was spectacular. I was definitely a little nervous because my dad and my aunt have both had bad experiences with horses so I was a little nervous, but luckily everything was fine. It was really fun and I'm glad I got to finally ride a horse on the beach after only having ridden them in the mountains. And we also rode in some dunes which was cool. I think my favorite part was that 5 dogs came with us and kept up with the horses the whole time! It was a 12K adventure so the dogs must have been exhausted! Then we went back to Viña and did some people watching. It was a beautiful day :)

This weekend, I went on some vineyard tours with some of my friends who also teach English at Bridge here in Santiago. My friend Kris just got accepted to the Peace Corps in Africa so he is leaving Santiago to go back to the States to spend time with his family before he goes to Africa in October for 27 months. So he organized the vineyard tours. Yesterday morning I woke up to EXTREMELY thick fog because it had rained for 2 days in Santiago. It was also very cold. We met at the bus station, had a mimosa to also celebrate the fact that we won't be in the States for the 4th of July, and then took a bus to Casablanca Valley where the vineyards are. We got off and walked to Veramonte Vinyeard. Luckily, by the time we got to the vineyard, the fog had cleared and it was BEAUTIFUL. We took a tour, learned how the wine is produced, and had a wine tasting. The wines were paired with cheeses. First, we had a Sauvignon Blanc paired with DELICIOUS goat cheese. Then, a Carmenere (a grape that is only grown in Chile), paired with parmesean cheese. Finally, we had a blended red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon mixed with Carmenere I think) which was my favorite. It was so rich and smooth.  Then, we decided to be like locals and take a local bus to the next vineyard. We asked some Chileans who were also waiting for the bus and they were nice enough to help us. Chileans who live outside of Santiago are SOOOO friendly and nice. I'm not saying that people in Santiago are mean, it's just that it is a big city and there are lots of people. Anyway, we got on the bus and arrived at Casas del Bosque vineyard which was beautiful. We didn't take a tour because it was too expensive but we were able to sit outside on the patio of the restaurant and we ordered some bottles of wine which were delicious. I am so glad the weather was beautiful. I did the Concha y Toro vineyard tour last year at the same time with my family and that was nice, too, but this was nice because it isn't as commercialized. I do, however, want to go to a vineyard that is in season when the grapes are growing. Maybe I will venture over to Mendoza, Argentina during harvest!