The Shameless Tourist Visits the Zoo

This past weekend, I headed out again, accompanied by my friend Natalie, to the Buin Zoo. The word Zoo is pronounced with long "o"s, like the word "so". This caused me a bit of problems at the ticket window when I was buying my ticket on the Metro Train to Buin. I kept pronouncing "zoo" as I would in English. Of course, this did not work. Finally, Natalie bailed me out. I have the greatest problem with cognates, words that come from the same root and are similar in Spanish and English. They are tricky because they are very similar looking and the meaning is the same (usually, but not always), but the pronunciation is different.

Anyway, about the Metro Train...I have, I believed, discussed the outstanding metro system in the city. The Metro Train is a lot like the city's metro, but it goes outside the city, as far as an hour and a half away. We caught the train at the Estación Central, which is the old Santiago train station. It is a grand iron and concrete building from which the trains depart. On both sides of the station are shopping centers. It was a busy and exciting place. The Metro Train was very crowded, as we went on a weekend during vacations, and so we stood for the whole trip. But, we arrived in Buin after a short 30 minute ride. It seemed that just about everyone else on the train was heading for the zoo as well, since the train left the Buin Zoo stop rather empty.

The zoo in Buin was well worth the effort. There was plenty of shade and the grounds were well kept. There was a good collection of animals, especially of cats, monkeys and birds. The highlight of the trip was the "Animals in Action" show. The star was Chily Wily, a blind penguin. One lucky child sitting next to me got to feed him a couple of fish. What can I say? My aura not only benefits me, but those around me. Also of note was the seal. They had him do all the seal tricks, playing with the ball, clapping his flippers, barking, the works. A definite crowd pleaser. Three cheers for the Buin Zoo!

And, don't forget, you can see other pictures I took by clicking on the link to my Picasa photo site on the side bar.

The Shameless Tourist - Returns

O faithful readers, were has the Shameless Tourist been this past week? Has his blog been on vacation with the rest of Chile? Has the Shameless Tourist dropped off the face of the map? Has he piqued your interested only to tease like a coquette? Alas, no. The Shameless Tourist is alive and well and has no other excuse but sheer and utter laziness, bought about by the oppressive heat. But his adventures continue. Read on, dear reader, read on.

Last week, the Shameless tourist, once again accompanied by Natalie, the Holy Cross Associate, ventured forth to see what the city of Santiago has to offer. The plan was to visit museum central of Santiago, Parque Qunita Normal. Some of the best museums in Santiago are inside the walls of the park, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, the National Museum of Natural History, and an interactive science museum for children. Needless to say, I was excited about the prospects of this outing.

Yet, doubts arose in my mind upon arriving at the park. A police officer was sitting at the entrance requesting all who entered the park to sign in with their names and Rut numbers. The Rut number is a Chilean citizen's or legal resident's official identification number. All Chilean citizens and legal residents have a state issued identification card. Thus, the equivalent for my U.S. readers would be that the police officer was asking everyone to sign in with their name and Social Security number. I am in the process of getting a residential visa and do not as of yet have a Rut number. And, I neither have my passport number memorized, nor was I carrying it with me, for a passport number would have worked too. Fortunately, Natalie was prepared an signed in for the both of us. I was suspicious of this practice of signing in at a park. Was big brother really that concerned with the goings on of park people? The police officer said it was for our safety. This of course left me feeling less than safe. After all, giving my name and number would not in any way protect me. It would only aid the police in identifying my body if something untoward happened. What kind of park, I wondered, was I entering?  

The answer: a park without power. Granted, in most parks, the absence of electricity is not a major concern, at least during daylight hours. Yet, when the park is home to some of the supposedly finest museums in Santiago, the absence of power means that the everything is shut down for the day. And thus so it was that Natalie and I endured the 45 minute subway ride and a security check point only to find the museums closed for the day because of an electrical power failure. There was nothing left to do but to take a walk around the park and think of other options for the day. El Parque Quinta Normal is sort of nice. There is lots of trees and, thus, lots of shade, important for an already hot summer's day. Yet, it is also dusty and the building, yes even many of the the museums, have lots of graffiti on them. I offered this as proof that the aforementioned security check point would provide my with little preventive security. The park was also home to several packs of dogs. Fortunately, they were busy entertaining themselves or sleeping and not bothering me.

Leaving Parque Qunita Normal behind, we decided to visit a museum dedicated to President Allende, the famed leftist leader of Chile who was overthrown by General Pinochet. My guide book indicated that the museum was just two blocks away. After a couple of wrong turns and shamelessly bad map reading by your's truly, we finally found the museum site - 30 minutes later. Unfortunately, the museum has recently relocated to another part of the city. This was not to be a day to visit museums. So days are ordained to be as such and one must roll with the punches.

So what is a shameless tourist to do if he cannot visit museums? Why drink, of course. And so it happened that Natalie and I to the La Providencia section of the city to find the famed Phone Box Pub. And find it we did. And more. For behind the pub, in the patio area are several fascinating book, craft and music stores. The store that caught my attention was the music store, which advertised itself as being for "serious music." Usually I avoid such pretension, but I decided to venture in and was greatly rewarded. First, the music collection was outstanding. The store carries a collection of classical, jazz and world music. Over the intercom, the attendant was playing a Chilean jazz artist named Ammy Amorette. I ended up buying the CD and am loving it. The attendant was very friendly and talked with Natalie and I at length about our experiences in Chile and the jazz music scene in Santiago. My guide book had mentioned something about the great live music scene here and in particular something about jazz. The attendant confirmed this and wrote down several websites of jazz clubs and restaurants to visit. Afterwards, I enjoyed a Manhattan at the pub - a truly enjoyable way to end a somewhat disappointing day of tourism.

Well, that's last week. I also had adventures today. But I will save these details for later. Suffice to say, I had more success with my plans. Just wait, dear reader, just wait.

The Shameless Tourist - Wine Tasting

I had another grand Saturday getting to know Santiago. Today's adventure was wine tasting. The goal was to hit two vineyards/wineries within Santiago. I did take pictures, but unfortunately my memory card appears to be corrupted. This means no more pictures with my posts, until, that is, I get a new card.

But on with the description. Once again, I was accompanied in my adventures by Natalie. First on the agenda was the Cousiño-Marcul vineyard. It is located in the southeastern part of Santiago, just three metro stops (and a little walking) from my house. You can see the vineyard from the highway. I had heard that the walk from the Quilen metro stop was only 20 minutes. Thus, Natalie and I decided that we would walk - you know, take advantage of the nice morning air. We got off the metro at 10:15, so we had plenty of time to make it to the 11am tour, right? Long story short...it was a long, long walk. We finally got to the vineyard (after almost killing a dog startling it totally by accident onto a busy street and walking up to a taxi to ask for directions and possibly a ride, only to find the taxi driver, shall we say, already "engaged" with a female "fare") at 11:10 - yes, it was a really long walk. 

Ahh, but it was worth every step. The tour had just started in the old barrel fermenting room. Nearly forty people were participating in the tour. Most were from Chile, but there was a sizable group from Brazil, as well as a contingent from Peru and the US. The old vats were huge, wooden barrels, made from a local wood. The winery stopped using the wooden vats for the maturation process about ten years ago as it started to modernize. We then moved into a newer section of the winery, were metal vats are used for the whites and the initial mastication for the reds. The reds are then moved to wooden barrels for a period of time, depending on the quality desired. We also paid a visit to the vineyard's museum and the cellar. 

Also, two wines were offered for sampling. The first was a Sauvignon Gris. It was pinkish in color, but it was made clear that it was not a rosé, since the color was purely from the juice and not from any of the skin or seeds of the grapes. The Gris was flat out awesome - the nose had lots of floral tones and mellon and the mellon dominated the palate. It was refreshing and crisp, prefect for an already sweltering summer day. And it was a bargain at just over three dollars a bottle. I walked away with one and I plan to drink it sometime soon with some grilled fish and mango salsa. The tour group had a choice for their second wine, either the Reserved Cabernet Sauvignon or the Reserved Merlot. Both of these reserved wines were the winery's second tier. Cousiño-Marcul also has higher tiered reds, pure Cabernet and Merlot varietals and Bordeaux style blends. Natalie chose the Merlot and I chose the Cab, allowing us to taste both! Both reds were still a bit young. The Merlot was not herbaceous and carried a lot of plum. It was strong, possible too strong. The Cab really did not open up and had nothing on the back end. Both reds had great structure. Maybe after a bit more time in the bottle they would be good. Thus, I ended up not buying any reds - this time. Unfortunately, the wine store did not offer the possibility of further tastings. Thus, one has to buy blind. I am interested in their blends and will probably investigate these in the future. What I did buy, besides the Gris, was a bottle of the Antiguas Reservas Chardonnay and a bottle of their late harvest Riesling. The tour guide assured me that both were excellent. 

After the long walk to the winery, Natalie and I hailed a cab back to the metro station and went back to my house to drop off our things - after all, we had another winery to visit. For lunch, we went to a corner schoperia ("schops" is what Chileans call draft beer, a word that betrays the German influence on the country) for a beer and to try the pizza. Good stuff.

The next winery on the agenda was the Santa Carolina winery, located in the south-central part of Santiago. Supposedly one of the oldest vineyards and wineries in Chile, the vineyards are no longer in the city. They are now in other parts of Chile and send the grapes to the winery in Santiago for processing. Neither Natalie or I had been to this part of Santiago before. So, we were a bit surprised when we got off the metro and found ourselves in a rather industrial and deserted (it was Saturday afternoon) part of town. The guide book said the winery was two blocks from the metro station. Long story short...after an hour of walking around the neighborhood in the over 90 degree heat and after consulting three people, we did find the winery...closed. The visit to this winery will have to wait for another day. Yet, it was a great day of shamelessly touring this wonderful city of Santiago.