Monday, February 9--Tuesday, February 10

A car service picked us up at the Plaza Hotel following breakfast and we headed to the international airport, an hour drive from centre city.  We boarded a LAN flight to Santiago where we were met by our Chilean guide, Edmundo, and our driver, Juanito, both from Andes Traveler.  They took us on a short city tour with a seafood lunch at Central Market where we met the owner of Andes Traveler, Sandra Oyarzun.  She was a previous Miss Chile and looked the part.  We had a delightful lunch in her company and enjoyed our first bottle of Chilean wine, a Lapostolle Sauvignon Blanc.

Following lunch we walked through an area of Santiago with government buildings, churches and parks.  This was followed by a trip up the mountain where we viewed Santiago from on high and learned more about the city and its history.

We were dropped off at the W Hotel where we opted for ice cream and coffee for dinner given our lavish and rather late (3:00) lunch.

On Tuesday, Edmundo and Juanito picked us up and we drove north of Santiago to the RE Winery where we toured the vineyard and the cellar and enjoyed a tasting.  In the cellar, we were introduced to the practice of playing calming music so that the wine in the casks could be soothed as it aged.  

From RE, we drove another hour and a half to Valparaiso, a UNESCO heritage city.  We enjoyed lunch at an ocean-side restaurant in Vin del Mar and a walking tour of the cliffside homes and murals of the Old City of Valpariso.  

That evening, we ordered dinner from the room service menu at the W and watched one of the few English language channels on the tv.  We watched our old stand-by, The Big Bang Theory as well as a show brand new to us:  "A to Z."