In wine all men are brothers.

Hi everyone!

We are currently staying just outside Santiago, Chile after a wine-fuelled trip to Mendoza last week and a quick detour to Valparaiso. So, here we go on a longer than usual lowdown - that'll teach us for not writing in over a week!

We arrived in Mendoza some time in the afternoon (don't ask us which....the days of the week have become a bit blurred) and headed to the hostel before going for a quick look around some of the nearby plazas and parks. After viewing some very impressive fountains, and getting lost in the park, which involved walking all the way around a lake without seeing it (stupid trees!) we headed back home, stopping for a quick glass of wine on the way back and headed to bed.

The next day was when the fun really began! We went over to the wine growing region, Maipu and embarked upon a bike tour with the infamous Mr Hugo. We rented our old school bikes (Sarah's had a basket! And yes...we put the seat down) and set off on our adventure. The circuit included a wine museum (free wine!), a pretty impressive chocolate factory (absinthe anyone?) and a brewery in the middle of nowhere, before reaching the main event, the Tempus Alba bodega. We were greeted with a warm embrace from the owner, Christiano and taken around to see the wine being bottled and the vineyard itself before taking ourselves up to the roof terrace for a tasting. You can't deny it, the Argentineans make very good wine! After tasting our six varieties we were persuaded to stay for lunch and a bottle of Cab Sauv. We ate the best steak either of us have ever tasted, and so cheap compared to London prices. We will never be able to order steak in London again. After much conversation with Christiano - highlights included an invitation to dinner at his house later in the week and Sarah being told that she was 'very lucky to be dating Prince Harry...?' - we went for a slightly shaky cycle back to Mr Hugo's where we were, of course, offered some more wine Some dancing, singing and further drinking back at the hostel with some other travellers completed a brilliant day!

The following day we began by attempting to recover from the amount of wine consumed the day before, and decided to head back to the park which we had begun to explore on our first day, General San Martin. We were of the belief that further inside the park there were all sorts of wonderful things concealed, a zoo, an aboriginal park (whatever that is) and a sports arena. However, after much walking we discovered that most of this was surrounded by busy roads and covered in grass which was mostly dead. So instead, we sat outside the zoo and ate our picnic in the dust - delightful - and peered through the fence of the zoo at some llamas and white deer and then walked all the way back to the lake which had proved so elusive a couple of days before. We were more successful this time!

Our final day in Mendoza involved two highlights. The first of which was the horse riding expedition in the foothills of the Andes. Very cool! We were taken to an estancia out in the middle of the countryside and were greeted by the sight of two gauchos cantering our of a dust cloud and herding some cows, at speed! The way of riding here is very different from home, much more cowboy-like. Long stirrups and reins and no helmets! It was the first time Tim had ridden and his horse gave him a bit of a hard time, initially refusing to move and then insisting on stopping and eating every few steps, but once we got going it was really cool! We even got to get a bit of speed on on the way back (although it turns out that once they start it can be difficult to stop them!), but we all made it back in one piece, limbs in tact! That evening we decided to treat ourselves to a nice meal out as it was our last night in Argentina and the food is SO amazing, and so we went to a place called Anna's Bistro, which had been recommended to us by some backpackers we had met back in Brazil. It did not disappoint. Not only was the wine beautiful, but our main course - Malbec Lamb - was, without a doubt, the most delicious thing we have ever tasted. We just don't make meat like that back in the UK....no substitute for mint sauce and red current jelly though!

The next day we hopped on a bus to take us across the Andes to Valparaiso, Chile. This was the first bus journey we had undertaken totally in daylight as the views had been recommended to us. This was definitely worth it - the mountains were beautiful and you pass an Inca settlement and all sorts of crazy winding roads (we went down one hill with about 20 very tight loops!) We made it through border control, where Sarah managed not to get arrested despite accidentally having smuggled a pack of raisins in her backpack (not as bad as the person who tried to hide an entire sausage down the side of the bus seat!) and continued on to Valparaiso, a beautiful port city about two hours from Santiago and renowned for it's graffiti art. We had just enough time to take a quick look around the surrounding area and then returned to the hostel for some Pisco sours - delicious!

Due to the fact that we were leaving Valparaiso that afternoon, on Saturday we awoke nice and early to catch as much of the city as we could (this was in spite of Sarah looking like Quasimodo for most of it!) We were lucky to come across the navy rehearsing for Naval Day in Chile (21st May) which involved lots of marching men in uniform and military bands. Very cool. We headed back to the hostel for breakfast and then hopped in a colectivo (shared taxi) to visit Pablo Neruda's house. He was a huge celebrity in Chile, a famous poet who won the Nobel Prize for Literature, was heavily involved in left wing politics and a friend of the rich and glamorous. His house was brilliant. It looks out over the whole of Valparaiso and was built to fit with a maritime theme. It has all sorts of quirky features like a carousel horse from Paris in his sitting room and a map of Patagonia on the wall made out of stones. Very cool - Tim's noted down some design tips for himself! We then walked down the hill and admired the graffiti art that adorns almost every wall and caught a market or two before hopping on the bus to Santiago and then the train to Buin to meet the mum of Tim's friend Chloe who very kindly had agreed to have us to stay!

We arrived at the beautiful Larsson house on Saturday evening - even in the darkness we could see that the views looking out into the valley were AMAZING! We were swiftly whisked off to a BBQ with Marlene (Chloe's cousin) and her friends which was brilliant - although we struggled with our lack of decent Spanish. The evening mostly was passed with the Chilean's teaching us inappropriate words in Spanish and telling us they meant something else (we've had a few embarrassing slip ups since hehe!) and us reciprocating just a little! We stayed at Marlene's and met her two very cute children (Amy, 3 and Harvey, 11) the following morning before Helbecia came and joined us and we went for lunch with the family before heading out into the country to see the Rodeo. This involves two horsemen guiding a cow around a ring and then pushing them into a padded section on each side - initially this seemed surprisingly un-cruel, although this changes as the cow gets more tired and then it got a bit mean. Cattle prods and everything are bought out. Minor animal cruelty aside, it was nice to see something so traditional - lots of men, young and old in traditional Chilean dress - still being practiced. Without the cows it would be even better - but it definitely takes a lot of skill!

For the rest of our time in Santiago we went into the city and checked out the Cathedral (beautiful), National Library, Pablo Neruda's other house (the only one we haven't seen is the one in Isla Negra, next time we come back we'll complete the set), a vibrant fish market, Santa Lucia, San Cristobal Hill and various bars and restaurants. Santiago is undoubtedly a very cool city with lots to offer and we have been especially lucky to receive the hospitality of Helbecia and the rest of the Larsson/Pineda family. The Chileans are certainly a generous lot and we have been very spoilt! Ultimately we are very sorry to be leaving South America this evening but are so excited to be moving on to the next leg of the trip - New Zealand!

Adios Sud America - it's been grand. Hello New Zealand!

Lots of love,

Sarah and Timxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx