We have visited Chile before, back in 2004, when we went trekking in Patagonia. This time, we wanted to concentrate on the Atacama Desert and the northern coastline. Like our previous South American holiday (to Brazil), this trip was put together impeccably for us by Simon Williams from Humboldt Travel.
We arrived in Santiago, landing mid-morning after a long flight, and were driven straight to Valparaiso, a trip which takes about an hour and a quarter.
Valparaiso
Valparaiso is a vibrant and characterful harbour city, sometimes compared to San Francisco because of the many steep hills (though really the two places are not that similar). However, the real reason that Annette wanted to go there is that the city is mentioned tangentially in a series of extremely popular Danish boarding school books written for little girls (Lisbet Werner, the ‘Puk’ books, published 1943-1964). In this series, the reason why the main character has to go to her Danish boarding school is that her father is sent to Valparaiso for his work. So for Annette (and probably for several generations of other Danish girls), Valparaiso came to be represent the uttermost end of the earth. It was certainly the first place in South America that she ever heard of.
On arrival, we walked around Cerro Alegre, where our hotel was, past the Palacio Barburizza (now a fine art museum) and the viewing point by Paseo Yugoslavo, and down to the harbour area. The next day we also did a guided walking tour taking in a lot of splendid street art and brightly coloured houses.
We went out as far as the beach by the fish market at Caleta Portales, with a fine view back to the centre.
By the fish market…
The Hotel
We stayed two nights at Casa Higueras, a gorgeous boutique hotel built into the side of the hill. Annette particularly loved the tiled bathroom.
Food
A holiday to Chile is all about food – especially seafood, on its own or in combination with pasta. After the long journey it felt fabulous to sit down on the terrace at Casa Higueras and order some ceviche and a bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. In total, we had three meals there and all were great.
The Streets
Every surface is a potential canvas…
Matetic Vineyard
Matetic (it’s a Croatian name) is a biodynamic vineyard located in the Rosario Valley on the central coast of Chile. It produces both red and white wines and is particularly known for its award winning Syrah. We thought it offered a great all round experience; the La Casona Hotel and Equilibrio Restaurant were both excellent, the tour of the vineyards and winery was fascinating and the wine tasting thoroughly enjoyable.
This place is close to Santiago Airport and would be a good place to start or end a holiday in Chile.
The Hotel
The rooms are spaced out around a formal courtyard – and to the other sides there are views of flowers and hills.
We liked the bathroom (more tiles for Annette) and the jacuzzi was nice to have. (Our room was called Sauvignon Blanc – apparently they don’t all have jacuzzis).
The food was excellent.
The hotel offers various activities, including riding, but we only had time for this self-guided walk that took just over an hour. Fabulous cacti – and we were completely on our own. It was very hot and still.
There was an amazing array of flowers in the gardens surrounding the hotel.
The Vineyards
A pervasive scent of lavender!
The Winery
The wine cellar is sleek and ultra-modern. The circular design of the building reminded us of the Rock Church in Helsinki.
Wine Tasting
Chilean wineries typically make wines from quite a wide range of grapes – so for whites, we tasted Gewürztraminer, Riesling and Chardonnay as well as Sauvignon Blanc.
Peregrinamur 