Day Six: Vina Indomita and Pablo Neruda

Vina Indomita!

Today was one of my favorite days so far in Chile. It was Allison's birthday, we got to sleep in today and even though we woke up to find that the water wasn't working, the extra sleep was nice. We left at 9:30 to go to Vina Indomita, a winery with vineyards in the Casablanca and Maipo valley. We visited the Casablanca vineyard, where their headquarters are located. We toured the vineyard and the winery and learned a lot about the wine-making process. Our tour guide was very helpful and answered all of our questions clearly. Different processes are used to ferment red and white wines, and once that distinction is made there are separate processes for young and aged wines. At the end of the tour we got to try a few wines outside of the porch of the winery. We started with a sauvignon blanc, and then tried two different red wines. Our tour guide showed us the proper method for wine tasting, including the smelling, swishing, and more smelling of the wine. After we finished tasting the wine we contently sat in the sun while we waited for Jorge to meet up with us before our drive to Pablo Neruda's house in Isla Negra.

We arrived at Isla Negra and went straight to lunch at a restaurant next to Neruda's home. The view of the ocean from our table was beautiful and the food was equally delicious. I had an appetizer of clams and a fish soup entree and eggfruit mousse for dessert. Just like most meals when all seventeen of us plus our advisers and Chilean companions eat together, this lunch was full of talking, joking, and a lot of fun.

My fish soup

We still had some time after we finished lunch before our tour of Neruda's house, so we walked down to sit on the beach. Everyone climbed around the rocks on the shore, and since the waves were very tall, some people got splashed if their perch was too close to the water. The sun was shining, the view was beautiful, and we all had a great, relaxing time on the beach together.

With Allison, the birthday girl

We split up into groups of seven for the tour of Neruda's house and I thought it was very interesting. The guide of the house only spoke in Spanish, so I was thankful that both of the Chilean students were in the same group as me. They translated everything clearly and we learned a lot of funny facts about Neruda. He had all sorts of collections in his house from bottles, to masks, to statues that used to be on the prows of ships. In one of the hallways there was a huge fake horse sitting. Our guide told us that when Neruda bought the horse, he held a housewarming party where guests where only admitted if they brought a gift for the horse! I really enjoyed learning about Neruda and seeing one of his three homes.

A view of the back of Neruda's house

Today was full of beautiful views and beautiful weather and we all had a great time. Tomorrow we're going to the "spa", where there's places to relax and play futbol and other activities.