Santiago

Santiago is a big city with tall skyscrapers, busy freeways, crowded barrios and five million inhabitants. But for all its isolation in a distant continent far away from the developed world, Santiago has long aspired to be in the first rank. Since its founding by Pedro De Valdivia in 1541, town planners laid out grand neighborhoods and broad boulevards. And, over the centuries, some places in the city have been created that deliberately evoke memories of the way life was in the familiar old world back in Europe.

Our visit with Martin and Joni Plaehn was coming to an end, so we decided to walk around some of these European style cobblestone streets near the old Iglesia de San Francisco or St. Francis Church built in 1554.

We were fortunate to visit on a Sunday morning when there were fewer cars and people so we could feel the true ambiance of the area without the press of the metropolis upon us.

This quaint intersection is at the heart of the deliberately designed neighborhood.

Could this be Montmartre in Paris? No, the snow-covered peak in the distance tells otherwise, but the feeling is familiar just the same.

Another quiet street to soothe the nerves of a homesick European expatriate.

The area was designed by architects Cruz Montt and Larrain Bravo, both graduates of the Ecole des Beaux Artes.

Some doors and

grills in the

homes of the neighborhood.

This is the 18th century Cathedral Metropolitana at the Plaza de Armas. When the city was founded in 1541, there was a military armoury located in the plaza and the name stuck. All distances along the Pan American Highway in Chile are measured from "Kilometro Cero", a metal tablet here in the square.

This is the fifth cathedral to stand on the east facing site, all the earlier ones having been destroyed by fire or earthquake.

The altar of the cathedral.

Here the cathedral is reflected in the mirrored surface of a nearby skyscraper in the northwest corner of the plaza.

Santa Rita Vineyard

Chile is reknowned for its wines and some of the best known are produced at the Santa Rita winery in the Alto Juahel area of the Maipo Valley about 45 minutes southeast of Santiago. We decided to spend our last day with the Plaehns by visiting the Santa Rita wine estate and seeing how their famous Cabernet Sauvignons and Carménère wines are produced.

The Santa Rita winery was created on the site of an older estate around 1880. Local legend tells the story of 120 Chilean patriot soldiers who hid here during the Chilean revolution while fighting for Chilean independence from Spain and from that history the Santa Rita popular wine "120" takes its name.

This is the garden next to the Casa Real restaurant where we had a so-so lunch in a beautiful old building with heavy beams and high ceilings.

The Maipo Valley is at an altitude about 1200 feet above sea level which provides ideal conditions for producing the complex and long-lasting Cabernet Sauvignon and other red wines of the region. We were intrigued by the use of helicopters to move the morning frost off the vines.

Some old wine presses are kept on display for comparison with the modern equipment the winery uses today.

When the grapes are harvested, they are placed in large stainless hoppers and lifted by conveyor into the processing line where they are washed, crushed and steamed in huge cookers.

These are a few of the initial vats where the juice is filtered and processed.

The temperature in each of the many fermentation tanks is closely monitored on remote temperature panels in each area.

The various types of wine are produced separately in huge stainless steel vats with individual testing and monitoring controls.

Here is one of the cellars under the estate where oaken casks of separate vintages are stored under ideal conditions for aging.

Some of the casks are made from American oak and others come from France.

After aging in oak, the wines are bottled in this modern facility.

Bottled vintages are stored in "bodegas" by group at cool underground temperatures in the cellars of the vineyard.

Each vintage has documentation about its production and disposition.

One vintage.

Ready for shipment.

Portillo

We woke very early the morning after Dieciocho to make the long drive up to Portillo, Chile's oldest and most prestigious ski resort.

A snow covered railroad track emerges from a rocky tunnel high on the slope across from the new international highway. No longer in use, the railroad once carried passengers and freight over the Andes to Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The international highway in the bottom of the valley climbs many steep switchbacks to reach the pass above Portillo. The now abandoned railway line had to follow a gentler ascent for twenty kilometers up the valley in the distance before doubling back to cross the middle of this steep slope above the highway.

Snow sheds like this one protect the highway from avalanches.

Claudio, our driver, remembered guiding Richard and Henry during their first visit to Santiago in 2007.

La Parva peak rises high above Portillo and provides a dramatic alpine profile that is very different from the views at other Chilean ski areas.

Fast moving clouds indicate turbulent stratospheric conditions while the warm spring sunshine was rapidly turning the slopes to slush.

A spring day at Portillo.

La Laguna quad lift.

The view down to the base area from the La Laguna lift.

Looking past Susan up valley at the Laguna del Inca .

Martin and Joni at the top of Juncalillo, one of Portillo's modern quads.

A view of the exposed portion of the snow shed protecting the international highway.

Here is Joni standing on the slope passing directly over the highway snow shed we traveled through earlier that morning.

To ski the steep slope above "The Plateau" it is possible for expert skiers to take a surface drag lift called "The Condor". It is one of three surface lifts of its kind found only at Portillo.

The four skiers approach the red banner that indicates the top of the lift.

At the top the Condor lift comes to a complete stop so the skiers can dismount one at a time.

Four expert skiers ride the Roca Jack lift at the same time.

The Roca Jack lift harness hangs in the background for a few minutes before returning to the bottom of the run to bring up four more skiers.

Susan skiing down from the top of Roca Jack.

The view down to the Hotel Portillo from the top of El Plateau.

The famous Hotel Portillo embodies European ambiance in antique facilities that reminded us of the way ski holidays used to be experienced half a century ago.

The outdoor pool is only for the use of guests who must stay at the hotel for a full week.

Stein Eriksen has a place of honor on the trophy wall.

We loved seeing this bib from the Salt Lake 2002 Winter Olympics on display at the Hotel.

Watch this short video showing the very challenging Roca Jack surface lift in action to get an idea of the speed of the ascent and the method of disembarkation at the top.