It was somewhere outside Santiago, on the fifth or sixth winery visit of a 10-day trip to Chile, that I was ready to fall on the wagon.
Chile is a gorgeous country, with friendly people who make some of the world’s best wine. They’re proud of it, and they should be. But please, dear Bacchus, don’t let them show us how they make it again!
Even for “Sideways” freaks, there are only so many vats you can take–without Ethel and Lucy stomping in them.
Fortunately, there were 400 of us, and even Concha y Toro (the No. 1 supplier of Chilean wines to the United States) couldn’t handle our mob. Instead, they just led us through room after room of beautiful and historic casks to a giant tent for the farewell dinner of the annual convention of the Society of American Travel Writers. Served, of course, with wine.
That part we didn’t object to, even though this was supposed to be a working trip.
Chile, the longest and skinniest country in the world, has a lot more to offer than wineries (see columnist Alfred Borcover’s own year in review on Page 2 for more), but on this visit I didn’t get to see those other, more extreme parts.
Starting in the Colchagua Valley–the heart of Chilean wine country an hour and a half from Santiago–there had been three days of board meetings, with dinners at a different winery every night plus a day set aside for touring.
We stayed in Santa Cruz at a nice hotel connected with a winery, the Santa Cruz Plaza Hotel, right on the town square. But the real gem was the hotel’s adjoining Colchagua Museum, with a collection tracing the region’s history from the days of the dinosaurs to today. Not much modern interactivity here, but it could compete with the finest museums in Santiago (which has some very good ones)–or even Chicago.
On our day tour, we had fabulous views of the Andes–including, at one point, the far distant peaks where a Uruguayan rugby team’s plane had crashed in 1972, a tale of survival that became the book and movie “Alive.”
Among other highlights of our outing–winery tours aside–was the Hacienda Los Lingues, a colonial country house turned into a small elegant hotel where guests relax and dine amidst the lavish if eclectic furnishings accumulated by the family that has owned and run it over the centuries. There’s also a stables–and (you knew this was coming) a winery.
Back in Santiago, the Andes had disappeared. Built like Los Angeles in a bowl, Santiago has a smog problem. But when it lifts–and it did for the last few days–it also has one of the most glorious city settings in the world. To the east, almost on its doorsteps, are those Andes, which make our Rockies look almost small; to the west, there’s another chain of mountains that would be the big ones just about anywhere else.
The city in between was a riotous mix of old and new, all accentuated by the freshness of their October spring. I was impressed by the splashy architecture that had sprung up in the less than four years since I was last there, but the old historic areas seemed even spiffier than I’d remembered. And I certainly don’t remember any restaurant there being as good as Puerto Foy, where I had my best meal of the year. Chilean sea bass with artichoke barigoule and tomatoes coulis, anyone? (And that was only one of six courses on the taster’s menu at this year-old ultra-chic restaurant.)
For most tourists to Chile, Santiago is a jumping-off point for the lakes and wildness of the south, the history and mystery of Easter Island to the west, or the deserts and desolate beauty of the far north.
But Santiago and the central valleys nearby are worth more than a few days–especially if you really, really like wine.
The first spring: Any year with two springs can’t be all bad. Unless you’re at Hong Kong Disneyland in early March, waiting in a cold driving rain for the fireworks to begin.
I’d just spent my annual two weeks in Thailand (whose three seasons–hot, “cool” and rainy–do not include spring), much of it bouncing around the Chiang Mai area in the north with my semi-adopted Thai family. On the way back to Chicago, I took them along with me as far as Hong Kong for their first trip outside Southeast Asia.
Role reversal: For 15 years, they and their late father had led me around Thailand. Now I was doing the leading.
Even though they’d once lived in Bangkok, the boys, Top, 14, and Guide, 11, and their mother, Onn, were absolutely amazed by the Hong Kong skyline–even our 42nd-floor rooms in a modest hotel in a Hong Kong Island hotel where the water backed up in the bathroom every night.
They were shocked that vehicles actually stopped at crosswalks. The first time I stepped off the curb with a “Walk” sign flashing, Onn grabbed me back like I was about to throw my life away.
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They were suspicious of the water. It took two days to convince them that they could drink it anywhere, and we didn’t actually have to lug around those liter-sized bottles.
They were surprised by the lack of familiar things. That changed a little when they discovered a 7-Eleven (the most ubiquitous store in Thailand) a block from our hotel–and a KFC just around the corner.
And they were challenged by the language. That turned out to be a bonus in that it got Top to use the English he’s been learning but is so shy about using. (Onn’s English isn’t very good, but with my very limited Thai, we can communicate on basic things; Guide knows the words that matter, like “hungry,” “video” and “let’s go.”)
Disney, Hong Kong style: First of all, you’ve never seen so many cameras in your life. Disney learned this shortly after Hong Kong Disneyland opened a little over a year ago, and quickly added more photo spots and photo-ops with “cast members.” I even got asked to pose. We had only two cameras for the four of us, and felt seriously underarmed.
There really isn’t much point for an American to visit HK Disneyland, since it’s very small (though scheduled to grow) compared to Disney’s other parks. Other than Space Mountain, there are few big rides, and you can see and do everything in a day when the park isn’t crowded–which it wasn’t on this Monday, a cool day that turned to rain midway through.
But the boys–and their mother–loved it. We went on everything, saw every show, ate dim sum for lunch, watched the parade (or what we could see through all the arms holding cameras aloft), and had an American-diner dinner of burgers and fries. And especially when the rain drove us indoors, we kept going back to fire away on the boys’ favorite ride, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters.
After the fireworks, we took Hong Kong’s amazingly fast and efficient rapid transit system back to our hotel (a separate spur line connects to the park directly, complete with Mickey Mouse-shaped straphangers). I collapsed–but an hour later the boys were at the 7-Eleven buying noodles and gummy bears.
The rest of Hong Kong: Of course, before I took Top, Guide and Onn back to the airport for their return flight to Thailand, we had three other days to do all the other usual tourist things. We went to Victoria Peak, took a harbor cruise, ate at a floating restaurant, visited a hands-on science museum, walked through a bird park without birds (the result of the avian flu scare)–and shopped.
I stayed on for two days, changing sides of the harbor to Kowloon–and the Peninsula Hotel, perhaps Hong Kong’s finest and certainly one of the world’s best. If you get a harbor-view room (here or elsewhere), you also have a front-row seat for Hong Kong’s latest extravaganza. As if its famed harbor skyline lights weren’t enough, Hong Kong has now added a nightly light-and-sound show, with synchronized searchlights and lasers on 33 buildings. Just dim the lights, and order room service.
Who needs Disney?: Speaking of new tourist attractions, Thailand has two brand-new biggies. At the Chiang Mai Night Safari, visitors take trams through a savanna and jungle populated with predators and prey. In Bangkok, the year-old Siam Paragon–the largest and most luxurious shopping mall in Thailand–has Southeast Asia’s biggest aquarium, Siam Ocean World, tucked away in its “basement.” A submarine ride is among the options.
How’d they do it?: The Siam Paragon has 3-D TVs with things popping out at you in its elevators. No glasses needed.
The rest of the world: Finally made it beyond the DFW airport to the actual cities of Dallas and Ft. Worth. Both have a wealth of good museums and other attractions, but it’s the John F. Kennedy assassination site and museum that will always stand out in my memory–or that of anyone else who was around on Nov. 22, 1963.
And, finally, there was Philadelphia. All that history–and now all the great restaurants and nightlife. If you love cities, this is one of America’s best.
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Randy Curwen wishes to report that he finally beat the boys at Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters–but he would be lying. E-mail: [email protected]