Oct 6:
(The drinking age in Chile is 18. Before I got here, I saw that it was 21 online, but quickly realized that it was actually 18)
Susi and I went on a wine tour of Concha y Toro!
To get there, I took the metro all the way down to La Merced - about 18 stops from my usual Francisco Bilbao. After a series of buses and mild confusion, we were able to make our way out to Pirque, where the vineyard was located. Our bus driver didn't let us off the bus until we paid, so when we reached our location, he kept driving. We ended up taking a bit of a walk, but we got to where we were going.
We first stopped at a large plant where we saw people wearing Aramark shirts. (Yep, the people responsible for feeding us via dining halls UC also own this expansive vineyard and plant in Chile?!) Next to the plant was the vineyard where the wine tours were led. Unfortunately, we came a little early in the season (it is Spring here in Chile) - so there weren't any grapes growing on the vines (I guess we'll just have to come back later).
Our tour guide spoke very slowly and clearly in Spanish, a rarity here in Chile. We had a good time, trying 3 different types of wine and seeing how the wine was stored.
After the tour, we headed back to the town of Puente Alto for lunch. While we were there, we came across a drag show and a market in the Plaza. I got to bargain my way into some gifts for people back home, which was great. We also checked out some stores in the area, like China Store, were everything was incredible cheap. It was like shopping on Amazon, but in person (when you don't know whether or not the product is functional because it's plastic and off brand and there are no reviews, but hey, it's cheap)
We headed back on the metro to Susi's house in Ñuñoa to watch some Spanish movies. Netflix didn't work out, but I got to have a great dinner with her host family and that was fun!
