Vino, Comida, y Amigos- Perfecto!

Although we began our day waking up to absolutely no water in our hotel, it turned out to be a really relaxing day! We continued with our company visits as we traveled to Viña Indomita, one of the Chile's largest vineyards. It was another gorgeous day which made the visit of the vineyard that more enjoyable. We were walked through several processes of the wine production process and were even given a tour of the wine cellar! The winery has been in operation since 2001 and is ideal for wine production due to the cool, windy climate in the valley and the heavy fog in the morning which prevents the grapes from getting dried out. Of course, the best part came at the end of our tour when we were invited to taste 3 different types of wine! They were all delicious and everyone enjoyed relaxing over the gorgeous terrace. Unfortunately they do not ship to the US- sorry Mom!!

View overlooking the terrace at Viña Indomita

Enjoying a glass of Chilean wine

Following the visit we drove to Isla Negra, a beautiful little town right on the water that is home to Pablo Neruda, a famous Chilean poet. I have studied some of his poems in my Spanish class last semester so it was really interesting to see where he grew up! We ate lunch at a fantastic seafood restaurant with a great view and afterward walked down to the beach and relaxed. The view was great, and everyone enjoyed getting a little sun!

Lunch at Isla Negra

Beautiful view

On top of the world!

We then toured Pablo Neruda's house. Most of the rooms and items were completely original! Our tour guide spoke no english but luckily I was able to understand almost everything. We learned a lot about Neruda's life in Chile with his wife Matilde and were shown where he wrote many of his works. Unfortunately we weren't allowed to take any pictures but the tour was really neat!

After shopping for some souvenirs from Isla Negra, we got on the bus and headed home to Viña del Mar. Tomorrow we are going to a "spa" (don't get too excited- it's basically just a soccer field and a pool!) to hang out with all of the Chilean students and then will be going to a barbecue at the director of the university's house. It should be a great start to the weekend! Stay tuned!