Valparaiso

The day I discovered Pisco Sours

We were due to dock at 7:00, but when we awoke we were still moving, and nowhere near to the port.

The Commodore had not made any announcement, so we got up and got ready to be in the Queens Room at 8:30 to leave on our tour.

Then the Commodore announced that there had been a dockworkers strike in Valparaiso, so the container ship that was occupying our berth was still being loaded. He thought that this would mean that all the tours and the 1,000 disembarking passengers would leave the ship half an hour later than planned.

We decided to wait in the Queens Room, and settled in reading our books. Finally at 11:00 our tour was called, and clutching our Chilean customs forms we headed towards the gangway. There was a queue to get down the gangways, a queue to get onto the shuttle buses to the cruise terminal, and then a huge queue to get through security. The customs officials were scanning all of our bags for fruit, and there was an adorable dog sniffing all the bags too. They looked at our customs declaration forms, but handed them back to us. Walking though the cruise terminal we didn’t see an ATM, but there was a currency exchange desk, several stalls selling lapis lazuli and woolen capes, and a wine tasting station. We didn’t have time to linger, and headed straight to the coach. It was just before noon.

We drove around Valparaiso, and our tour guide, Patricia, told us all about the history of the city and pointed out interesting buildings and sights. Like Rio, the city is surrounded by hills, and most of the residential areas are built on the steep slopes. The houses looks like they are going to slide down the hillside at any moment, which unfortunately many did during the strong earthquake in the 80s. To access the hills there are several “ascensors”, rickety old funicular railways, and we had planned to try one out after the tour as the views from the top of the hills are said to be spectacular.

We drove through the countryside to the Casablanca Valley. This is one of the wine growing areas of the country, and we stopped at the William Cole winery. We had a tour of the winery, and while standing by the vines were able to sample the grapes which were totally delicious – they are harvested in March, so they are nearly at their best. We then went into a large building where the wine is processed and stored on oak barrels, and watched the end product being bottled. They produce real cork and screw top bottles. Some countries prefer corks, other screw top.

Then came the wine tasting. This took place in a beautiful large room with a view over the surrounding mountains. We tasted a sauvignon blanc (Bill), and a red blend. I only tasted the white, and it was excellent. I had been somewhat disappointed with Chilean wines, but this was a winner.

After the tasting there was the opportunity to purchase wine and souvenirs from the gift shop. Nearly everyone on the tour bought wine. We did think about it, but with adequate Veuve to drink in the cabin, and the challenge of taking wine home with us on the plane, we resisted the temptation. However, later I realized that it would have been an excellent idea. The Bill sauvignon blanc was $13 a bottle. Bringing it to the dining room and paying $15 corkage and the 15% service charge, would put it at the same cost as the cheapest white wines on the menu, and you would have a far superior wine. Clearly the other people on the tour had thought this through as they struggled to carry their cases of wine to the bus.

Our next stop was at a ranch, Puro Caballo, where they have purebred Chilean horses. We were greeted by Chilean cowboys, huasos, and then lead to pisco sours and an empanada. A pisco sour is made from pisco (the local grappa like drink), limejuice, sugar, and egg white with a few drops of Angostura bitters on top, served in a champagne flute. Wow, it is just the thing on a hot, sunny day, and went down very well. Next there was a rodeo. The huasos are excellent horsemen, and the Chilean horses are great to watch. They are smaller than the horses back home, but very smart and good-natured. I thoroughly enjoyed the rodeo. I was glad I had brought my hat as we were sitting in the sun.

After the rodeo it was time for lunch. The grapes and cheese and biscuits at the winery together with the pisco sour and empanada would have been enough, but now we were treated to a delicious lunch of steak, mashed potatoes, and salad, with flan for dessert, all washed down with more Chilean wine. The huasos played Chilean folk songs, and danced with some of the guests. It was a magical time. We all got back into the coach and fell asleep.

Patricia woke us up as we were coming in to Vina del Mar, a beautiful seaside resort town next to Valparaiso. We stopped at the Fonk Museum, mostly to see their collection of artifacts from Easter Island – they have one of those figures on exhibit. Although we will cruise by Easter Island, we will not actually land there, so this was our only chance to see one of the statues up close and personal. It is amazing that there are over 1,000 statues of various shapes and sizes on the island – quite an incredible feat by the islanders. The museum also had a collection of butterflies and insects, and a stuffed Magellanic penguin. They also had a stuffed 2-headed lamb.

We had a short time to wander around the beautiful tree lined streets before getting on the coach again. Our journey back to the ship took us through the town and seafront, and we got to see the very crowded beautiful beaches. It was certainly a lovely city, and seemed to be very peaceful after the hustle and bustle of Valparaiso.

We got back to the cruise terminal at 6:45. As the last shuttle bus was meant to leave at 6:00 and all aboard time was 7:00 we were herded straight onto the bus. No time to try out the ascensors, but more importantly no time to look for wifi. I was so looking forward to downloading a copy of a watercolor painting of the Queen Mary our daughter in law Hailey had painted. Grrr!

As we went back on board we were greeted by a much-needed blast of cool air, and Hannah playing the harp. It was good to be home!

We went out on the balcony to look at the naval ships docked across from us. There were 10 of them, all different shapes and sizes. We have new neighbors in the cabin next door. They seemed to be having a great time celebrating being on board – champagne (Pol Acker?) corks were popping and loud music blasting, with much shouting and laughter. I hope they continue to have a good time. Hugh, a friend from Cruise Critic, who has a corner cabin a few decks above us, was blowing bubbles, and they were popping on our balcony. What fun! I think this is an idea I might steal from him. In the good old days we used to throw streamers down to friends and family waving goodbye to us on the dock below. We can’t do that any more, but blowing bubbles sounds like a good plan!

We went up to deck 10 aft to watch the sail away. No sail away party again, but there were quite a few people there so it did have a sort of party atmosphere. Looking back at the port, Valparaiso looked beautiful. There were twinkling lights all the way up the hills, making the whole city look like it was sparkling. A magnificent sight to see, and we lingered there as the city went out of view.

Having had a large late lunch we opted to give the dining room a miss, and went to the Lido for a late light snack.

When we returned to our cabin there were Godiva chocolates on the bed instead of the usual Cunard ones. On QM2 we had been given Godiva chocolates every night, maybe this is the way of the future on QV. If so, I am not complaining!