Groggy due to lack of sleep! Packed up for flight back to Canada, but first we have a tour of the Conch y Toro Vineyard!
The vineyard, which was my first, was absolutely spectacular! The fall colors were really evident at the vineyard and we tasted a Chardonnay, a Carmenere, and a mixed blend named Trio. The cellars of the old house were very neat, spooky almost, with a very musty smell. The mortar between the bricks was made of a raw egg mixture, and seemed to be holding together very nicely. I bought a hat, thinking that I should have bought a few bottles of wine, but wasn’t willing to plunk down US$200 for a few bottles of the good stuff.
We said our good-byes to our classmates who were staying on in Chile and Argentina, and hopped on the bus for our return to Canada via Santiago, Buenos Aries, and Toronto. Things were very quiet on the bus on the way home as we were all sad to be ending out trip.
We had to de-plane in Buenos Aries and “lost” Rolf and Brenda for thirty minutes. Things were looking grim as we were about to board again when someone spotted them sitting quietly by themselves at the gate. It turns out that they were the first off the plane and were sitting there the whole time!
The flight back to Canada was routine, and other than customs clearance for Jon, everything was as expected. Back in Calgary it was a really great feeling to be home at last!
========================================
Picture: Conch y Toro Vineyard - Main House & Gardens
Friday, July 08, 2005
Santiago – Day 9 (May 10)
Early breakfast and transfer to Transelec for a business visit. They seem to be the government power provider, but also compete in the open market. An interesting visit and overall good to see. Back to the hotel for the Placer Dome presentation, which was very informative and well done.
The afternoon was set aside for shopping and so I went off the Artisan Market and also a hellish trip back the the University of Santiago’s Business School for a too-small golf shirt. We all met back in the lobby of the hotel and took a bus to San Cristobal’s Hill, the highest point in Santiago and the smallest of the Andes. The view of the city was extraordinary and the top of the hill was graced with a thirty-foot statue of the Virgin Mary. Quite a spectacular sight and very unexpected. We didn’t get to ride the funicular, which would have been great, as it was a “real oldie”.
The meal was fantastic with many great speeches and “Gampei’s”. There was a group from New York beside us that was also on a school tour, but unfortunately they arrived a few hours after us and the head professor was a grumpy old snot. I played a bit with him and apologized for the Yankee’s performance, in the end we parted ways in good company and I hope that he was able to modify his opinion of us and much as I did of him.
We hopped of the bus in the new district and went to Louisiana Bar for a few half-price pitchers of beer. I managed to escape with Luc before the rest of the crew went off to a disco,…they didn’t return home until 4:30am. Unfortunately we learned that the Chinese guys will need to fly back through Sao Paulo as they don’t have entry visa’s for Argentina. Sadly we said our good-byes for maybe the last time, I will especially miss Guozhen.
The afternoon was set aside for shopping and so I went off the Artisan Market and also a hellish trip back the the University of Santiago’s Business School for a too-small golf shirt. We all met back in the lobby of the hotel and took a bus to San Cristobal’s Hill, the highest point in Santiago and the smallest of the Andes. The view of the city was extraordinary and the top of the hill was graced with a thirty-foot statue of the Virgin Mary. Quite a spectacular sight and very unexpected. We didn’t get to ride the funicular, which would have been great, as it was a “real oldie”.
The meal was fantastic with many great speeches and “Gampei’s”. There was a group from New York beside us that was also on a school tour, but unfortunately they arrived a few hours after us and the head professor was a grumpy old snot. I played a bit with him and apologized for the Yankee’s performance, in the end we parted ways in good company and I hope that he was able to modify his opinion of us and much as I did of him.
We hopped of the bus in the new district and went to Louisiana Bar for a few half-price pitchers of beer. I managed to escape with Luc before the rest of the crew went off to a disco,…they didn’t return home until 4:30am. Unfortunately we learned that the Chinese guys will need to fly back through Sao Paulo as they don’t have entry visa’s for Argentina. Sadly we said our good-byes for maybe the last time, I will especially miss Guozhen.
Santiago – Day 8 (May 9)
Early morning departure for the University of Santiago's Business School this morning for a presentation on "Doing Business in Chile". The presentation was good and attended by a large number of faculty, there seems to be a connection between on of the professors and Rolf Murius. Oscar Uirbe made a memorable presentation about constructing the gas pipeline between Chile and Argentina, and some of the issues that Chile now faces with curtailed production from an economically depressed Argentina.
We transferred to our bus for a visit to Methanex: a very interesting company that might be worthwhile investing in.
Sea bass lunch {isn't it endangered?) at a very nice restaurant and then a visit to Abongoa, which is a Spanish civil construction company specializing in the power industry among other things. Might be a potential customer, however they seemed a little non-technical and mostly concerned with financing or projects and sharing of ownership/revenue.
Back to the hotel in the afternoon, a quick call back home and then out to the artisan market for a little shopping. Dinner at Isla Negre, mostly seafood but I had a steak and egg that was pretty good. Grabbed a cab back to the hotel and hit the hay early.
We transferred to our bus for a visit to Methanex: a very interesting company that might be worthwhile investing in.
Sea bass lunch {isn't it endangered?) at a very nice restaurant and then a visit to Abongoa, which is a Spanish civil construction company specializing in the power industry among other things. Might be a potential customer, however they seemed a little non-technical and mostly concerned with financing or projects and sharing of ownership/revenue.
Back to the hotel in the afternoon, a quick call back home and then out to the artisan market for a little shopping. Dinner at Isla Negre, mostly seafood but I had a steak and egg that was pretty good. Grabbed a cab back to the hotel and hit the hay early.
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Santiago – Day 7 (May 8) Mother's Day
Woke up too damn early, 4:20AM to get the bus to the airport for check-in. I had lost my entrance ticket to Brazil somewhere but I was able to sweet-talk the check-in agent to fill in a replacement for me so I could exit the country.
A great flight over the Andes with spectacular scenery as we landed in Santiago, the bus ride to the hotel was very nice and the weather was sunny with temps at 20C. After a roast beef and egg sandwich at a local diner we had an afternoon city tour by bus. We saw many Colonial buildings, some of which were copies of European buildings such as Notre Dame and the Arc de Triumph.
We visited the Pre-Columbian art exhibit, what a great collection of rare antiquities, never before have I seen such a subtle exhibition of such magnificent early art. The collection was over 7000 pieces and one could spend a week easily scratching the surface.
Later on we walked through a major square and saw a balloon clown entertaining the kids and a slapstick team that reminded me of the Marx Brothers. I returned back to the hotel and slipped into the Church right next door. It was one of the few really older Spanish churches left in Santiago since the earthquake on the 80's. It was of wooden construction with an adobe-like exterior, it had some amazing paintings and some over-the-top statues of Christ and the crucifixion. Dinner was at the hotel and into bed early at 10:00PM.
Thoughts:
==========
Santiago is a clean and vibrant City.
Saw a few gypsies in the street and many performers and street artists were about.
Traffic is pretty crazy, particularly the city busses who compete per passenger for fares.
A great flight over the Andes with spectacular scenery as we landed in Santiago, the bus ride to the hotel was very nice and the weather was sunny with temps at 20C. After a roast beef and egg sandwich at a local diner we had an afternoon city tour by bus. We saw many Colonial buildings, some of which were copies of European buildings such as Notre Dame and the Arc de Triumph.
We visited the Pre-Columbian art exhibit, what a great collection of rare antiquities, never before have I seen such a subtle exhibition of such magnificent early art. The collection was over 7000 pieces and one could spend a week easily scratching the surface.
Later on we walked through a major square and saw a balloon clown entertaining the kids and a slapstick team that reminded me of the Marx Brothers. I returned back to the hotel and slipped into the Church right next door. It was one of the few really older Spanish churches left in Santiago since the earthquake on the 80's. It was of wooden construction with an adobe-like exterior, it had some amazing paintings and some over-the-top statues of Christ and the crucifixion. Dinner was at the hotel and into bed early at 10:00PM.
Thoughts:
==========
Santiago is a clean and vibrant City.
Saw a few gypsies in the street and many performers and street artists were about.
Traffic is pretty crazy, particularly the city busses who compete per passenger for fares.
Rio de Janeiro – Day 6 (May 7)
Still a little groggy this morning from last night's festivities at Platforma 1. We had a tourist visit to the Christ Statue, what fantastic views of the whole city and a fun little tram ride up to the top. Despite the many flying ants at the top of the mountain, the statue and views were awe inspiring!
After descending from the mountain on the same tram we were dropped off at Impanema beach for our first real R&R. A group of us went for a quick lunch at Bob's Burger Bragazio (Bleah!) and then hit the beach right away. What a beautiful beach full of beautiful people who are always running, jumping and being generaly athletic in the hot. hot sun...
A few of the boys played beach volleyball for a while and felt very much like the Icelandic Olympic team, no tans and very little volleyball talent! We got pretty warm pretty quickly and decided to direct our remaining energy to saying "No Obrigado" to the various vendors, who were a lot less persistent than the ones on Impanema. We met "Scott" from Winnipeg who has been living in Rio, teaching English and PhysEd, and operating a small eco-tourism operation. He chatted with us for about twenty minutes and gave us a good primer on Rio, the crime and what was real vs. Inflammatory stories. He was a very nice guy and I really enjoyed meeting him. We had dinner at Top Beer and packed for our departure to Santiago.
Thoughts:
==============
Everyone of all ages in Rio are fitness crazy!
A little kid tried to get into Scott E's backpack on the walk back and was dissuaded by the linebacker brothers!
The walk back from Ipanema to Copacabana was a real highlight, even though it was way longer than the promised 40 minutes.
After descending from the mountain on the same tram we were dropped off at Impanema beach for our first real R&R. A group of us went for a quick lunch at Bob's Burger Bragazio (Bleah!) and then hit the beach right away. What a beautiful beach full of beautiful people who are always running, jumping and being generaly athletic in the hot. hot sun...
A few of the boys played beach volleyball for a while and felt very much like the Icelandic Olympic team, no tans and very little volleyball talent! We got pretty warm pretty quickly and decided to direct our remaining energy to saying "No Obrigado" to the various vendors, who were a lot less persistent than the ones on Impanema. We met "Scott" from Winnipeg who has been living in Rio, teaching English and PhysEd, and operating a small eco-tourism operation. He chatted with us for about twenty minutes and gave us a good primer on Rio, the crime and what was real vs. Inflammatory stories. He was a very nice guy and I really enjoyed meeting him. We had dinner at Top Beer and packed for our departure to Santiago.
Thoughts:
==============
Everyone of all ages in Rio are fitness crazy!
A little kid tried to get into Scott E's backpack on the walk back and was dissuaded by the linebacker brothers!
The walk back from Ipanema to Copacabana was a real highlight, even though it was way longer than the promised 40 minutes.
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