Viña del Mar

     Holla friends and family! We are some lucky students! Viña del mar is our newest location, reminding us of Miami with the lively streets, tourists and crashing ocean waves.  There is a salty smell and the temperature is perfect for a beach day. With the afternoon off a group of students decide to walk over to the beach and take advantage of the little time here in Viña del mar. Sunscreen is a must as some of us already have sun burns. The beach was completely packed with vacationers and the waves were ginormous! Still some boys were daring enough to swim in the ocean despite the waves. Other students enjoyed views from the rooftop pool at our hotel. Sarah went to el mercado (the market place) and found great hand made souvenirs to take home like bracelets and small glass decorations. Our afternoon off in Viña del mar was very enjoyable and gave us time to really explore this beach area.  
     At night we had a group welcome dinner planned which we were all looking forward to. It was a short walk from our hotel in the casino.  On that walk some of us got sprayed from the giant splashes of the waves!   The restaurant was called Santa Brasa and the dinning room had windows with ocean views surrounding the room. I don't think feeling hungry on this trip is something we feel often. The food has been amazing in both Argentina as well as in Viña del mar, Chile.  During dinner we enjoyed empanadas, meat plates, sausage appetizers and for the main course we had either ribs or sirloin.  Dessert was also served with a choice of ice cream or flan.  One high light  to dinner was singing Taylor happy birthday ! (Feliz Cumpleaños Taylor!!)  We also shared some laughs together as a group trying out the spoon challenge of hanging a spoon on your nose. Srdan was quite good at this game.  We were a well behaved group at dinner and then, Mike managed to take Steve's chair away right as he was about to sit and Steve fell (it was a good laugh). I believe we all enjoyed the time spent together at the dinner table. In South America meals are very important and are looked at as a time to relax, socialize and to fully enjoy your food.  I think we have grown to appreciate meal time more and to taste your food rather than rush out of a restaurant.  I know we will all be sad to leave the beautiful Viña del mar but we are excited to see and explore the city of Santiago! Keep following us for updates on our amazing journey in South America!

Hotel View

La Sebastiana

On Sunday, after our beautiful graffiti tour in Valparaiso, we were given the option to either go back to the hotel for leisure time, or to take a tour of Pablo Neruda's summer home. A group of eleven students chose to see this beautiful home. This was one of his three homes, named "La Sebastiana" after the homes first owner. 

Pablo Nerudo's house, "La Sebastiana"

On January 1st of 1992 the government funded the renovation of this home to make it a museum. Matthew Lawson was very excited to see this house because he has studied Pablo Neruda before and really enjoyed his poetry. Before touring the house we were able to go to the overlook and see the beautiful view that inspired a lot of his famous pieces. 

View from the overlook.

Emily Helenius (left) and I (right) on the overlook.

When our tour began we were given a handheld device with recordings of information on the house and Pablo Neruda. For those of you who may not know, Pablo Neruda was a famous, noble-prize winning poet in the 20th century. As you may imagine, a poet is a very artistic person and his house reflected this directly.

 Every room had a breathtaking view of either the mountains, ocean, or even the beautiful homes around it. Unfortunately, we were not able to take pictures of the inside of his home, but below you can see the images of views from various rooms in his house.

View from the bedroom.

View from the living room.

This was a 5 story house with stained glass windows, murals on walls, and various collections. He enjoyed anything beautiful and had various collections of maps, paintings and other precious pieces. Emily Helenius said that her favorite part of this home was the mural on the first floor that his wife created. It was made out of painted stones and it was a map of Patagonia and Antarctica. It was amazing that someone was able to create that wall and it perfectly displayed his artistic influence.

Matthew Lawson sitting with the silhouette of Pablo Neruda.

The eleven of us that took this opportunity were very happy that we did. Our tour guide through the Austral group, Francisca was able to give us a lot of additional information about Neruda. She told us that towards the end of his life he, as a man, became less popular because of his political beliefs. On the contrary, as a poet, his work became more well-known and is now translated into about 51 different languages. It was amazing to be in the same house as a poet with such great influences on modern poetry. The weather was absolutely beautiful and it was very clear how Pablo Neruda was able to write such beautiful poems, influenced by this location.

Kingston Vineyard

From the moment the group laid eyes on the stunning landscape of the Kingston vineyard we were all intrigued to know more about their business. As Steve Hannigan said, the views were spectacular and learning how they produced the wine was very fascinating.

Guy, Courtney, Judith, and everyone else who shard their knowledge with us exceeded our expectations. The most fascinating part in my opinion is the land has been passed down five generations. Courtney's ancestors sought the land to mine for gold in the mid 1900's, but that was short lived. They were then left with a vast amount of land and Courtney used her business plan from Princeton University with a few tweaks as a guide for what is known as the Kingston Family Vineyard. They rely heavily on grapes for profit, using just 10% of their facilities for wine production. In 2014 the vineyard produced 3000 cases of wine containing 12 bottles each. Which is a tiny number compared to the whopping 5 million bottles that Chile exported this past year. Interestingly 75% of Kingston's exports were to the United states, but they also export to countries such as Brazil, Canada, Sweden, and more.  However they plan to expand this year to 6,000 cases and they wish to convert to organic production. 

Our guides answered all of our questions whether it be the difference in corks and screw caps, or filling us in on the most difficult task for them, labeling and packaging. The intricate design on the bottles make it more appealing to the ultimate consumers. I believe we can all agree with Rudy when he said he was impressed with our guides ability to speak English. It would be very difficult for us to try and give such a good presentation in Spanish, that's for sure. 

Today our group had the privilege to see how Kingston produces a few of their high quality wines. In short, they pick the grapes, put them in containers to ferment, then store them in oak barrels if they are red, and metal if they are white. I spoke with Griffin, a friend of mine and we both found it very interesting how long the wine stayed in the barrel's and how the oak added flavor to the wine over time. 

After learning about the production process, our group was able to taste some wine such as; Sauvignon Blanc, Pinot Noir, and Syrah. We also got to eat a variety of cocktail appetizers. Everything was very delicious.

Overall the class not only learned a lot about the wine industry in Chile but we also got to have a taste of it. 

There were smiles all around on this wonderful evening in paradise. 

¡SALUD!

Valparaiso Terminal

Today we embarked around 9:30 am with an overcast sky towards the Valparaiso Terminal, a local port that operates throughout the year. The port sits on government owned property that spans across the waterfront. We arrived after a quick twenty minute bus ride from our hotel in Viña del Mar which has a population of around 200,000 people. We were greeted by the manager of communications along with director of safety. They began the tour with a quick explanation of what their company was and how it operates on a daily basis. The company leases the land of a 30 year lease from the city of Valparaiso. This port undergoes continuous competition from other ports in Chile, a country that lies on the Pacific Ocean. There are many different sizes and types of ships that come into the port for various reasons. Many cargo ships come to bring many imports from other countries around the world. Their major trading partner is China. Chile imports more steel through this port than any other material. Once the shipment arrives there are a series of steps that must occur before the process is complete. The ship’s captain has to signal the pilot to help park the boat because this is such an arduous process that not even the highly qualified captain can do alone.

The group poses with our instructors in front of the port.

There are many variables that the Valparaiso Terminal has to take into consider that require cooperation of two or more people. There is also a check on all ships that come into the port in accordance with the ISBS code that helps to prevent terrorism from occurring. Once these steps are completed the ship may begin unloading its cargo using the massive cranes that have been put in place by the port. These cranes are highly efficient and can move upwards of 40 to 50 crates per hour operating constantly throughout the day. After the tour, one of our group members, Laura said that she thought this business was unique because the workers signed one eight hour contract everyday they chose to continue to work. She continued by summarizing that she did not expect the company to have employees from many backgrounds including engineering, business administration and everyday laborers. Another one of my colleagues, Michael Dalton thought that the logistics aspect of the business and the coordination of ships and trucks was very interesting. He brought up a very good point that the logistics team made a marvelous effort to add a truck route for the drivers accessing the port. These drivers are able to take an alternate route that avoids traffic which allows the materials to reach the port as soon as possible. Following the business visit, the group made its way towards our next activity of the day, a boat tour of the Valparaiso port.

Our instructors begin the meeting with some basic safety precautions.

            Our group split up into two separate sections because the boats did not have the capacity two fit all of us in one. This helped us out because we were able to become more personable with the tour guide and could hear him clearer along with initiating a question and answer session.

Our group sets sail for the Valparaiso boat tour.

 As we took off, the first things we saw were the massive cranes that I previously talked about. The cranes were even bigger than I thought as we got closer. Following the cranes, we went by a famous naval training ship called the Esmeralda that has been used to train the Chilean Armada for many years. There was also a famous French lighthouse that had been in place now for many years that was key for incoming ships into the port. Next we saw many of their famous naval ships. Many of them were armed with four missiles that were able to fire on a brisk command from a higher officer. Some of the ships even had airplane and helicopter landing pads. One of the more famous ships, number eighteen, is the command center that tells all of the other ships what to do in a situation of battle or just simply to make a small adjustment. Another one of their ships is specifically designed to carry basic necessities and food to the remote island of the west coast of Chile called Easter Island. As my boat wrapped up the tour, we ran into a cool flock of pelicans which are very uncommon to see back in New England and finally, we saw a sea lion resting on a buoy enjoying the warm climate.

Michael Dalton is ecstatic to see a sea lion!

 After returning to the mainland, I talked to another one of my colleagues to recap their experience. Ryan Frank thought the boat ride was very soothing and offered a different view of the port that we had not seen before.

The day would then carry on towards our next business visit,Kingston Vineyard.