Sunday 5th February 2017
Before Sunday, we thought we'd had some fairly spectacular views of the Andes from our woodland cabin valley, though it had mostly been a bit cloudy and hazy.
Here's a panorama I took a day or two earlier, click on it to view it in greater detail.
But this Sunday, our departure day for Santiago from where we'll fly home tomorrow, dawned rather clearer than previously.
"Look", I said to Barbara, "I can see a superb snowy peak over there, peeking over the hills.":
"Yes," she said, "it's amazing isn't it."
Then I showed her the photo I'd taken of what I'd seen. "That's not amazing" she retorted, "THAT IS" ......
I'd needed to move a few metres to my right to see what she'd been seeing all along, so hadn't initially seen it. Before today, the volcano had been shrouded in cloud and not especially snowy, so we hadn't really noticed it:
It's almost certainly the Volcán Descabezado Grande, though Cerro Azul (aka Quizapu) features significantly in many maps of the area, but it's far more pointed. The name 'Descabezado' means headless, which it certainly is, and still active apparently.
We reluctantly packed our things in the car to start the first small leg of our long homeward journey. Not far down the dusty track we'd previously only seen by the car's headlights, we stopped for another view of the Descabezado Grande.
It looked just as impressive.
After a brief stop at a roadside vineyard outlet shop for emergency wine supplies to take home, Sara decided a light last meal together would be nice, so we stopped at the Juan y Medio restaurant at Rosario.
Parking attendants here were significantly better than many places we'd stopped. As well as ensuring we'd parked safely, our attendant rushed up with a large bit of card to act as a sunshield over the windscreen - it was very hot indeed. He was delighted with the 500 pesos tip (50p) I gave him as we left. Standing in the hot sun all day I felt it was well earned.
Inside the restaurant it was pleasantly cool and the menu looked very interesting, varied and good value. Quite how good we were yet to discover.
I opted for the Empanadas de Horno, one of Sunday's Meals of the Day, partly because it was cheap, £3 or so, (therefore small as I wasn't that hungry) and I knew what to expect with an empanada. I also asked for a side order of Puré Picante (spicy mashed potato).
We'd failed to notice what our neighbours on adjacent tables were having in this large and very busy restaurant, so when our orders arrived, they came as a bit of a shock. Sadly I don't have a photo, but my empanada must have been a good 10" (25 cm.) across. It was HUGE, at least four or five times the size of the typical empanadas I'd had previously.
And then my side order arrived: a huge soup bowl, again about 10" across, filled with a huge mound of mash, straight out of 'Close Encounters'.
Blimey!
I offered the mash around to see if there might be any offers to help me eat it, but everyone else had similar problems. Clemente's plate had a pile of chips as big as my mash, as well as the rest of his meal. We all struggled to finish our meals, and made a good job of them, but had we known, we could probably have ordered two meals between the five of us, and would have been well filled.
So, when in Chile, and you're very hungry, look for one of the four Juan y Medio restaurants - they're good value and very filling.
Rolling out of the restaurant, we continued back towards the heat of Santiago, passing the only train we'd seen in Chile. They're a rather rare species apparently.
Back in Santiago, we made another stop before the Hostal Providencia, at Sara's older sister Javeira's home where she lives with her daughter and makes rather unique micro-embroidery.
We saw several examples, most impressive.
And back to the hostel for one final night, this time with a different view.
Before Sunday, we thought we'd had some fairly spectacular views of the Andes from our woodland cabin valley, though it had mostly been a bit cloudy and hazy.
Here's a panorama I took a day or two earlier, click on it to view it in greater detail.
But this Sunday, our departure day for Santiago from where we'll fly home tomorrow, dawned rather clearer than previously.
"Look", I said to Barbara, "I can see a superb snowy peak over there, peeking over the hills.":
"Yes," she said, "it's amazing isn't it."
Then I showed her the photo I'd taken of what I'd seen. "That's not amazing" she retorted, "THAT IS" ......
I'd needed to move a few metres to my right to see what she'd been seeing all along, so hadn't initially seen it. Before today, the volcano had been shrouded in cloud and not especially snowy, so we hadn't really noticed it:
It's almost certainly the Volcán Descabezado Grande, though Cerro Azul (aka Quizapu) features significantly in many maps of the area, but it's far more pointed. The name 'Descabezado' means headless, which it certainly is, and still active apparently.
We reluctantly packed our things in the car to start the first small leg of our long homeward journey. Not far down the dusty track we'd previously only seen by the car's headlights, we stopped for another view of the Descabezado Grande.
It looked just as impressive.
After a brief stop at a roadside vineyard outlet shop for emergency wine supplies to take home, Sara decided a light last meal together would be nice, so we stopped at the Juan y Medio restaurant at Rosario.
Parking attendants here were significantly better than many places we'd stopped. As well as ensuring we'd parked safely, our attendant rushed up with a large bit of card to act as a sunshield over the windscreen - it was very hot indeed. He was delighted with the 500 pesos tip (50p) I gave him as we left. Standing in the hot sun all day I felt it was well earned.
Inside the restaurant it was pleasantly cool and the menu looked very interesting, varied and good value. Quite how good we were yet to discover.
I opted for the Empanadas de Horno, one of Sunday's Meals of the Day, partly because it was cheap, £3 or so, (therefore small as I wasn't that hungry) and I knew what to expect with an empanada. I also asked for a side order of Puré Picante (spicy mashed potato).
We'd failed to notice what our neighbours on adjacent tables were having in this large and very busy restaurant, so when our orders arrived, they came as a bit of a shock. Sadly I don't have a photo, but my empanada must have been a good 10" (25 cm.) across. It was HUGE, at least four or five times the size of the typical empanadas I'd had previously.
And then my side order arrived: a huge soup bowl, again about 10" across, filled with a huge mound of mash, straight out of 'Close Encounters'.
Blimey!
I offered the mash around to see if there might be any offers to help me eat it, but everyone else had similar problems. Clemente's plate had a pile of chips as big as my mash, as well as the rest of his meal. We all struggled to finish our meals, and made a good job of them, but had we known, we could probably have ordered two meals between the five of us, and would have been well filled.
So, when in Chile, and you're very hungry, look for one of the four Juan y Medio restaurants - they're good value and very filling.
Rolling out of the restaurant, we continued back towards the heat of Santiago, passing the only train we'd seen in Chile. They're a rather rare species apparently.
We saw several examples, most impressive.
And back to the hostel for one final night, this time with a different view.
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