December 07 - Chile Part 2

I can’t write about Chile without spending some time on the food and wine. Seafood is a big part of the local cuisine, but also steaks from Argentina, and lamb from the south. The food was simple, but light and tasty – no complicated sauces or weird flavors. The empenadas were especially good, and our favorites were the ones with shrimp or beef.

Before we went to Chile, I thought Californians were crazy about avocadoes. Chileans put us to shame. They call them "paltas" and put them on everything, not just salads, but even hotdogs!

Even more than the food, we enjoyed the wine. We visited two wineries and tasted many more with our dinners each night. The wines are generally good and the prices are incredibly low. At the start of the trip we visited Underraga in the Maipo valley, only about 1 ½ hours from Santiago. The valley is beautiful and looks a little like the vineyards north of Santa Barbara in California, except that the massive in Andes in the background remind you where you are. After a tour of the vineyards and cellars, we finally got to taste a few wines and were not disappointed. This was our first of many encounters on the trip with Carmenere, a distinctly Chilean varietal.





Here’s a little sidebar on wine history: In the late 1800s there was a disease called phylloxera that destroyed most of the grape vines in Europe. As a result, the vines in Europe were replaced with hybrids and grafts from new world grapes that were resistant to phylloxera. So, all of those great French wines today come from stock that was originally from the Americas. Unfortunately some types of grapes from the old world were lost completely to the disease, including Carmenere. Or so it seemed….

For years Chilean wineries had been producing Merlot that had a distinctly different taste. Scientists and vineyard owners studying the vines’ DNA found something interesting. They weren’t Merlot vines at all, but instead were Camernere, which had been thought lost. It turned out that Chile’s isolation by the Pacific Ocean, northern desert, Andes Mountains, and southern ice had protected some Carmenere vines so that now they are nearly the only country in the world with this grape. They are very proud of it and are now attempting to develop it into a specialty, similar to the Malbecs in Argentina.

Back to our travels: We also visited the Concha Y Toro winery, which is one of the largest exporters. You can find their wines in most stores in California – check where you live for a taste of Chile. This winery is also in the Maipo Valley, but is very close to Santiago, so close that you can take the subway almost all the way there. It's a short 5 minunte cab ride to the entrance:

December 07 - Chile Part 1

Our latest adventure was two weeks in Chile in December. We spent time in and around Santiago, and then headed south to Patagonia, and then back to Santiago. I’m going to try to break up the blogs about the trip into a few smaller sections geographically, even though it’s not exactly in chronological order.

We started and ended the trip in Santiago, which turned out to be a really nice city. Santiago is about the same latitude South (33 deg) as the OC is North, so the weather and flora were pretty familiar to us (complete with palm trees, jacaranda, and bougainvillea). Our arrival didn’t go as well as expected though, as our bags didn’t arrive with us. We were assured that they would “come in on the next flight” many times, but it actually took about 4 days for them to catch up with us – more about that later. We learned the first of many new Spanish vocabulary words – perdido.

We stayed at the Ritz Carlton in the El Golf area at the start of the trip, which was very posh and in the middle of the “American business traveler” section of restaurants. On our return for the second part of the trip we stayed at the Hotel Orly in the Providencia area. Reviews for both hotels will be on Tripadvisor shortly. These areas and many others that we visited were very clean, safe, and easy to navigate, even if you don’t speak Spanish very well. The Metro is cheap, efficient, and the best way to get around the city. If it sounds like I’m talking up Santiago, well, it’s because we were pretty impressed with the city. Quite a few other tourists we met along the trip expressed the same opinion. Everyone somewhat shocked by the affluence as well as the infrastructure in Chile in general. For example, there are many parks throughout the city and all are well maintained, landscaped, and many have interesting sculptures. The same goes for the national parks we encountered later in the trip – the signs, maps, rangers, restrooms, etc are nearly the same level as US National Parks. And best of all, you can drink the water.

The first day in Santiago, we went to El Cerro/Parque Metropolitano, which is a big hill in the middle of the city that is a park. We took a funicular up to the top where there is a big status of the Virgin, and then a cable car across to the other side of the park. The view of the city from the top is great and you get a good sense of the local culture – lots of people biking, playing with children, and just generally enjoying a sunny Sunday afternoon in the park.



We also visited a few of the big malls, which were packed with holiday shoppers. This wasn’t how we intended to spend our vacation, but after a few days, we really needed some new clothes. Ripley and Farabella are the big department stores where we stocked up on new stuff. Shopping in a new country can be a little disorienting, especially when you don’t really speak the language and don’t even know your size. I played the “3 Bears” game until I found pants that fit….this one’s too big, this one’s too small,…. just right!

Toward the end of our trip we returned to Santiago and did some more exploring in the city. We visited the Plaza del Armas, and the National Museum. We wandered through the pedestrian-only streets, had helado (ice cream), which is sold everywhere, and visited the big, ornate Catedral Metropolitana, followed by the contrasting simple mission style Iglesia de San Francisco.

While Chile is over 3000 miles long, it’s less than 250 miles wide, so you’re never more than a few hours from the beach. We took a bus to Vina del Mar, which is billed as a resort town. We were a little disappointed by the town, but we were expecting more beach front cafes and better weather. We did get to see a Moai from Easter Island, one of only 2 in world that are outside that island.

October 07 - Beijing Part 3

After a few days of meetings, I had one last adventure. I went to the Silk Market where’s very little silk for sale, but 6 stories of fake stuff for sale. You can get pretty much anything from electronics to underwear here, but I came for a bag. They range from the very bad (Coach bags with a “G” instead of “C”) to the very good (probably from the original factory, but “fell off the truck”). The bartering is very disorienting, but if you ignore all the people shouting at you to look at their stuff, and you hold out for the right price, you might end up with a nice Feragamo wallet for $7 like I did. I’m really glad I went with a co-worker who had been there before – she was a huge help in the negotiations.

Some random observations on Beijing:
There are fake and/or cheap goods for sale everywhere. However, Olympic stuff is only sold at “official” shops and comes with holographic tags to prove it’s real. I guess they don’t mind cheating a little when it comes to Italian designers, but the Chinese Olympic committee will not tolerate losing it’s licensing revenue.

Parisians have nothing on Beijingers for pushing and queuing. There’s absolutely no personal space and no concept of standing in line. Although it felt rude, I learned after a few days to use my size to my advantage… if you want service at a counter, you just have to throw a few elbows or “box out” the next person to use a basketball term.

Speaking of basketball, Yao Ming’s face is on a billboard for something on every corner. I’m not sure if there is any ad space that Visa hasn’t bought for him.

Big brother wouldn’t let me read my email. I don’t know if it was the hotel or government restrictions, but we couldn't access the secured email system for work (too bad! A week with no email!). There were some other webpages that didn’t seem accessible either. I don’t want to think they monitored my internet traffic, but don’t know what else to make of that.

Most of the street and traffic signs have an English translation after the Chinese characters. I heard there was a big push to do this before the Olympics. However, some of the translations are very literal word-for-word and don’t really capture the spirit of the meaning. A few were just completely incomprehensible, but some were pretty amusing. This one at the airport taxi drop off cracked me up, “Only stop. For getting off.”

The currency is the Renmimbi and you can only get it at specific ATMs, exchange booths, and some hotels. You can’t exchange it back after you leave, so you have to make sure you don’t take out too much. Most things like the hotel and food were pretty inexpensive. It’s the one place where the low value of the dollar doesn’t hurt too much.

The city really has some contradictions. It seems like anything that is not brand new and covered in neon is really, really old and traditional. The old neighborhoods have houses with little courtyards, but most that I saw could be described as “ramshackle” for want of a better expression. These areas are called hutongs, but they are disappearing quickly as they are bulldozed for the high rise construction that is going on everywhere. I’m not sure how I felt about that – some seemed like eyesores that should be gone, but the dullness of the square apartment buildings isn’t a good trade.

Just like the food, the people, and the buildings, everything was mixed – some good, some bad. Overall, it was a very interesting experience, but I wish I had more time to explore a little more. I’m still not sure what to make of it – did I like or not? Don’t know, but I’ll definitely go back to find out.

October 07 - Beijing Part 2

This blog is a continuation of my trip to Beijing.

One big highlight (and lowlight) of the trip was the food. I’m becoming a lot more adventurous in what I will try, so this was a real test for me. The first night out we started with appetizers at the night market. It’s a street with stall after stall of just about anything you can imagine…on a stick. They cook it for you on the spot and each one seems have more strange things than the last. My co-workers had just about everything, but since it was my first day there, I really didn’t want to risk eating anything too weird yet. They took on the ordinary (chicken, lamb, squid), as well as the just plain weird (cricket, scorpion). I’m not saying that wouldn’t eat that stuff if I were starving, but there was perfectly yummy food waiting for me at the restaurant. However, I did have a great time and got to meet someone interesting.

As we walked through the night market there was someone with a big video camera setting up. I recognized the other person with him right away – Andrew Zimmern from the Travel Channel show “Bizarre Foods”. I’m a big fan and went over to see what he was eating. He was so friendly! His assistant even offered to take a picture with me (see the picture 2 post earlier). My colleague from Hong Kong explained that the dish he’s holding is some type of dumpling with a broth inside that you drink first before you eat it. None for me, thanks. I can’t wait until the new season starts, so I can see what else he ate there.

On to the rest of the culinary side of my trip. One night we had a hot pot at Dong Lai Shun Muslim Restaurant. This is supposedly a pretty famous place and the entrance is decorated with pictures from visits by Jackie Chan and Chinese celebrities that I didn’t recognize. They are called “Muslim” restaurants, but it’s not Middle Eastern or Halal food that I expected. Instead it refers to Mongolian style food from the western part of China. You are served thin strips of beef, lamb, and veggies which go into a boiling pot. It was very tasty, as were the seasoned lamb skewers.

The next night we ate Yunnan style food at Cha Ma Gu Dao Shishahai Restaurant. It’s located in an area called the Water Lily Market in Beihai Park. There are lots of restaurants and karaoke bars a few blocks deep around a nice lake here. This food was much spicier – some good, some not so good. The meeting organizers had ordered about 20 different dished and we all got try a little of each:

Favorite: spicy peppers and beef (mmmm)
Least Favorite: stinky tofu (that’s what it’s called and it’s accurate)
Weirdest that I tried: pig’s ear (the texture was not good - chewy skin and crunchy cartilage – and I needed a lot of beer to get this one down)
Weirdest that I didn’t try: chicken foot (claw and all – just couldn’t do it).

October 07 - Beijing Part 1

I had the chance to go to China for a work conference in October. Our group needed someone to attend a meeting in Beijing, so of course, I volunteered. Anytime I can go someplace I haven’t been before, I’m in. I have a lot of thoughts about the trip, so I’ll split up my comments into a few different blogs.

I stayed at the Wangfujing Grand Hotel (see my review on Tripadvisor.com), which is pretty centrally located for tourists. I didn’t have a lot of extra time, but my first morning was free. After a quick check of the map with the concierge I set off for the Forbidden City, or Palace Museum as they want it to be called. She suggested that I walk to the north entrance instead of the south where all of the tourist groups arrive. I think that little piece of advice made a big difference in my visit.

First the walk took me through some interesting streets with local shops and homes, not the hotels and malls I passed on the other days. People were walking, driving, or biking to work. And let me say that there are bikes everywhere, some of them loaded with huge amounts of stuff – vegetables, boxes, anything. While I was intrigued by everything I saw, I think the locals were too. Pretty much everyone stared at me as I strolled along. It didn’t bother me at first, but did get a little weird after a while. During about the first hour at the Forbidden City, I saw only two other “western” tourists.

Inside the north entrance, the buildings are smaller and the walkways have more trees than other parts of the City. This area had more temples and personal areas for the emperor and his family. I arrived just after it opened and it was not very crowded, but very peaceful. The buildings are beautiful, but unfortunately many are in need of restoration. (Note there is a long term plan for this – some of it is set to be done in time for the Olympics, but some further out.)

Moving to the south, the buildings get larger as you reach the halls where official business was carried out. It’s amazing to see the sheer size and number of the structures, and to think about the people who lived and worked their entire lives here. The key difference that struck me about this site and museums in other places is that the buildings are nearly all empty. There are a few with some antique displays, but most seem to have lost all of their treasures which gives the place a strange feeling. It’s very hard to imagine what it must have been like when filled with officials, soldiers, cooks, etc., as well as all of their stuff.

As I got closer to the south entrance I started to meet the tourist groups coming in the other direction. As I salmon-ed my way upstream through the masses I felt pretty conspicuous, but finally made it through the gates, guards, and traffic to the outside and Tiananmen Square.

Guards and traffic were a common theme for the entire trip. As a tourist I never once felt unsafe in the city, but it is a little weird that there is a police presence nearly everywhere. There seemed to be two types of police – some type of local police in black uniforms and military guards in green. I’m still wondering whether they were watching the people or each other, but they keep everything orderly.

After the beauty and history of the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square was a little bit of a let down. It’s not quite as big as I expected and there’s not much to see. I walked around the entire thing and the most interesting part is the Olympic floral display and count down clock. I was getting pretty tired of walking by this point so I skipped the big attraction…Mao’s body is on display. You are allowed to go in to see it and walk past, but not stop. However, you are not allowed to take anything inside, so you have to go to another building across the street to check your bags and then come back and get in line to go in. I probably should have done it, but at the time it seemed too complicated just to see a dead guy.

Instead I went out looking for a café to get a drink and rest my feet. After not finding anything like this for blocks, I gave up and headed back to the hotel for a nap. I didn’t find anything like it for the rest of the trip either and ended up a big mall with a Starbucks in the afternoon. So much for local culture.

Beijing - More about this pic later.....

You never know what (or who) you'll find at the night market!!

July 2007 - Alaska

While I've been to the great northern frontier a few times before, I haven't written about those trips yet. The other EB will be publishing his blog about last year's trip to Alaska soon, but I'll take care of this one.

Our trip this year was a family visit to my in-laws' new house in Seldovia which just completed construction before we arrived. The whole gang was in town to celebrate the new place as well as the 4th of July.
After landing in Anchorage, we drove to Homer the next day. Homer is literally the "end of the road" in the AK Highway system.

Homer Spit and the end of the road...

To get from Homer to Seldovia, there are two ways - ferry or airplane. We opted for the plane and asked the pilot to take a detour on the way so that we could fly over the Grewink glacier. Since it's receding, I'm glad we got to see it before it's melted!

Seldovia from the air: The new house is just to the left of the rock on the shore.

Seldovia airport:

We spent the next few days catching up with the family as well as fishing. The other EB caught this nice 40 lb halibut. See my record catch below.

Big Fish

Not so big fish:

We also went salmon fishing, which was a first for me. I caught a very small pink which we had to throw back. However, my sister in law had the magic touch and reeled in a whopping 50 lb. king. It turned out it was a white king, which refers to the meat that is not pink like a regular salmon. Turns out they are very rare and she was the envy of everyone at the dock when we got back!

And I'll add with some pride that I learned how to clean my own fish. It's a little icky, but very satisfying to catch and filet your own dinner. (Any guilt quickly left me when I tasted how good it was.)

The 4th of July is the big event in Seldovia, with a parade, canoe jousting, rubber ducky race, and games. Saddly, the defending egg toss champs among our friends and family did not repeat. We spent the rest of the days relaxing, eating great meals, and watching the wildlife. The sea otters and bald eagles put on a great show.

Finally it was back to Anchorage and home, but not before a few last great views of the 49th state.