Greg sniffed out an Italian restaurant on a quiet Santiago Sunday no more than a block from the hotel at which we're relaxing.
La Piccola Italio proved to be a very pleasant place to while away a couple of hours. We only find out later that it's, alas, a chain, but we do see why they're successful. We had a couple of family-style dishes, a pasta and a mixed meat dish. The latter was served in a metal chafing dish powered by a charcoal - lucky the ventilation was so good.
We tried out a couple of Chilean wines, a modest white followed by a Concho Y Toro Carménère, a label we're more than familar with back home. Carménère, of course, is as classic a wine in Chile as Malbec is in Argentina.
We drove by some of the Concho Y Toro vineyards earlier today on our drive from Valparaiso to Santiago. They're a big winery by most world standards. Their wine is nonetheless good and that Casillero del Diablo label is downright tasty.
Yes, this has been much more pleasant than sitting in a tent at SCL but we'll have a turn at that shortly. Next stop Buenos Aires...
Kathy and Brian
Two retired educators alternating joyfully between seeing the world and enjoying our eight grandchildren (in order of birth), Jake, Avery, Taegan, Lily, Peyton, Riley, Blane, and Jace.
Kathy and Brian met in the clarinet section of the University of California (Santa Barbara) Symphony Orchestra several decades ago.
Brian's Western Canadian roots and Kathy's Colorado ties resulted in their making beautiful music together along with producing a cross-border crop of descendants.
Kathy spent a year studying in Vienna at the Institute for European Studies and the University of Vienna.
Brian started the school band program in Hope, British Columbia, and later became the high school's vice-principal for 6 years and subsequently principal for 15 years before retiring in 2001.
Kathy, in between raising our three children, taught kindergarten and first grade, middle school, and high school - mathematics, computer studies, ESL, and her first love, band, before retiring in 2001.
We enjoy sharing our travel experiences and providing the odd travel tip to friends, relatives, and visitors.