Vina Santa Rita

This weekend is a long weekend. Today, monday is a public holiday although I am not quite sure what for but I'll take it anyway. I've stayed in Santiago as I didn't really want to go away again, after last weeks trip to San Pedro. On Saturday I spent the afternoon in Flannery's a sort of Irish theme pub only without guinness which is a bit like a brothel without any girls. Anyway, there was a reason for me being there, the champions league final. I am not a Chelsea fan but when if they are playing a German team then they are going to get my support. It turned out to be an exciting game going to penalties and Chelsea finally won. I am also quite pleased because they won it with a caretaker manager. I have never been a big fan of Abramovich's hiring and firing tactics with his managers so it will be interesting to see what he does next, does he go for another high profile name or stick with the coach who won him the Champions league.

Yesterday I was invited out for lunch to the vineyard Santa Rita by some colleagues from the university. This is one of the larger wine producers in Chile that is owned by one of the richest families in the country. The vineyard is about 30 km south of the city. There is a wonderful museum there that houses the family private collection of historical artefacts some of which date back to 2-3000 BC. After wandering around the museum it was time for lunch which was the real reason for being there. The restaurant was full for Sunday lunch but fortunately we had a reservation. A good lunch including some very nice Carmenere was followed by a stroll around the vineyards. It was wonderfully peaceful compared to the craziness of Santiago and yet we were really not that far away from the city. It was an extremely civilised way to spend a Sunday afternoon and I would thoroughly recommend it. Thanks to Maria Christina, Beatriz and Paola and their families for the invitation.