When it is time to buy a bottle of wine, we almost always choose South American wine. It’s relatively inexpensive and it is delicious. As we travelled south through Chile, we had to stop in the central region which is known for its many vineyards. We read through our Lonely Planet guidebook, and researched online, and decided on staying in Santa Cruz. We ended up choosing Santa Cruz because David found a way we could rent bicycles and cycle through “La Ruta del Viña” (The wine route). We decided to stay at a hostel called Casa Suiza where we not only spent our nights, but were also able to rent our bikes. They even went out of their way to obtain a bike the right size for Adeline, since all of their bikes were a little big for her. The bikes were also equipped with locks and paniers which helped store our lunches and snacks on the way to the wineries, and then held our wine on the way back!
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| Happy to finally be back on bikes! |
Casa Suiza also gave us a map with directions to and around “La Ruta del Viña”. We started out early on a Sunday morning. Everyone was excited to finally be back on bikes! As we followed the bike path that would take us out of town, the path was blocked by the Sunday market! But what a great way to pick up a few more pieces of fruit for our bike trip.
Soon we were back on our bikes and heading out of town and after a short ride, we turned onto the wine route. With only one small hill, it was a fairly easy ride. We decided to beat the heat and ride all the way to the end of the route and then stop at a few wineries on the way home.
The end of route finished at Viña Neyen one of the oldest wineries in the area. It was also a very expensive winery to visit and since it charged $40 each to try two different wines, it was the only winery we visited. That’s okay. We had a great day riding our bikes past the many vineyards with the tune of “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” playing over and over in our heads. Okay, I may have sung it out loud a few times too.
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| I heard it through the Grapevine! |
We went to Santa Cruz for the wine, but surprisingly we visited the same time as their beer festival! So, not only did we experience wine country, but wlso got to sample some local craft beers. David and I each found a beer we liked, but Charlie and Adeline loved the live music. Adeline especially liked DJ Hack who played a lot of electronica music while the host pulled kids from the audience to showcase their dance skills for a free slushie. Sadly, we had to leave when a cover band for Guns and Roses came on stage. We found out the next morning that the band’s ‘Axel Rose’ was staying in our hostel. Wow!
