Friends visited Chile on a wine tour. They told us about the great time they had and the guide who made the trip special for them. We nodded and took the card of the guide, but gave it no more thought. We were thinking of a return to Italy, our favorite place to visit when my spouse ‘discovered’ inexpensive flights to Santiago, Chile, direct from DFW where we live. We took a…
On our second trip three years after our first we had a better idea what we wanted to do. We wanted to do more than walk vineyards, learn the process and taste some wines. We wanted to visit boutique wineries, spend some time on the ground, like overnight, and actually talk with one or more winemakers about what they were doing and learning about wine making. We intended to buy some of…
Maybe the third time is supposed to be the best. I always thought the first time was, but when it comes to visits to Chile, our third time revealed a depth and breadth that we had not perceived on our earlier visits. Maybe it is because by now, Mauricio, our guide is like an old friend. He understands us, we talk about all kinds of things, and our interests in wine are…
On our recent visit to the Spanish port city we had an opportunity to eat three evening meals. Our hotel was the Sheraton Four Points on the Diagonal in the Sant Mari district. According to one taxi driver the area where the Sheraton was built had been an industrial area where all the manufacturing jobs fled to Morocco, the Philippines and Thailand. Many of the office buildings here are new and the…
Lisbon is one of those places my spouse and I’ve discussed on many occasions. It is intriguing because it is close to the things we love in Europe. But we seldom meet anyone who has been there. As an unexplored place we decided to visit as part of a recent trip to Spain. What we found was surprising. It is a city that has lagged behind Europe, but is now rushing headlong…