Day 7

Day 7:

Today was probably one of my favorite days so far. We took a bus to Vina Indomita for our company visit, which is a vineyard in Chile. My first impression is the beautiful view of the vineyard. I’m not sure my pictures will do it justice but it really looked amazing. Our guide took us into the warehouse where some of the wine was made and stored, and it smelled wonderful. Then we went into the cellar where the aged wine was in barrels. I learned a lot about the process of making wine and how engineering is a big part and comes into play. Then we got to taste some of the wine they made, which was delicious. Three different types of wine were tasted and they all had three different types of grapes, processes used, and flavors. Once our tour had officially ended, some people bought some souvenirs and a lot of us just hung out, taking pictures and talking. One of the interesting things to me was that this vineyard only has one harvest a year and they strive for the highest quality within that harvest. Vina Indomita mostly exports their wines to other countries as opposed to selling it only in Chile. After that we headed to lunch at Pablo Neruda’s house. The meal was so delicious and it was great to eat a real lunch since most of this week lunch consisted of picking at the food in the university cafeteria. I don’t know if it was the mix of our table but I felt like I was cracking up the whole time at lunch. Maybe it had something to do with the wine I had with my lunch, but regardless it was a great time. Then we walked over to the museum portion of the house, which was essentially his house almost exactly as he left it. We received little remote controls with speakers that we were to play at certain parts of the tour to give us information. Some of the narrations were a little lengthy, but overall informative. The house was incredible. It was nautical themed and it seemed like every room had a breathtaking view of the beach, especially the bedroom. I would love to have a bedroom where you could look out and see the sunset over the beach every night. I was also really impressed with Pablo’s seashell collection that was on display. There were just so many pretty shells of all shapes and sizes; probably most impressive was the narwol horn. After we completed the tour, we all just hung out on some of the rocks by the beach. It was definitely fun and I can’t get over how great the view was. We then walked back to the bus and stopped to get some handmade crafts on the way. The clock said that we spent a lot of time there, but it honestly didn’t feel that long at all. As soon as I got on the bus I pretty much passed out right away. I was woken up when we arrived at the university for our final dance class. I could not have been more tired and was so not ready for this, but after some warm ups my energy level was a bit higher. We danced a variety of Latin American dances such as the cha-cha and the salsa again. Once we said our goodbyes to the instructor, we took the public bus back to our hotel and rushed to get ready for the night ahead of us!

Lunch at Pablo Neruda's