5/10/13

Happy Friday! Today we got started at 9 and rode on the bus for about an hour to Casablanca. We toured Indomita, one of Chile’s wineries. The view was amazing, with all of the grapevines on the mountains. It was exactly what one would expect from a winery. Anyway, we walked up to the actual winery faculty to be greeted by our very enthusiastic tour guide. Walking inside, we saw where the wine is actually made, which was very interesting. The grapes are collected and separated from the stems. White wines are actually separated from the skin before they are fermented, while red wines are fermented with the skins still on and this is what gives red wines their color.  After the fermentation process, most of the wine is stored in giant stainless steel tanks. The more expensive wines, however, are aged in wooden barrels in order to enhance the taste. There is also a very specific time frame for the wine to be aged, as to not mess up the flavor. After the tour of the winery, we were given a few glasses of wine to taste. They were very good and I liked the way our tour guide described the taste.  After that we went to tour the house of Pablo Neruda. He had very particular taste and everything in his house was planned to the smallest detail. He designed it like a ship because of his love for the sea, which the house overlooked (pictured below). The area also had shops were everything was handmade or hand painted. We finished off the day with a bus ride back to the University to for salsa lessons. Our instructor was as enthusiastic as ever. Today was a good day I think. And tomorrow we have our free day, which means sleeping in! Until tomorrow…