Santiago

Our hotel room in Santiago--it was a great place to stay at a very reasonable price.  It had a kitchen, living room, and bedroom.

Cam in front of the house at Santa Lucia, the hill in the middle of the city.  Our hotel was at the base of the hill.

Cam had a street dog that followed him from the hotel all the way up the hill.  Santiago has about 1.25 million street dogs; they are a part of the culture there.

In front of the presidential palace during the changing of the guards.

The large fishmarket in Santiago.

All of South America is strongly Catholic and there are such beautiful churches.

View of the city from San Cristobal, the large mountain overlooking the city.

Me drink/eating a local dessert that is popular. I can't remember the name, but it was a sweet peach tea with fresh peaches and barley. It was interesting, but wasn't exactly my favorite.

At the top of San Cristobal is a gorgeous chapel and statute of Mary.

They are building the largest building in South America. It will be 54 stories--which seems small but most of the cities here are sprawling. If you think about how many earthquakes they have, that's pretty impressive.

We went to Los Dominicos, an artists's village that sold fair trade, local wares.

Me with a pisco sour, the national drink of Chile.  It is a grape brandy with lemon/citrus juice, bitters, and a bit of egg white.  It was delicious and refreshing!

View of the city from the top of our building during that extra bright full moon.

Chilean Wine Country

Welcome to picture overload...haha! The wine country was maybe my favorite part of Chile. Enjoy the pictures we took:

Cam and Beth, his childhood babysitter (basically like his big sister) who lives in Chile. This was at a winery near her home in the Maipo region, Cousino Macul.

Tasting room in the cellar of Cousino Macul.

On the drive down to Colchagua, the Chilean region famous for red wines at the base of the Andes.

Countryside in Colchagua valley.

Neyen, a boutique winery in Colchagua. They only make one wine a year, but we loved it. It is great wine for a splurge.

Us in Neyen's personal reserve of wine. Notice the chicken-wire--they lost their entire collection in the earthquake last year so they have chicken wire now to keep the bottles from falling.

Neyen made a chocolate to pair perfectly with their wine.  Their logo is from an ancient carving found in the region.

Montes was our second winery in Colchagua. It was beautiful, but they are much more commercial.  Their Syrah was our favorite.

All the wineries plant rose bushes around the grapes.  The rose scent will attract any pests first, so if the roses are getting infested, they know the grape crop will be next.

Montes's tasting room. It is done following the principles of fung shui.

Montes's tasting room and its view.

Alpaca grazing near the grapes.

View from lunch...gorgeous.  Just a tip: if you go into the countryside, be sure not to even eat anything washed in the water--Cam got sicker than a dog when we got back that night from eating lettuce washed in the local water--ugh. The city water was fine though.

Laura Hartwig winery.

The polo fields in front of Laura Hartwig.

Viu Manent winery, our overall favorite winery for the value.  It was beautiful, and their collection from top to bottom was the best. Their carmenere was amazing.

The tasting tables set up under the grape vines.

They took us on a carriage ride through the vineyard.

Concha Y Toro, in the Maipo region. They are the largest wine producer in Chile.

The family home on the grounds.

We aren't the biggest chardonnay fans, but they had a great chardonnay blend.

People used to rob the cellar at Concha Y Toro.  So, the owner began the rumor that the devil lived in the cellar and would punish those who took the bottles.  Chileans are very superstitious, and supposedly no one ever stole another bottle.  They have a line of wines called Casa Diablo (house of the Devil).

The countryside in the Casablanca region (the area known for its wines).

Still Bleed Blue

First, I am sorry I am such a crappy blogger lately.  I promise to finish posting my South America pictures this week, come hell or high water. 

So, someone's hubby left her high and dry in Lexington while he is partying it up in Houston.  He somehow got to work a business trip into the deal, so he only had to pay for his ticket.  Since his brother works at Rupp, the managed to pull off lower level 4th row tickets for face value.  I would hate him so much right now if we had won... 

View from their room of the stadium (I have a feeling that bottle is no longer that full...Cam's down there with his brother and his friends from high school)

I don't feel too bad that he made the big trip down there--he's been to two Houston Rockets games (in UK garb to cheer on Patrick Patterson and Chuck Hayes), a Kenny Chesney concert, and saw his friend Josh Teater play in the Houston Open.  And, he still has two more days down there and the business front of the trip is a huge success.  Funny enough, my cousin goes to VCU and went down there as well. He and his buddies are staying in the same hotel as Cam.  Too random!

Our friends from Louisville came in town for the big game.  We went to, where else?, Two Keys and watched the game. 

Brittany, Lauren, and I outside of Two Keys

It was a heartbreaking loss because it wasn't that UConn was a better team--we lost that game ourselves.  We didn't seem to have the heart/drive, we couldn't capitalize on any turnovers or hit any free-throw shots.  It hurts so incredibly badly that one measly point kept us from the Championship game.  

But, at least we have a lot to look forward to next year. Still so proud of my cats for bringing back a final four banner to hang in Rupp.