LA SERENA We Leaving San Pedro at 5.30. We got the last chance to watch the stars. As we stayed at the far end of the village, on our way to Cejar Lagoon, we could appreciate for the last time this spectacle. We wanted to do a star tour combined with food! but the guy who offered the tour, on Sunday evening was not really ready and in the mood... So we left it there, knowing that in Vicuna we could do the same. No stress! Valle del Elqui was waiting for us! We spent the day in La Serena, the city centre is nice and small. We were back to a city, what we know, no sandy roads, no dry hair, and no altitude! What a good feeling! People wear a bit more fashion and trendy! We enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere there! After lunch, we went to the beach, it was a long way to go! Once there, Unlike the centre it was too chilly and too windy! We left after 30 minutes and went back to the bus station waiting for the bus to Vicuna. We arrived late at night and people helped us to get to the place we booked, a bit outside Vicuna. People were very friendly to our own good! Where we stayed, a Airbnb, people were very nice and helpful too! We enjoyed our stay and relaxed there! Valle del Elqui The first we took a bus to go to the village where Gabriela Mistral lived. G. Mistral was the first Latin American woman to receive the literature Nobel Prize in 1945. She was a teacher, poet-diplomat, educator and humanist. Unfortunately, we could not visit the school, where she was a master, as it was closed for lunchtime break! Mistral is also the name of a drink called Pisco made with grapes. We continue our route to Pisco! We had empanadas for lunch and then we walked to los Nichos - names given to the distilleries in the valley. We were recommended to go to Dona Josefa! On our way we met a local who also mentioned a second one few kilometers away from Dona Josefa. DONA JOSEFA We took a tour to visit the distillery. It is a small one but it took one hour to finish the tour. We were enthusiastic about it. We learned how Pisco is made, it has no secret any more! From Feb to May grape harvest. Fermentation of grapes during months or daysm it depends if you want to produce 40 or 45 degrees spirit. The fermented grapes are distilled during hours in a copper still at 60 degrees. It can be distilled up to 3 times. The method to obtain a 40 or 45 degrees pisco differs to. To have a higher degrees it stays longer in the still. The 35 degress pisco is cut with demineralised water and even with ethylene alcohol. After it will be aged in oak barrels (imported from France, Reims) for months. It will take the oak barrel colour - light brown and also its flavour. The last step is to mix the alcohol with demineralised water during 20 minutes. They still calculation made in the 17 centuries from French expert to Right after it is bottled, tagged and put into nice carton boxes. The last two steps are hand made! Now Pisco is ready to be savoured or mixed with lemon, sugar, ice and water to make a pisco sour! I lost the orignal pictures therefore I could not tranfer them to my pc. that´s explain why the poor quality. It was a pleasant day at Dona Josefa, we stayed a bit longer: to play with the energetic dog, to walk in the wine yards, and just to appreciate the quietness and relaxing atmosphere. VICUNA It was not easy to find proper food in Vicuna in the evening. What it offered, it is only Chilean fast food such as completos, sandwiches or chips! We managed to find a restaurant that made an effort to serve us Lunch menu! It was too much: a starter would have been enough! We are in Chile: American portions are very common! 3 Days! We were ready the second day to watch the stars but we were a bit dubious as the sky was a bit cloudy. We went to the agency but the tour was cancelled because the sky was not clear enough! Well second attempts, we were not successful. It was not meant to happen during this trip! A bit disappointed but it was ok! Stars won´t go away! We could always come back! It was short but 3 days are enough to visit the valley. It was rich in colour but not as intensive as in the past three weeks! SANTIAGO After a 6 hours bus ride, we arrived in Santiago! What stroke us, was the noise, the crowd, and the rapidity how things went (even it has nothing to compare with Europe). We were overwhelmed, we wanted to go back to a silent and empty village, where nothing occurs! Facing the reality, we had no other choices. The 5 last days went over very fast: we went to the market, to the different parks (Ines de Suares, Araucano, Errazuriz), and ate at one of the best pizzeria in town, sushis etc. It was time to pack again and heading off to the airport. What a great time!
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