Road Trip to Mendoza!

Posted on February 4, 2013 by kierstenmurnane

This past weekend we made our very first road trip for a long weekend. We had heard that Mendoza in Argentina was less than a 6 hour drive through the mountains from Santiago. Imagine that, one of the most celebrated wine regions in the world was just a short drive away. Combine that with the fact that the Sudamericano Sub20 Futbol Tournament, the tournament that will decide who plays in the Sub20 World Cup was being played in Mendoza (and Chile was playing incredibly well) and it became a perfect getaway for the Murnane family.

We were planning to leave early Friday morning until we learned that due to some construction on the roads, the route only goes one way at the moment – departing from Chile to Argentina was only possible from 8 p.m. until 7 a.m. So we changed our plans to leave Thursday evening. The drive to the boarder crossing was about 3 hours from Santiago, so as we left our house at 6 p.m. we figured we would time things perfectly, just after the initial rush cleared.

As we got close to the boarder we were now smack in the middle of the Andes. Not a lot around us except for mountains. We came upon a line of cars stopped. It was still nearly 20 kilometers from the boarder which made us think the opening was delayed. We waited for about 30 minutes when the cars started to move again. We only drove for a short time to stop again, still far from the boarder. Now it was nearing 10 p.m. so the sun was setting and the mountains were getting cold. Imagine, we were in the middle of the Andes with nothing anywhere – no McDonalds, gas stations or anything but sharp cliffs.

We began moving again, creeping slowly. Before you cross the boarder, you literally climb up the mountain, zig zagging back and forth, with nearly 23 turns to reach the top. This is the area under construction so traffic was moving very slowly. Just after we made it to the top of the mountain, now nearly midnight, we stopped. We were not sure why, but freezing cold and dark everywhere we were now worried about how long this would actually take.

We finally slowly began to move, rounding a corner after more than an hour, creeping an inch at a time, to see that we were filing into the line for Customs. Only moving a few feet every 20 minutes, John and my mom got out of the car and walked forward to check it out. Now nearly 1 a.m. they counted we were 68 cars back from the checkpoint. John decided to get some sleep and I inched the car forward moving two feet once every 15 minutes. We did this from 1 a.m. until 4 a.m. when we finally reached the customs checkpoint. It was agony.

Not a surprise, the Murnanes didn’t have their paperwork in order. We can’t find the proof that we paid the reciprocity fee to enter Argentina ($160 per person) even with the stamps on our passport from our previous trip to Argentina. We also realized we had only the previous owners paperwork for our car – nothing showing that we actually owned the car. Thankfully I had my computer so after much searching I found the documentation that we had paid the reciprocity fee. The guards stamped our paper and we headed out happy to have avoided any questions about the car. it was now nearing 5 a.m. and we still had a three hour drive ahead in Argentina.

After finally driving at a normal speed for about 30 minutes we came to a check point on the highway where one guard was stopping all cars. He indicated that he needed our form from customs with three stamps – which we apparently didn’t have. After much conversation in broken spanish, it was clear he was not going to just let us go. He insisted, without hesitation, that we needed to turn around and go back to customs.

By that time, our spirits were broken, we were beyond any rational thought, but the idea of turning around and going back to the place we had just spent nearly 6 hours seemed like a cruel joke. But what choice did we have? We turned around and headed back to get our three official stamps. The process took almost 45 minutes – and thankfully for the grace of one customs worker who saw our car paperwork and deduced that we had likely not just stolen our car but that we were simply clueless Americans – we headed out for the second time at almost 6 a.m.

With John driving, I slept for an hour while we made our way toward Mendoza. As we neared the city, we hit a bit of rush hour traffic which seemed hardly possible given we had left Santiago at 6 p.m. the prior evening. As we finally acknowledged that we reached the city of Mendoza we clocked it as a 14 hour journey. If someone had suggested the four of us get in a car and drive straight through the night with no sleep through the Andes mountain range on a trip that would take 14 hours I would have laughed. It hardly seemed possible that we made it.

We found our hotel, the Park Hyatt , which sits right on the main square in the heart of Mendoza. We made the determination that we would not sleep but push on to taste some wine. We had only 3 days in Mendoza and we needed to make that long trip worth the time (If at all possible).

We hired a car to take us to two wineries: the first was Casa Del Visitante where we got a tour and taste of Family Zuccardi wines. We had a wonderful classic Argentinian barbecue at their restaurant which was spectacular and included delicious Argentina empanadas. We then headed to a boutique winery Carinae where we toured the very small winery and did a wonderful tasting of many wines. Jack was a trooper the whole time (Madie was at her sleep-away summer camp so she didn’t make the trip).

Our wine tasting at the intimate Carinae Winery.

We were proud of ourselves for pushing through and not wasting one of our three days in Mendoza to sleep. We were especially proud of my mom, who managed to sleep a total of 15 minutes in the car and still hung with us the whole day. My mom and Jack headed back to the room for an early night and John and I ventured down the street from our hotel to The Vines of Mendoza which is a wonderful wine bar/tasting room that features any and all wines available in Mendoza.

The next day, John and I got to do a tour with Trout & Wine a fantastic tour company. They picked us up from our hotel and we visited four wineries with a very small group. The wineries we went to were some of the best in Mendoza, Vina Cobos started the day with great Malbecs and a really wonderful Felino Chardonnay. It was really interesting to taste the different wines that were the same grape but just grown in different locations of the vinyards in Mendoza.

Achaval Ferrer was my absolute favorite wine and winery. The backdrop was fantastic as we did our tasting outside. We then got to go down into the cellar and actually taste from the barrel – something I had never done before. The wines were spectacular, if indeed out of our price range. We learned that they actually trim down the grape clusters just before Harvest (which is in late Feb/early March) in order to concentrate everything into the best grapes. Amazing to see they just leave what appear to be perfectly good grapes on the ground to fertilize the others.

Next, we visited a very old winery that is now a restaurant and small hotel, Club Tapiz. We had a chance to tour the old winery where we saw the old barrels, a beautiful mural and some old dresses made to represent the history of wine harvests in Mendoza. We had lunch in the second story of a beautiful old building and each course was accompanied by the wines. Our group consisted of a couple from Ottawa, Canada, a gentleman from England and a young woman from the Netherlands – a super interesting group to spend the day with.

We ended our day at Alta Vista which offered a interesting blend of old and new wine traditions. They have a highly rated Torrontes which is a grape only grown in the north of Argentina in Salta. But in Mendoza, Malbecs rule and Alta Vista is most known for their Alta Vista Alto wine which was indeed delicious.

Our last day in Mendoza we spent the morning visiting one last winery Belasco De Baquedano which we thought would be fun because they have an aroma room where you can test your senses to identify different wine characteristics. The winery itself has beautiful views and great wine.

After the winery visit we got ready to go to the Chile vs. Urguay Sudamericano Sub20 tournament. Chile had been playing really well and given that the national men’s team has not been playing well, everyone was getting excited by the this younger group suggesting some potential for the future of Chilean Futbol. The Uruguay team was also staying at the Hyatt Regency Mendoza and the hotel was kind enough to give us some spectacular tickets. We couldn’t decide if the strong police presence at the stadium made us feel safer or suggested we should worry, but everything was perfectly fine.

Unfortunately, Chile lost the match 1-0 Uruguay. Jack was very disappointed, expecially when we returned to the hotel to see the Uruguay team bus pull up at the same time filled with celebrating under-20 year-old boys. But we had one last fantastic meal in Mendoza at a small restaurant named Azafrán Restaurant which was terrific. The small restaurant has their own wine cellar rather than a wine list so you actually go with the sommelier to pick out your wine.

You can only imagine how nervous we were to start our long drive home. We all secretly assumed that the drive could never be as bad as the trip to Mendoza but we were all too scared to say anything out loud just on the off chance we might jinx it. We also took solace in the fact that we could see the beautiful mountains since we would be traveling during the day. Everyone had told us part of the reason to make the drive was the view driving through the Andes.

We headed out after breakast and thankfully had an uneventful time back. Customs heading into Chile took 10 minutes and even the few stops we had to make at the construction once in Chile only lasted a short time. We made it home in 7 hours – half the time it took us to get to Mendoza.

It was a tremendous trip. Would we do it again even with the tough journey….No. I will never again drive into Argentina. But, I will make sure to go back to Mendoza. Just take a plane next time.

La Boca!

Posted on February 1, 2013 by jackmurnane

On our summer vacation, we went to Argentina. While we were in Argentina we heard about the Boca Juniors playing River Plate. It was a soccer game.

CABJ stands for Club Atlético Boca Juniors. It is a soccer team in Buenos Aires that plays in a neighborhood called La Boca. It is one of the best teams in the world. They have won the Argentina championships 25 times and have won 18 titles outside of Argentina (tied for most with A.C. Milan).

Boca Juniors has a big rivalry with River Plate. Our tour guide in Buenos Aires told us a great story about how the rivalry started. It started when Boca Juniors and River Plate both wanted the stadium in La Boca. So they decided to play a game … and said that the winner gets to stay and the loser has to go. Boca Juniors beat River Plate (she said 3-0) and River Plate moved to the North of Buenos Aires and built their own stadium.

Boca Juniors couldn’t decide what their colors should be. They were fighting and fighting. I want red. I want blue. Finally, they said the first boat that comes, the colors on the boats flag will become our colors. The next morning, a boat came in and the colors were blue and yellow because the boat was from Sweden. So their colors are now yellow and blue like you see in my shirt.

This is a photo of Boca Juniors fans watching a game. I think this is how they celebrate when they score a goal.

Here is a picture I took of their stadium in La Boca.

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Posted on December 10, 2012 by kierstenmurnane

The Good (sort of)

We had our first Thanksgiving as expats. I was surprised at how difficult Thanksgiving was abroad. You realize just how big of a holiday it is in the States. We always spend Thanksgiving with our family and friends. Being so far away you really miss the cadence of the holiday – the weather starting to turn cold, work slowing down a bit the week of, a clear mark to transition to the Christmas season. We had none of that here. We are heading into summer so the kids are swimming in the pool. At work, no one has the faintest clue about a holiday in the United States and here in Santiago, there is no real indication that the Christmas season is upon us outside of the malls.

So Thanksgiving here already had challenges, but we were getting together with another American family to make the most of it. Unfortunately, the morning of, our friend’s daughter wasn’t feeling well and they decided to cancel. I freaked out. It was a trigger I could not have anticipated. I heard the news after dropping the kids at school so I immediately drove straight to Jumbo (the big Target-like supermarket) where I tried to assemble the makings of a Thanksgiving feast day-of.

My whole premise was bad. None of the traditional Thanksgiving dishes exist in Chile. They don’t eat sweet pumpkin so no pumpkin pie. They certainly don’t have Campbells Cream of Mushroom soup for green bean casserole. The Turkeys, for some reason, have no arms and legs (really – something I didn’t discover until I unwrapped it at home) and the ready-made pie crusts are intended for a savory items rather than sweet – just a bit off. Oh, and they don’t have anything like chicken stock or broth – only bouillon cubes. But, I gathered a bunch of random items into my cart and took them home.

Thankfully, my “nana” or maid works on Thursdays. I arrived with bags and bags from Jumbo and did my best in my broken spanish to explain she and I were going to spend the day cooking a Thanksgiving meal (by the way, just that first part – “this is a huge holiday in the United States called Thanksgiving” took some incredible effort to explain and stretched my spanish-speaking abilities.). We had many translation issues – Cecilia ended up shredding the 10 carrots I intended to put in the roasting pan. She couldn’t make sense of stuffing – lots of chunks of stale bread stuffed inside the armless, legless Turkey. But, we cooked the odd turkey without arms and legs and it was tasty (side note: for those of you who like all-natural poultry – forget it. These birds are not only stuffed full of hormones, they are injected with salt. It really is a lot to overlook).

In the end, the turkey was delicious (all full of salt) as was my from-scratch green bean casserole. Our pie with the odd crust even turned out ok. And, the fact that we did it all the day-of in another country is something I’m quite proud of. And, the benefit to the opposite seasons, the day was beautiful so we got to enjoy an evening outside in perfect weather.

Redding looking out over our backyard on Thanksgiving Day

We opened a really nice bottle of wine and made the most of it. Ended up having a lovely evening as a family. In earnest, whole-heartedly, we could all be thankful for our family and friends and know that we are not likely to take another Thanksgiving for granted.

The Bad

The Saturday morning after Thanksgivng Jack was excited about his Fútbol practice. I organized a group of english-speaking kids from Nido to get together on Saturdays with the former captain of the Nido fútbol team to help will some skill building. At Nido, the Chilean kids have been playing competitive soccer for a long time. Real competitive soccer. All the American kids come from leagues that focus on “having fun” and “good sportsmanship.” The American kids are getting killed here. The Chileans are so much better that none of them pass to the “Gringos.” I thought getting the Americans together for some extra practice might help level the field a bit.

We live in the suburbs of Santiago: Lo Barnechea, and specifically, Los Trapenses, is like the Marietta of Atlanta. The air is clear, the houses are big and kids run around free from traffic in culdesacs. Santuario De Valle is a particularly lovely subdivisioin with a giant park that runs through the center with kids riding bikes and tons of expat families. We decided it would be a great spot for practice.

This one Saturday, two other moms and I watched the boys practice, sitting on a park bench. When practice had ended I went to grab my stuff (which had been right next to me on the bench the whole time) and I realize my wallet was stolen. Sure enough, I had noticed a man had been sitting on the bench just next to us but little did I know he was scoping us out the whole time. My wallet, with all my American credit cards, my Chilean bank card and credit card, was gone.

John immediately got on the phone to cancel our Chilean debt and credit cards (because everything has to be in his name here). It took quite some time to get the cards canceled. We thought we could manage speaking to the bank representative in Spanish. While our vocabulary is not super extensive, we do know some key words – robar, necesito cancelar debto y credito. No tengo debito y tarjeta de credit. Unfortunately, I just kept hearing John say, “no intiendo.” Then escalating into some very familiar swear words in English. Finally, we got things canceled. And, turns out EVERYTHING was canceled. My account, all of John’s cards as well, so we were without any access to money.

While Santiago is a remarkably safe place, petty crime is a real problem. And, they don’t insure things the way they do in the states. If someone had charged a ton of things on our credit card we would be in bad shape. It also took until Thursday to get replacement cards issued and I had to go to the bank and sign many papers and wait 24 hours for the new cards to be “activated.” What a pain.

The Ugly

Without the clear transition of Thanksgiving, and temperatures hovering around 80 degrees and the Chilean school year ending marking the start of summer vacation, I was not feeling much of the Christmas Spirit. Minus my typical cues I had to really think about what we do in preparation for Christmas. I decided to ask around to understand what Chileans do. The short answer, “not much.”

Not a huge surprise, but no real Christmas trees. I needed to get comfortable with the idea of a fake tree. We went to Easy (the Home Depot of Chile) to check out the offerings. The trees are small, really plastic and rather pathetic. I mean, they look so flameable that the idea of putting a light on it almost seems like putting a flame to bacon grease. They are not big – 5 feet tall at most, scrawny and they smell and look like bad plastic from the 70s. Oh, and they cost about $250 for the most pathetic offering. A more “fancy” option at a department store will set you back $500.

John and I thought maybe we would skip the whole thing. We wouldn’t put up Christmas at all and instead just head to a small beach surf town for a few days. Go completely in the opposite direction. But a friend going back to the States for Christmas kindly offered her tree if we wanted to borrow it. What a wonderful thing. At least now I would just need to come to terms of the fake tree – not the fact that the fake tree cost upwards of $500.

We got the tree home and while trying to put it up I nearly cried. There is so much wrong with looking at a bunch of super plastic parts. No smell of pine, no sticky fingers from the sap, no rush to get the fresh tree in water.

Is this really better than having no tree at all? Giant gaping holes in the plastic allowed me to see straight through to the other side. Isn’t the ONE benefit to the plastic tree the fact that it CAN be perfect? You can actually construct the tree so that it looks really symetrical and lovely. Hmmmmmm.

Not quite the fullness of a natural tree

John trying to work miracles on the Christmas Tree

Even Redding wasn’t quite sure about the tree.

Don’t get me wrong, we love Chile and feel grateful for this adventure. But, we have learned that the holidays are rough as an expat. I was really surprised to learn that Chileans put much more energy and excitement around Dieciocho, their independence day celebration, than Christmas. We learned most Chileans work Christmas Eve and the days following Christmas. For a country 85% Catholic, wouldn’t Christmas be a bigger deal?

We realize now that we took many of our Thanksgiving and Christmas traditions for granted. We would complain about how many holiday parties we had to attend, how could we find time to get to the mall to shop, all the family we had to make a point to see. My guess is we probably won’t complain about any of that when we return. I’m glad we decided to put up the tree, pathetic and sad as it is likely to be, the kids really were excited and so happy to bring out our Christmas things.

But I do think we will try and find a little beach town for Christmas 🙂

Soccer in South America

Posted on August 26, 2012 by jackmurnane

They call soccer “futbol” in South America. In South America futbol is very big because they have some of the best teams in the world like Brazil.

Universidad Catolica, Universidad de Chile and Colo-Colo are the main teams in Santiago. We are going to support Universidad de Chile. I have not been to a game yet but I really want to go to a game.

On Tuesday and Thursday I have Futbol at Nido de Aguilas. Most days after school I play soccer with one of my friends and some people I don’t know. Everyone is very good.

Murnanes in Santiago

Our Adventures in South America

Category Archives: Futbol

Road Trip to Mendoza!

La Boca!

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Soccer in South America