Where We Be
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| Talca, Chile |
Talca is located three hours south of Santiago in
the "bread basket" of Chile. During the bus ride,
mountains rose up on either side of us as we
traveled down a valley filled with vineyards and
fruit orchards. Talca itself is located smack-dab in
the middle of the Maule Valley, a hugely significant
grape-growing region for the wine export industry.
Talca surprised us – we liked it more than we
expected we would. We had thought of it as just a
convenient stop along the way to the Lake District,
but we ended up liking it for its own self. We
enjoyed the relaxed pace of the town, the lack of
other tourists, the warm temperatures, and the
friendly people. One taxi driver actually gave us a
ride for free, he had so much fun reminiscing with
us about his time in Miami! Another fellow walked
us to the correct local bus instead of just pointing
the way for our trip into the surrounding wine
country.
During our first stroll through town, we came to a
pleasant pedestrian avenue where people sat on
benches, ate ice cream, and bought school
supplies for their kids (the school year is just
starting here). We sat on a bench under a shade
tree and thoroughly enjoyed the peace and quiet.
the "bread basket" of Chile. During the bus ride,
mountains rose up on either side of us as we
traveled down a valley filled with vineyards and
fruit orchards. Talca itself is located smack-dab in
the middle of the Maule Valley, a hugely significant
grape-growing region for the wine export industry.
Talca surprised us – we liked it more than we
expected we would. We had thought of it as just a
convenient stop along the way to the Lake District,
but we ended up liking it for its own self. We
enjoyed the relaxed pace of the town, the lack of
other tourists, the warm temperatures, and the
friendly people. One taxi driver actually gave us a
ride for free, he had so much fun reminiscing with
us about his time in Miami! Another fellow walked
us to the correct local bus instead of just pointing
the way for our trip into the surrounding wine
country.
During our first stroll through town, we came to a
pleasant pedestrian avenue where people sat on
benches, ate ice cream, and bought school
supplies for their kids (the school year is just
starting here). We sat on a bench under a shade
tree and thoroughly enjoyed the peace and quiet.
| Talca is located in the middle of Chile's breadbasket, so fresh fruits and vegetables are plentiful |
| We had a fine dinner with local reserve wine at Restaurant Vivace |
| "Tortellini al Roquefort" at Vivace. The strange concoction to the right is a traditional Chilean drink called "Rico Mote con Huesillos" -- it's a cold drink of peaches in nectar with barley kernels (mote). Not bad! |
| The Plaza de Armas offers a pleasant green space in the middle of the city |
| A pleasant pedestrian avenue runs through the center of town |
| We stayed at the lovely Hostal del Puente |
| We enjoyed leftovers from our big dinner the night before at this picnic bench at the Hostal del Puente |
| We visited the wine and cultural museum a few miles outside of Talca |
| It's not every day you see a wooden life-size recreation of The Last Supper! The guide at the museum had us enter the room in total darkness then slowly raised the light levels until Jesus and his twelve disciples appeared out of the darkness. |
| Strange Dr. Seuss tree |
| Chileans usually eat their ice cream BEFORE dinner (due to the late dinner hour) |
