Rabuco

April 17

CIEE took us to Rabuco: http://www.hijuelas.cl/culturaTURISMO.html

We went on a tour of their beautiful viña which grew grapes purely for eating, not for wine. In fact, they export most of their grapes to Dole. I don't think I have ever eaten so many grapes in my entire life, but MAN were they delicious. we discovered that the view was even cooler upside down because you could really get a good look at the impressive array of big, purple grapes. We were able to just pick them off the vine...what a treat! We learned the difference between the bigger and smaller grapes and how they introduced new vines when the others got too old (after 20 years).

We then had a fabulous lunch of hand-made pino and queso empanadas straight from the wooden oven. We then watched as two kids danced the Cueca (the traditional dance of the Mapuches) and I was able to put my own Cueca skills to the test! We played some games afterwards and had a tour of the garden. Our once consisted of fresh apple pie, also straight from the oven. Needless to say we were stuffed, but happy gringos.