A phrase that Marcus is particularly fond of saying is "and they said it would never last", referring to our marriage which is 6 months old today. I am not 100% sure who "they" are and I rather suspect that he doesn´t know either.
To celebrate this landmark we jump on a very efficient Chilean train south to Talca. The difference between 1st and second class on the two and a half hour journey is about 2 pounds so as this is a special day we indulge! Talca is a bustling market town, not so nice to look at but we stayed about 6k outside in the countryside at a lovely place called La Casa Chueca. There are individual cabins, a central house & garden, including a pool, hammocks for snoozing in and nice food. What more could you want? Oh yeh - nice wine!!
We are in wine country so the next day we go to a very smart winery for a wine tasting, head to a mansion in their grounds for a 3 course lunch and follow this up by a swim in their pool and a bicycle tour through the vines. Weather was nice too - a fab day! The next day we have to work some of this gluttony off and we head for a long hike in Lircay Park to the Mirador viewpoint. This is hard work, but the view is excellent. Whilst our host at this hostel was Austrian, most of the staff were German, German owned and run businesses we soon learn are very common in mid Chile and for the next few days most of the places we stay and companies we use are distinctly Germanic. Note to self - dont mention the war!
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