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andes FEATURE 37


Through a combination of road, train and plane, Arnie Wilson and his wife, Vivianne, bookended some stupendous scenery with Chile and Argentina’s capitals


Although the main language is Spanish there’s a huge Italian infl uence because there were many more immigrants from Italy than any other nation. The city’s indigenous porteños (or port people), are sometimes referred to as ‘Italians who speak Spanish, act French and believe themselves to be British’. You can take a four-hour trip round the


city in an open-topped bus, and you simply must take in a tango show - although suggest to clients they should book in advance and point out that good seats are expensive. There are about a dozen venues to choose from,


with Chile’s vast green carpets of grassland and forest morphing into the equally vast but much more arid beginnings of the local pampas. Our 500-mile drive, via the scenic Ruta de los


Siete Lagos (Seven Lakes Drive), the most famous tourist route in the Argentine Lake District, ended at Bariloche, a beautiful lakeside city founded by Swiss and German immigrants and home to Cerro Catedral, South America’s biggest (and most Alpine) ski resort. Here we boarded our fl ight for the 785-mile fl ight


to Buenos Aires, known as ‘the Paris of the southern hemisphere’. ‘BA’ is also described as ‘an overcrowded city in an undercrowded country, but there’s a mesmerising, invigorating and vibrant ambience about the Argentinian capital, and almost everyone we met seemed genuinely warm and friendly.


Main image: National Park Torres del Paine, is one of many parks in Chile with an Andes’ backdrop; Arnie and Vivianne; A Tango show in Buenos Aries; Lake view in Argentina


and you can even have lessons. We went to the Tango Porteño (that word again!) with a superb cast of around 16 dancers and a dozen musicians. The old port area of La Boca contrasts sharply with the elegant Retiro and Recoleta districts. The Alvear Palace Hotel (alvearapalace.com) in Recoleta (a short walk from the tomb of the legendary Eva ‘Evita’ Perón ) was truly memorable with a great 1930s’ atmosphere, wonderful staff


and excellent restaurants. Although expensive, the hotel was a wonderful way to round off what had genuinely been the trip of a lifetime.


Where to book it Arnie and Vivianne Wilson’s visit to Chile and Argentina was organised by Journey Latin America (journeylatinamerica.co.uk). A 15-day package that follows in the Wilsons’ footsteps starts from £3,154pp. The price includes fl ights, hotels, transfers, car hire and the train journey from Santiago to the Lake District. There are no direct fl ights from the UK to Santiago. The Wilsons fl ew with Iberia (iberia.com) from Heathrow via Madrid. Air France (airfrance. co.uk) has an Edinburgh-Santiago service (via Paris). In Santiago, the Wilsons stayed at the Hotel Ismael 312 (hotelismael312.com). In Pucon they stayed at the Hotel Casa Establo (casaestablo.cl/en). In San Martin de los Andes they stayed at the boutique hotel La Casa de Eugenia (lacasadeeugenia.com.ar).


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