married and bright: Chile Honeymoon: Day 3 -- From Santiago to Casablanca

When: Saturday, October 11th, 2014

Where: From Santiago to Casablanca, Chile

Weather: Mid-70s, breezy, and warm

Saturday was a day of three outfits. It was our last morning in Santiago, so we wanted to squeeze in one last activity before heading out to wine country. We decided to walk through Bellas Artes to the funicular. A funicular, for those who don't know, is kind of like a gondola-train hybrid. It's a little trolly car that goes up the slope of a mountain -- they are all over Chile. Half way up the mountain, the lift stops and you can get off at the zoo. We decided why not, and jumped off for an hour-long stroll. We saw a ton of native Chilean animals, plus your normal zoo fare. Little did I know that I would become an exhibit too! Apparently, being peliroja in South America is a novelty. I noticed several people snapping pictures of my red hair.

Once we had seen every possible animal and squealed about how cuuuuuute they all were, we boarded the funicular for the ride to the top. We had a view of the entire city and it was breathtaking, albeit, smoggy. Reminded us a lit of our home in Los Angeles... We were amazed to see that the summit was crowded with cyclists! Given the heat, smog, and slope of the hill, it was pretty unbelievable that anyone could actually ride their bike all the way up.

By the time we were done taking in the sights, we decided it was about time to git the road. First order of business after we arrived at Matetic Vineyards: horseback riding. Alex had never been before, and the last time I rode had to have been middle school. We had an amazing guide, Arturo, who took us through the entire estate. My horse was quite lazy, so I never caught up, but my husband and Arturo had a really romantic ride in the countryside.

When the ride was over, we downed a bottle of wine to celebrate. This was the beginning of a long, silly night. Clearly, I was not equipped to drink as much wine as was expected of me. Just before dinner, we went to the drawing room for a pre-dinner glass of wine. That quickly turned into a bottle. Alex and I tried to play pool but were either too drunk or not drunk enough to be any good at it. We left the game unfinished.

Dinner came with another bottle of wine, so we were on bottle three for the day, and I just couldn't handle it. Luckily the dining room was only about 30 feet from our room, so when we finished our four course meal, I stumbled back and fell fast asleep.