Mendoza, Santiago & La Serena

Yo Blogsters,
We're now in La Serena, visiting a friend of mine, Jamie from TAP, & his lovely family.
We had a great time in Mendoza (well, when we weren't fighting cockroaches - our apartment floor came alive during the nights). Went on a bike tour around Maipú, one of the famous viniculture areas. Saw an organic vineyard (Cecchin), a traditional olive oil factory (Pasrai), and a brilliant distillery (Tapaus). Tapaus was great - wonderful setting, great building, and (most importantly) a generous tasting session including gorgeous liqueurs (e.g. mandarin, Malbec, dulce de leche, the list goes on...)
Also in Mendoza we took our first tango lesson, given by a cute couple, but with lots of attendees who helped out. One bearlike guy spent a while telling me about how to dance with the attitude of tango - "you bring in the money, she needs the money for groceries... so you order her around, and she hangs on you" - before steering Em off around the floor.
The ride to Santiago was through breathtaking mountain scenery. We'd been told by lots of people that Santiago wasn't much to write home about, but we really enjoyed it.
The first day we did a walking tour suggested by the guidebook. We climbed the Santa Lucía hill in the centre, for lovely panoramic views and atmosphere, visited a joke shop, had empanadas for lunch, and went to the Museum of pre-Colombian Art which had displays of ancient artifacts with good explanations of the cultures behind them. We ended the tour, as the book suggested, at a Café con Piernas: a Chilean tradition of cafés where the waitresses bare a little more leg. We entered off the street straight into a dark and dingy room with only UV lamps, and had a very embarrassing coffee (strictly soft drinks only!) with a pretty Colombian waitress wearing not much at all, with the other waitresses wearing even less. It had all the awkwardness of the truly culturally educational experience.
After a couple of completos - a hotdog piled high with tomatoes and guacomole, Chile's national dish - we went to an open air spectacle in the central square. A fashion show started things off, and the main event was an acrobatic play, with the actors playing the parts with dramatic stunts to very loud drum'n'bass. It was incredibly engrossing - hopefully vid to follow if we can get internet fast enough.
Next day while wandering around the centre we had my diary stolen from the back pocket of my rucksack - nothing intrinsically valuable, but very frustrating so we spent the rest of the day trying to remember what we've done & write it up again.
We've spent the past couple of days at Jamie's house with Jackie, his wife, and his three young children, Lucas, Catalina and Gregor. They've been terrifically welcoming and generous with time, food and their 'executive shed' where we've been sleeping. Yesterday we went to see petroglyphs nearby - funky designs in the rocks, many of which show what seems to be UFOs. Afterwards we visited a very modern winery called Tabalí nearby, the investment toy of one of the richest men in Chile. Visiting the dark cellars, the doors to the tasting room hummed open with spooky petroglyph designs lit up on the back walls - very James Bond.
Over the next few days we're off up to San Pedro de Atacama, to visit the Atacama desert and onwards crossing into Bolivia via the Salar de Uyuni.
Hugs to all, hope you're all well.
Frank and Em.