Check That One off the Bucket List

To say the least, today was a good day - hot chips off the line at Frito Lay (Evercrisp here in Chile), gelato in lieu of lunch, and a Chilean wine tasting at Undurraga, one of the oldest Chilean wineries.

We started the morning with a visit to Evercrisp, which is the PepsiCo Frito Lay subsidiary here outside of Santiago. I've been on a lot of agribusiness factory visits, but this one takes the cake for being interesting and interactive. The speakers were dynamic, funny, and informative. Then to top it off, we got to eat Lay's chips (plain and pizza flavored), Doritos, and some potato cheese strings that we don't have in the US hot off the line. Everyone should put eating a hot potato chip (or Dorito) fresh off the line on their bucket list, because it tastes completely different (and amazingly delicious). As you can see from the picture, I was a pretty big fan of the Doritos. I love how their motto is now "we have good for you, better for you, and fun for you food." I clearly like the "fun for you" food the best, because it is the least healthy. That is why when we went to the mall for lunch on our way to the winery, I chose to eat two scoops of gelato, banana split and chocolate almond...YUM! Since I'm probably not going to eat dinner, that may have not been the best decision...but, it was the most delicious decision nonetheless.

After my gelato lunch, we headed to the winery. It was a pretty long presentation on competitiveness, marketing, and branding in a global industry (even I got antsy), but overall the tour was good and the Chilean wines were excellent. Most importantly, the students had a great time.

Now we're back in Santiago, and I have to pack. Tomorrow morning we're leaving the hotel at 6:00 AM for the airport. Chile has been FANTASTIC. I highly recommend a visit here to anyone. Santiago is easy to navigate, the people are exceedingly tolerant of American tourists (even large groups), and on top of that, it's in the mid-50's here when it's so hot you can't even remember what 90 feels like in Texas!