StyleNectar

Santiago Style + My Stay Healthy Travel Tips

Our hotel in Santiago, Chile. Image courtesy Ritz Carlton, Santiago

I was enjoying the first glimpses of Autumn just two weeks ago...  It's true! While the USA, Europe et al begrudgingly hosted persistent wintery-mix at the end of March, South America- Santiago, Chile to be precise - was welcoming rainbows of fall foliage... and Jim and me! Visiting Santiago, Chile ranks right up there with my favorite travel experiences of all time, so of course I wanted to share a bit of the adventure with you!

 

Fall Foliage in front of a Santiago Home, forgive the quality of my iPhone shots please:-)

 

Although Jim and I were visiting on business, our endeavors involved lots of walking throughout the palm tree studded city and surrounding countryside providing ample opportunity to soak up the beauty of the Chilean geography, culture, people, food and wine.

 

Farmland near Santiago

Climate/Geography

Founded in 1541, Santiago is the beautiful and historically rich capital of Chile, located in the Central Valley, between the beaches of the Pacific Ocean and the slopes of the splendid Andean Mountain Range. Just South of Santiago lie the rich and beautiful vineyards of the Maipo Valley, one of the world's most esteemed wine producing regions. The country of Chile is incredibly long and narrow, stretching down the full western coast of South America's tail, a distance equivalent to the stretch between NYC and San Francisco! Due to Chile's varied terrain, the country experiences all climates, and in close proximity, making it ideal for skiers and beach lovers alike. Santiago's climate is very much like that of Los Angelos; mild year round and sunny all the time. It really was funny to see the leaves changing, boutiques displaying fall fashion, while back home we were preparing for the opposite season of Spring! Of course, the temperate climate of Santiago means sandals and layering are pretty much a go year-round, just like L.A.

 

Outdoor Patio of the highly acclaimed restaurant, Arola, in Santiago. Jim & I snuggled up under complimentary alpaca throws one evening to relive Sergi Arola's AMAZING puff pastry dessert we'd had just the night before! Image courtesy Ritz Carlton, Santiago.

 

Looking into the Eye of a Santiago Skyscraper

 

City/Culture 

Santiago has a very European vibe.  It's a clean, safe, walkable city, lined with elegant parks and winding side-streets.  The architecture runs the gamut from 9th century neoclassical to art deco, neo-gothic, cutting edge modern styled glass skyscrapers and more.  The landscape is shaped by the Mapacho River as well as the imposing Andes mountains, which can be seen glimmering in the distance from most points in the city.  The city’s art collections are vast ranging from pre-Columbian to contemporary.  Santiago is one of those wonderful cities filled with many unique neighborhoods where the more you look, the more you find; from cobblestone streets, to markets, boutiques, elegant restaurants, sidewalk cafes and discos.  It's also very much a bar and pub city.  Santiagans enjoy heading out to their favorite spot, perhaps to listen to some live guitar or jazz, which is exactly what we enjoyed one fine evening in the cozy lounge of our beautiful hotel.  It was the best live jazz I've ever heard! 

 

Late night festivities in the cozy lounge of our hotel.

 

People

Chileans are beautiful, warm, friendly and, as I noticed, quite romantic!  I frequently saw couples sharing long kisses and sweet moments together :-) Santiagans dress with excellent style and tend to have great hair, the women usually wearing theirs in long, flowing styles. They speak a Chilean version of Spanish, and little to no English. I was inspired, for about a week, to take up Spanish when I returned home.  Unfortunately for the purposes of this trip, I took French throughout school, and while it's similarties can come in handy as a Latin language, the rules of accentuation are totally different from Spanish and often threw me off.  

Cuisine

The food and wine of Chile are amazing! The rugged mountains, pristine sea and fertile vineyards of the country permeate all aspects of its cuisine - not to mention the many cultural impacts neighboring countries, its native tribes and the Peruvian, Spanish and various other European influences have had. Given the vast Pacific coast of Chile, it's a small wonder that Chile's cuisine is heavily based on the fruits of the sea. Almost everywhere, you can find fresh seafood. The predominant dishes often feature grilled octopus, ceviches, clams, mussels, sea urchins, Chilean sea bass and abalone. Yes, I happily partook in all of the above :)

Tapas from Arola (Image courtesy Ritz Carlton, Santiago)

 

   Menus are often categorized by: Mountains and Sea rather than the ubiquitous Land and Sea. Meat dishes tend to be Spanish-based with local modifications including Empanadas, meat pies in clay pots, and Chilean stews. Patagonian lamb, Argentinian beef, chicken and pork are commonly incorporated.

  In addition to the fabulous Chilean food served at the cocktail parties, events and dinners we attended, we loved the sidewalk cafes complimented by gorgeous weather and the ambiance of serenades from strolling musicians! We had several favorite restuarants including the renowned Arola, of the famous Spanish chef, Sergi Arola.  Arola is on par with any of the finest NYC restaurants we've ever dined - no surprise since Chef Sergi Arola has studied under the likes of Jose Andres in addition to participating in the first elBulli laboratory, no less!  We all agreed the hand-made Puff Pastry Rolls (filled with caramel, raspberry pastry with custard apple and orange ice cream) were beyond amazing. So much so that Jim and I had to stop back the very next day to enjoy them again on the patio with chamomile tea before bed :-) Yes, I took a hiatis from my no-sugar ways- I never say never- especially worthwhile when said product has been thoroughly respected and prepared by one of the world’s top culinary talents.

 

The famous Spanish Chef, Sergi Arola, of Santiago's famous restaurant Arola.

 

 

Wine

Carmenere Red Wine, from the signature grape of Chile similar to Argentinian Malbec, was our libation of choice during most the entire trip.  We couldn't bring ourselves to order anything else, it was that special.  Carménère is a medium body wine with a deep red color and aromas of red fruits, spices and berries. Best to drink while it's young, the tannins are gentler and softer than those in Cabernet Sauvignon.  And yes, you guessed it, the Central Valley of Chile is the world's largest area planted with Carmenere grapes.  

 

My beautiful friend, Jane, and me! 

Staying Healthy While Traveling

So after all the flying, wining, dining etc. what do I do to stay healthy and feeling great while traveling?  Glad you asked:)  This should so be it's own post so for now I'll just highlite some major points.  First, 15 hours of flying equals major radiation, dehydration, germy airplane air, bad food and general energy zapping.  During flight I get as much rest as I can and:

• Drink as much water as possible avoiding all the dehydrating bevvies: coffee, tea, soda etc.  
• I bring my own airplane snax including: 
• My favorite sprouted granola: this stuff is actually green it's that unbelievably healthy- but the taste is majorly fab- like addictive! It contains all sorts of amazing things such as buckwheat, dandelion greens & sea vegetables like Spirulina.
• Chlorella Tablets: Enough easy to chew tablets for our entire stay: Sea vegetables increase the body’s capacity for detoxification and also help strengthen the body’s resistance to electromagnetic fields from the flight. Sea Vegetables contain the entire spectrum of trace minerals, which are critical for efficient detoxification.
• Fresh fruit including a banana and ripe avocado- just use a serated plastic knife to cut around the circumfrance of the avocado and spoon it out for an antioxidant rich, healthifying, beautifying, filling meal!
• Green Tea packets: (I stow extras in my suitcase) contain polyphenols to protect DNA from damage inflicted from radiation and harmful chemicals.
• Instant High Quality Miso Soup packets: (Again, I stow extras) a fermented soy product protective against radiation (used to treat radiation sickness), helps improve resistance to EMF exposure, neutralizes some effects of pollution, provides beneficial bacteria to the colon.

Upon arrival

Our first day in Santiago started with long hot showers, followed by the most amazing massage at the beautiful hotel spa (see the pool area in the pic below).  Jim and I were majorly impressed by our masseuse, Natalie, and we discovered in talking with others, she's in fact really well known!  If you’re ever in the area, be sure to book a massage with her.  It's one of the best ways to detox after a lengthy airline flight.  We took advantage of a good sweat in the sauna after - yet another excellent detoxification tool.  Following the spa, we enjoyed a much needed, lengthy nap to recoup our energy before heading out to dinner and beginning our fabulous Santiago adventure!

 

The pool area of the Ritz Carlton, Santiago Spa. (Image courtesy Ritz Carlton, Santiago)

 

Staying Healthy During our Stay

While I practice and enjoy being Vegan, I feel the whole process should be fun so I approach it with an open mind.  So, rather than holding myself to rigid standards, I am fairly comfortable compromising now and then, especially if I'm in a totally different culture or eating at a phenomenal restaurant.  That said, I adhered to fruit for breakfast and salads as often as they were available.  At catered cocktail events with beautiful appetizers floating by, I decided to indulge. At a tapas restaurant one evening, again, I indulged in some things I don't normally eat, as they were small bites. It didn't throw my system off because I stuck to very small portions of the foods I normally don't eat.  This worked wonderfully as I was able to try everything I wanted without doing a complete 180.  And, for the first time ever travelling, I have to confess, I experienced absolutely zero digestive difficulties! This is a major accomplishment as it's always been a challenge anytime I've travelled in the past. Neither did I gain any weight- probably another first :-) My energy was definitely down upon my return, which of course 15 hours of travel impacts.  However, I really felt the few measures I took, below, gave me the most energy, health and fun experience possible:

• Avoiding coffee: I've always overindulged in coffee in the past when travelling. Since I no longer drink it at home, it was easy to maintain the habit- and crucial, since caffeine is dehydrating, acidifying to the body and messes up sleep.
• Drinking tons of water.
• Lots of herb tea.
• Tried to get as much rest as possible.
• Eating fresh fruit for breakfast every day. Although I was able to have a couple bites of croissant or omelette- never too much though.
• Having salads for or with lunches/dinners daily
• Brought digestive enzymes to take prior to meals which might contain products I normally don't eat - admittadly I pretty much always forgot to take them tho!
• Again, when indulging in gluten containing products, desserts, meats, dairy I'd only have a very small amount, and this seemed to work great.

Next time, I’ll probably make a few tweaks. While my system was fine if I limited myself to small tastes of the things I normally avoid. I did notice, the more I gave in, the more comfortable I became making less than ideal choices.  Also, I noticed my cravings for the foods I'm allergic too (dairy, gluten, sugar) had returned somewhat when I arrived home.  The awareness I gained from this trip's experiences helps me understand how to approach travel situations in the future. Yes, I want to experience the country and culture - yet, taking care of my body and soul is my first priority, always, so that I can be present and healthy in all my interactions in the world.

Until next time my friends!

Love,

XOXO

Juliane

 

What types of tricks do you have for staying healthy and sane during your travels?

 

The treasure house within you contains everything and you are free to use it. You don't need to seek outside.
-  Zen Master Dazhu

  

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The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars.

                -Jack Kerouac, On the Road

 

When we are unable to find tranquility within ourselves, it is useless to seek it elsewhere.

                -Francois de la Rochefoucauld

 

And the world cannot be discovered by a journey of miles, no matter how long, but only by a spiritual journey, a journey of one inch, very arduous and humbling and joyful, by which we arrive at the ground at our feet, and learn to be at home.

                 - Wendell Berry

 

"When feeling urgent, you must slow down."

                
- Mark Nepo

 

Continuous, calm, powerful use of the will shakes the forces of creation and brings a response from the Infinite.

                   -Parmahansa Yogananda    

 

Every person that you meet knows something you don't; learn from them.

                -H. Jackson Brown

 

Fear doesn’t frighten me as much as it used to. I know it’s from clinging and I know it will pass. I can tell myself, “I’m frightened now because even though I know what’s true, I have forgotten it right now. I know the possibility of remembering exists.” That possibility, that conviction, gives me a lot of hope in the middle of the biggest fright.

                -Sylvia Boorstein

 

I close my eyes

and see clearly . . .

 

I stop trying to listen

and I hear truth . . .

 

I am silent

and my heart sings . . .

 

I seek no contact

and I find union . . .

 

I am still

and move forward . . .

 

I am gentle

and need no strength . . .

 

I am humble

and remain whole . . .

                -Ancient Taoist Meditation

 

We could say that meditation doesn't have a reason or doesn't have a purpose. In this respect it's unlike almost all other things we do except perhaps making music and dancing. When we make music we don't do it in order to reach a certain point, such as the end of the composition. If that were the purpose of music then obviously the fastest players would be the best. Also, when we are dancing we are not aiming to arrive at a particular place on the floor as in a journey. When we dance, the journey itself is the point, as when we play music the playing itself is the point. And exactly the same thing is true in meditation. Meditation is the discovery that the point of life is always arrived at in the immediate moment.

                -Alan Watts

 

The best portion of a good

person’s life,

Those little, nameless,

Unremembered acts

Of kindness and love.

                -William Wordsworth

 

A thankful person is thankful under all circumstances. A complaining soul complains eevn while living in paradise.

                -Bahu'u'llah

 

In loving kindess,

XOXO

Juliane

 

What is your favorite inspirational quote?

 

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Creamy Chia Rice Pudding

Creamy Chia Rice Pudding

 

My silky Chia "Rice" Pudding is one of my favorite desserts or snacks- in fact I just had it this afternoon topped with a little extra virgin coconut oil and cacao nibs.  SO delish!  In the recipe below, I've shared a few tricks I use to make my version even better than other recipes you'll find.  The result is a luxuriously comforting, creamy and rich dessert that takes less than five minutes to prepare.  It's a cross between tapioca pudding, rice pudding and classic vanilla custard.  

Chia seeds, best known for their role in animal shaped potted plants, rival flaxseeds for nutritional super status.  In fact, I now use Chia instead of flax because flax has 3 times the phytoestrogenic properties of soy.  In addition, the oils in flax oxidize very easily becoming rancid and biologically harmful when the oxygen–rich environment of the body causes oxidative destruction of these oils after they are consumed.(1)  Chia on the other hand is extremely shelf stable allowing it to be kept for several years!  Chia is also incredibly satiating because it holds up to 10-15 times it's own weight in water.  And, it's very versatile in it's recipe application- not to mention amazing for our skin, hair, digestion, overall health and beauty.  

See for yourself...  

Check out these 18 awesome reasons to enjoy Chia every day!

 

1. Chia boasts 8 times more Omega 3 than salmon, making it a super food for the heart and brain and an anti-inflammatory in the body.

2. It's super high in dietary fiber making Chia excellent for digestion as well as healing digestive issues and cleansing the body of toxicity.

3. Chia boasts 20% protein.

4. Its protein is a complete protein containing all 8 essential amino acids.

5. Chia is a gluten free whole grain.

6. Chia is very high in antioxidants, boasting 4 times higher ORAC value than blueberries!

7. It contains 3 times more iron than spinach

8. Chia contains 5 times more calcium than milk

9. Chia contains 7 times more vitamin C than oranges

10. Chia is an excellent egg replacement. Simply combine with water to form a gel, and add to recipes that call for egg.

11. Chia can also be added to recipes as a thickener. Just blend it up (in your Vitamix) alongside the rest of your dressing or sauce ingredients.

12. It has twice the potassium content of banana

13. Chia is great food for healthy hair, skin and nails.

14. It balances blood sugar levels, because of it's soluble fiber content, making it outstanding for diabetics.

15. Chia is easily digestible. For example, unlike flax seeds, which need to be ground to obtain their full nutrition, chia can be eaten and digested whole.

16. Chia seeds are great for athletes because they are highly hydrophilic. Chia seeds can absorb over 10 times their weight in water making them a great enhancer in hydrating our bodies; they absorb the water we drink holding it in our system longer.

17. Chia seeds gel when wet. In our digestive systems, this gel prevents absorption of some of the food (and calories) we eat, making the chia seed a great assistant for anyone looking to lose weight!

18. Chia can be sprinkled on salads, cereals, oatmeal, smoothies, yogurt (dairy & soy free of course). They can be added to dressings, baked goods and, of course, made into the delicious chia pudding below! 

 

My favorite type of Chia Seeds are the white ones below by The Chia Company.  However, when I can't get those, I also enjoy the Nutiva brand.

 

From The Chia Company, my favorite Chia source

 

 

Recipe for Creamy Chia "Rice" Pudding (makes 1 large serving, or 2 small servings)

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup chia seeds
• 8 oz almond milk 
• Madagascar vanilla extract to taste (I like a lot)
• liquid stevia to taste (I use 1 1/2 droppers full)
• cinnamon (again, I use a lot!)
• pinch of Himalayan or Celtic sea salt (optional)
• heaping teaspoon cacao nibs (optional)
• extra virgin coconut oil (optional)

Method

1. Add almond milk to a small, heavy-duty pot and gently warm til baby bottle temperature (to keep raw) or lightly steaming. This is the 1st of my tricks which result in an immediate thickening of the chia into a delicious porridgey pudding.
2. Whisk the vanilla, stevia and cinnamon into the milk.
3. In the meantime, grind chia seeds with a pinch of sea salt in a spice grinder until fine and place in serving bowl/s.  (The second of my tricks which adds to the immediate thickening of the chia.)  You may prefer to leave your chia seeds whole, in which case you'll need to stir the chia, after you add the milk in step 5 below, several times throughout a 15 min period until thickened. This will create more of a rice or tapioca pudding texture.
4. Pour steamed almond milk mixture over the seeds, whisking with a fork til thickened.
5. If desired, top with extra virgin coconut oil for additional yummy richness.
6. Add a sprinkling of cacao nibs for a fabulous chocolatey crunch- plus another sprinkling of powdered stevia/raw honey/coconut nectar over the nibs if you're me :-)
7. Enjoy!!

 

What is your favorite way to eat Chia?

 

"Kindness can become its own motive. We are made kind by being kind."  

-Eric Hoffer

 

References:

1. http://integratedsupplements.typepad.com/integrated_supplements_bl/2008/05/some-reasons-to.html

 

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