Valparaiso and La Sebastiana

Valparaiso is beautiful. I can tell why the famous poet Pablo Neruda decided to stay there. Today was hazy so you couldn't see the ocean very well but the hills were pretty. The best part about them was that all the houses on the hills were painted all sorts of obnoxious colors taht were awesome!!! My favorite house was a light blue one with purple shutters on one side, green on the other and a bright red door. By the way our hostel is bright pink, you can't miss it! After dropping off our bags we headed out for some chow. Lunch was delicious. Stuffed squid rings followed by pork chicken and sauteed vegetables topped off with tiramisu, cherries and strawberry sauce... I don't think anything gets better than that. After lunch, a quick zip up to the hotel to change then to one of the many houses of Pablo Neruda, La Sebastiana. Good thing: We got there. Bad thing: We walked up like ten hills. I do think it was worth it though. The house was five stories tall and would of been spacious but stuff was cluttered everywhere. When I mean stuff I mean everything you could imagine. We got audio recorders to guide us through the house since there weren't that many staff and tons of people. There were so many things that it took forever to walk through. Every collection I'd seen put together wouldn't be as big as this one. The reason why was because he didn't have to collect just one thing. He saw something he liked, and he took it or found out a way to get it. Some of his crazy objects included: Merry-go-round horses, gold pillars of angels, lots of plates, a cow bowl used to serve punch, big old maps of the americas, stone murals and much much more. The top floor was my favorite floor, with veiws that could best even the highest skyscraper. I loved it. You definately don't get views like that everywhere!!! Finally the "guide" said it was time to go. We went to the information office and played on the playground a little before we started the long walk back to the hostel.

I really like Pablo Neruda and this was the first poem I ever read of his. Hope you enjoy!!!

Mara Mori brought me
a pair of socks
which she knitted herself
with her sheepherder's hands,
two socks as soft as rabbits.
I slipped my feet into them
as if they were two cases
knitted with threads of twilight and goatskin,
Violent socks,
my feet were two fish made of wool,
two long sharks
sea blue, shot through
by one golden thread,
two immense blackbirds,
two cannons,
my feet were honored in this way
by these heavenly socks.
They were so handsome for the first time
my feet seemed to me unacceptable
like two decrepit firemen,
firemen unworthy of that woven fire,
of those glowing socks.

Nevertheless, I resisted the sharp temptation
to save them somewhere as schoolboys
keep fireflies,
as learned men collect
sacred texts,
I resisted the mad impulse to put them
in a golden cage and each day give them
birdseed and pieces of pink melon.
Like explorers in the jungle
who hand over the very rare green deer
to the spit and eat it with remorse,
I stretched out my feet and pulled on
the magnificent socks and then my shoes.

The moral of my ode is this:
beauty is twice beauty
and what is good is doubly good
when it is a matter of two socks
made of wool in winter.

Pablo Neruda

Cerro Santa Lucia y Dinner with Shepard!

When Santiago was established in 1541 - all of the city blocks created were around the central square (Plaza de Armas). Within 5 blocks of the Plaza de Armas to the East was a huge rock formation they called Cerro Santa Lucia (Hill Saint Lucia).

The top of Cerro Santa Lucia is at 629m (2063 ft). It stuck up higher than our 19th story apartment but not taller than our 22-story apartment building. Because there are no tall buildings built close around it, the view is beautiful. And best of all, FREE! The only caveat is that you have to be willing to climb all of the stairs to get to the top.

The park was created when a neighbor decided to change the 'face' of Santiago in 1872. The mostly rock hill was transformed (with prison labor, no less) by trucking in loads of dirt, planting trees, and moving the dissident cemetary on the hill (typically, in this country, this means Protestants). Then there were things built - a chapel, beautiful fountains, gorgeous stairs - and the original fort (Fort Hidalgo) was restored.

The work that must have gone it to creating this park was astounding. We approached the park from both entrances and a couple of sides as well. The paths were well marked, most were paved, and there was even a more gentle climb up a paved road to the center of the hill. We spent a couple of afternoon hours climbing to the top - but we returned a couple more times while we were there to take more pictures. :)

That night we went to dinner with Shepard. Our tour guide had pointed out to us a restaurant not too far from our apartment that served "Chilean cuisine". We headed there to taste a bit.

Mike and Helen split a pork roll - the outside of the "roll" was a thick piece of pork fat, the inside a bunch of different pork pieces. Shepard got a pastel de choclo (corn cake). It was a good size, which was good because Meghan ate half of it after the first sample was offered. Meghan and I split a tuna, but it was not the best fish I've had on this trip - so I can see why the corn cake was tasty to her.

After dinner we walked to have ice cream at a place Shepard knew. It was super creamy and the perfect end to our meal. While we were sitting outside eating, a guy dressed up as a clown entertained the kids for a while without saying a word (foreigner friendly clown - no difficult Chileno accent to translate). He was kind enough to take the family photo above. It was a great night and a perfect send-off after our week in Santiago.

Mercado Central y La Vega

Santiago's Market is HUGE. Its divided into two parts. One part is for eating and one part is for buying. The part for eating is much smaller than the part for buying because all it has in it is restaurants and fish shops. I am so glad we are near the coast again because seafood is one of my favorite foods. The fish shops sell all sorts of things from white sea bass to pink and purple things that I would not want to eat!!!
Right across the street from the smaller market was the huge buying market. There they had rows and rows of beautiful cherries, bright red peppers, big bags of potatoes and much much more. Everything was really cool but the spices were definitely my favorite part. They were in big brown cloth bags that were open so when you walked by the smell was one of the best things in the world.
The funniest things about markets is that all the garbage ( cherry pits, corn husks, bad cabbage leaves, bean shells...) goes on the floor. Well... I guess its good fertilizer for the cement floor!!! The only thing I wonder about is what they do with the leftover food. I'm sure they eat some but, who knows???
Markets are definitely one of my favorite things on this trip. Everyone is yelling, trying to get us to buy their products or in deep conversation with a local or a friend. While you walk through the beautiful vegetables and fruits you start feeling less like a stranger and more like a local. Now I've been feeling like a stranger for a little over six months and trust me, it feels REALLY nice to not stick out.
After doing a pretty full tour we decided that we couldn't leave without buying some things. Helen and I were set on getting cherries because they were so pretty. There were two kinds of cherries, the red ones and the red and yellow ones that were kind of like ranier cherries.
I wish I could have stayed forever but very soon it was time to leave. I hope we can return soon!!!

Museo Chileno De Arte Precolombino

Today we went to the Chilean museum of art that was before Columbus. The museum was super cool, it was filled with all sorts of thousand year old statues that were made by the tribes before the Inkans. There were masks that were copper and stone and they would wear the masks to partys or dances. Some of the sculptures were weird, like there was a pot that was big but it had what looked like clay pointy daggers all around the surface of the pot, it was really cool. The last room was very different from the others. It was not sculptures it was cloth very pretty cloth, made out of llama and alpaca fur. Once we were finished in that room we walked to a tiny gift shop. The shop had a lot of books on Chile and some were about the museum. I walked over to a book about the museum it was filled with all sorts of interesting facts. There were key chains that had the museums name on it. I picked up a book about Santiago and read a few lines before I realized it was in Spanish. I put the book down quickly and just at that time I heard my name. I turned and saw Dad waving at me as I ran over. "What" I asked. "We're leaving" he said. "Where are we going?" I asked. " To the market to eat lunch" he said. We crossed the street and passed some buildings and found the entrance to the market. We walked inside and then the smell of fish met my nostrils "yuck". Inside were loads of people selling all sorts of fish. We walked through the open door into a room full of restaurants. We chose one and sat down. When our food came we stopped talking as she put the food on our table. I got meat and french fries because I don't like seafood. We ate our good food and we payed and got to our feet.
Meghan and I both begged to eat Chinese food that night. Finally Mom and Dad agreed and we decided to go to the place that was right across the street from our apartment. As I walked in silence fell. The good thing about Chinese restraunts is that everything goes quiet once you are inside. Music was playing softly in the corner and the walls were painted red and gold. We walked over to the desk and asked the lady if we could order take-out. She said yes and handed us a menu. We chose chow mein with vegetables and pork and vegtables with rice. Mom and Meghan sat down on the sofa and waited for our food and Dad and I walked around the block. We saw a couple people selling honey roasted peanuts and almonds. We all met in the apartment and had a wonderful dinner.
Dad and I finished the 4th Harry Potter book and I fell asleep feeling glad I was in Santiago.

Remembering Boxers & Peaches

Our apartment for the week is on the corner of Merced and Miraflores, just 4 blocks east of the Plaza de Armas and a block west of Cerro Santa Lucia. From our window we get a great sunset every night, and also a glimpse of some fires burning on the western hills. It has been warm (but not humid) highs in the mid to upper 80s, and that southern hemisphere sun is hot!
I tossed out one of my 3 pairs of boxers today - 6 months to go with only 2 pair remaining. Somewhere between Mendoza and Santiago the entire backside just evaporated (must have been on that hair raising, seat slidding bus ride through the Andes).
At 10am we took a walking tour of the city for 4 hours today picking up some useful knowledge of the many museums to visit later in the week, tips on local food and where to get the best ice cream in Santiago. We started in the Plaza de Armas where workers were busy disasembling the giant fake christmas tree adorned with large red Coca Cola ornaments. We ended near the base of Cerro San Cristobal and took the opportunity to ride the funicular to the top, paying respect to the giant white Virgen and getting a birds eye view of the city. Our normal snack while peering down on cities in South America with a large white Cristo or Virgen looming overhead, would be pre-packaged helado from a vendor under a red Coca Cola umbrella. Today, we stepped out a bit and ordered a Mote con Huesillo as instructed by our tour guide this morning. Peach halves in juice with wheat/corn kernals in the bottom of a cup, served with a plastic spoon. I think I am the only one of us who will order it again and the girls are glad it's only a Santiago thing.
Closer to our apartment we met up with Shepard Daniel, cousin of a friend of Debby's that is finishing up 2 years of graduate school in Santiago, for an early dinner. Picked up more tips on the city and our next stop in Valparaiso.
Around 8 we headed back to the Plaza de Armas to see a parade of drummers, 15 foot tall opera singers, violinists and a rock band circus on a truck. Helen and I got separated from Debby and Meghan in the crowd but luckily were reunited about 15 minutes later in the plaza. The streets were packed and it was loud but fun. Ice cream on the walk back, not the best in town but good none-the--less.

The Route to Santiago

Having met a fantastic family from Queens also living a life abroad for a year, leaving Mendoza was a little sad. On our last night in Mendoza (and in Argentina as well) we celebrated meeting one another and spent the evening together having dinner and ice cream.

The alarm clock woke us early. We were out to almost midnight and had to get up at 6:30. Thank goodness we had packed up most of our things before we had left to go out. We called for a taxi and actually had it all put out front before he arrived.

Our bus traveled the same route the High Andes Tour had taken us - so we were able to gauge our progress by the monuments we'd seen before. I was anxious to see the ruins of an Incan house where the runners for the tribe slept or changed shifts to deliver messages. I was all excited because we were on the second floor of the bus and I was sure that this time I would be able to see it over the edge of the canyon walls. Unfortunately, the only photo I got was blurry (the bus was flying) and the ruin disappeared into the canyon before I could get a better shot. The ruin is the blackish object to the right of the small stream. Fortunately, we are headed back to Cusco - land of the Incas - and there were be ruins galore in my future.

Once we arrived at the border, we were uncertain of the protocol. We'd made border crossing to Uruguay on an overnight bus which involved us handing our passports to the bus attendant and sleeping until he returned them to us. This was much more hands on. The bus company had prepared us by handing us 6 different forms to fill out before we arrived. While filling out the forms on the bus, I had checked the box about the fact we were carrying honey and some souvenirs.

We were asked to disembark the bus. Noone mentioned we needed to bring all of our bags (we left our lunch and our traveling thermal case with food inside) on the bus. We waited in line to have our passports stamped. The first line was to get stamped out of Argentina, the second line was to get stamped into Chile. The border agents worked behind the glass sitting side-by-side.

Then we crossed the other building where they took our claim forms. The customs officer noted we had honey and we told him it was on the bus. In this room, they had removed all of the baggage from the bottom of the bus and put it through a xray machine. They waited until our entire bus full of people were all in this room to ask who the bags they pulled from the the xray machine belonged to and had them empty their bags onto a table. I am, at this point, a nervous wreck - did we forget to claim anything? I'm sick at my stomach and woozy from the altitude. I can't think straight.

While all this was going on, a second customs officer had Mike return to the bus to retreive the jar of honey we had. When Mike got to the bus, the first customs officer was there and there was some problem with Mike handing it to the first officer, the second officer had to verify that he had given the jar to the first. Next thing we know, they are bringing the bag down anyway to be put through the xray machine.

Surprisingly (or not, if you ask Mike) nothing happened. He gave up the honey - and we crossed into Chile. I blew out a big sigh of relief when we returned to the bus and drove away from the border.

The trip down the other side of the Andes was breathtaking. A small 2 lane road with switchbacks took us most of the way down. Steep hills and hairpin turns (17 of them) took us down to the rest of the windy roads passing ski resorts on the way to Santiago. I'll tease you with a pic, but it really was more spectacular than the photos can relay.


We arrived in Santiago at 4:00. The city is smaller and more managable than Buenos Aires and Meghan and I are so thrilled to be back in the land of lucious seafood. Our apartment here is brand new and on the 19th floor. I'm not sure anyone has ever used the kitchen (we'll be breaking it in for them) I'm looking forward to exploring the city for a few days after a shower and a good night's sleep.

Happy New Year!

Water Park! Water Park!

Today we went to a really fun water park. Thermas Cacheuta was 40 minutes away from town because it was near a hot spring where they got all their hot water. We took a bus there, but sadly without our friends Gaby and Laura. Once we got there we went through the gates to the water park and tried to find a place to sit and leave our stuff. We couldn't find one so we stopped to put on sunscreen before Helen and I could automatically get into the water.

First we went one loop down the lazy river which was really fun but it wasn't very warm. We saw Mom and Dad on the second lap but they still hadn't found a table. Finally they rented one to set up on the grass in the middle of the river. Also in the middle of the river was a section of pools that were all different depths and temperatures.

Next to those pools was the wave pool. There were no waves but there was a big white slide that was really fun and really fast. There was also another slide except it was covered and curly. When you lied down you went really fast and we found out that Helen and I could go together.

Up top there were lots of other pools that were also different temperatures except they were much deeper than the ones below. We didn't spend much time up there, we were mostly down below. My favorite thing to do was go inside the cave on the lazy river and when you came out you went under a waterfall.

Finally it was time to go get lunch at the restaurant. I got a milanesa which was really good but I think that I like the chicken milanesas better. After we ate we left our stuff with mom and dad and went to swim more. I started talking to some kids while Helen went back to mom and dad.

We met up together back at the lazy river after I had gotten another dose of sunscreen. Unfortunately I was already burned and now my shoulders HURT!!! Oh well it was worth it. We all had so much fun.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYBODY!!!