From 90F to 32F

Well, we left the river and our baby (Interlude) with the gang at Mario’s and headed on our adventure to South America. First stop: Guatemala city; where went to the dermatologist and met up with the Hooligans (Tim and Paula) . After checking out our favorite hardware stores and having some amazing meals, we set our alarm for our early flight to Chile.
We arrived in Chile and it certainly is living up to it name it is chilly……burrrrr. (By the way there is a story that is really how Chile got its name). Our first night we rented an apartment which was supposed to have heat, it didn’t work, so we piled as many comforters on as we could find and hide from the cold. Next morning was a hunt for a warm place to have a hot cup of coffee and breakfast. We had heard that in Chile the only coffee you can buy is instant and they were right. As we walked the streets for a warm place we noticed that all the stores and restaurants had their doors open, okay it is 36F out and all the patrons are wearing hats and mitts to eat their breakfast. Weird. So we changed our hunting criteria to anyplace that had their door closed and the patrons did not have their coats and hats on. Tough assignment. We did some food shopping and feel in love as one aisle which had all of our favorite Chilean wines plus more that we have not tried YET and all under $5. After stocking up we went back to our apartment and yes we had heat, but not much, in fact we had to turn on the oven and stove to support the heater.
Santiago is a very metropolitan city with great highways and transit system. The city has old mixed in with new skyscrapers, even one building shaped like a cell phone in a docking station. One thing we noticed is there are a lot of dogs wondering the streets, and well feed. It seems that police and the local restaurants feed the dogs and they live in harmony with the people, in fact they say the dogs are letting the people live in their city.
The highways seem to be all electronic toll highways and tunnels. The roads are amazing, hardly a bump.
Graffiti everywhere! Some amazing, but sad to see it when it is on old buildings. You don’t see the smog when you are in the City, but when you climb any of the hills in the City, your view is blocked by the smog. A brown haze. It had rained just before we got to Santiago, otherwise it would have been much worse.
We took an awesome walking tour of the City. We went by many of the buildings that we had already seen, but now with an explanation of the culture and history. It was a free walking tour we just had to give a tip so the price was right. We ended up go to a local restaurant and had a few of the local dishes suggested to us by our guide. We were joined by 3 young fellows who had been on the tour with us and all 5 of us enjoyed a bucket of meat and a corn pie. Then off to the local bar that was a must according to our guide, the name of the bar translated to “head Lice and of course we had to try their specialty drink called Earthquake (Pine Apple ice cream and white wine). The 5 of us could not finish one drink…it was bad. Not a drink to be had twice. Cheryl also tried a Tsunami, also not a repeat drink. We stumbled back to the apartment and had a very slow next day.
When we had been walking to Santa Cristobal, we saw a sign for a ski tour company. So we stopped in. In the end we got the professional skies, tuned up and a bus ticket to go to Colorado the next day yup the ski resorts are named Colorado and Nevada. We got the ride for half price as it was ladies day yeah! Forty some on switch backs later we arrived safely to the hill! Thankfully, an unbelievably good driver.
The skiing was spring like, with some awesome views. You can actually see Santiago from the hill! A dream come true, to ski in the Andes.
Time to move on, so we hoped on a bus and went to Valparaiso, Chile’s second largest city and biggest port. We booked the Yellow House, which turned out to be an awesome choice. We also booked a walking tour for the next day. The city has 13 funiculars, as it is built straight up and down. Much of the construction is wattle and daub, or Adobe, covered with corrugated tin or wood. Every home is painted in bright colors probably because no one could figure out which house belongs to whom. The homes are very small, and many of the ‘streets’ are nothing more than walkways. Most of the real streets are one way, as there is not enough room for even one car. They have a metro, electric buses, buses, collective taxis and funiculars, so it is really easy to get around and not expensive. We were very good tourists, as we would leave the yellow house after a good breakfast at 9:30 and sightsee until 5:30! Yes our feet were tired! One day we went to the fish market, (bought mussels) saw the sea lions, went to the museum, went to the stock exchange the oldest in Chile, saw a statue donated by the people of Easter Island, took 3 funiculars, had lunch and then head back to the Yellow House. Then just because we needed to continue to be good tourist we went to the Naval Museum! At the naval museum we had the opportunity to stand in the capsule used to recover the Chilean miners last year. It was not large!! Back to the Yellow House for Mussels in a blue cheese sauce and of course Chilean wine.
Next day we toured again. We took the trolley car and a collective to Pablo Neruda’s (a Chilean Nobel poet winner) house, quite a place. Then we went passed the museum under the sky, where they had 20 Chilean artists paint murals. Then we went to the fruit and veggie market and had lunch upstairs. We went to the 100 year old Sombereria, where Brad Pitt purchased a hat. Then we went on a boat tour of the harbor. That night we had wine and cheese with Martin and Lissette, who own the Yellow House. Martin bought a wine for use to try, a white blend, Sauvignon Blanc and Carmen ere! Great! And we heard about their experiences last year in the earthquake, 7.8 in Valparaiso! How the city is still standing is the question.
Next day saw us taking a tour of two wineries in the Casablanca Valley. Wine tasting/tours are expensive here and hard to arrange. We went to Casa del Bosque and Emiliana. Both were excellent winiers, Emiliana is an organic winery that really is, it was also a very relaxing place. We met a British couple on; the tour with us (Sam and Mark). They very much added to our day and we hope that we will see them in La Serena, our next stop.
We bid goodbye to Martin this morning and are on a bus to La Serena, a seven hour bus ride north. We had spent about $30 for the superior seats and they are! So life is good. We have an hour and a quarter to go. While we can see the snowy tops of the Andes every now and then, it is really very dry land, some beautiful ocean views. Cactus fences. You could film a western anywhere!
We arrived at our Hostel in La Serena and are offered a hot water bottle as they do not have heating and it is COLD! We will see how Canadian we are and if we can tough it out!