jueves 27 de diciembre 2012
Well, the Chilean
family vacation (apart from a faulty GPS system which led us astray in our
rental car every once in a while…) was a success!
I arrived a day earlier
than my parents and stayed in a hostel that night. Sebastian, one of the English
students from Bridge back when I was in Buenos Aires, had moved
back to Santiago (he’s Chilean, was studying in Buenos Aires, and returned to
be with family for a while). So he met up with me
and we went out for a couple drinks and strolled through downtown
Santiago. That was great!
The next afternoon, my
parents and I met up in our hotel. It was SO great to see them!
We had some coffee and then walked through a more residential area of the city until we reached a set of restaurants along the river where we eat dinner.
We had some coffee and then walked through a more residential area of the city until we reached a set of restaurants along the river where we eat dinner.
The next morning, we visited Pablo Neruda’s
house. Neruda is a famous Chilean
poet. He actually had three houses, one
in Santiago, one in Valparaíso, and another in Isla Negra (which, although it
translates to “Black Island”, isn’t actually an island… When I asked if you could organize a boat
trip to get there someone laughed at me and said it’s just the name of a city…
silly). That was really cool, and as my
mom said, “we got our dose of culture in early.”
Then we hopped into the
car and drove towards Valparaíso, our next destination.
On our way, we passed through Casablanca and visited the vineyard Casas del Bosque, where we enjoyed a tour and (the most important part) tasting.
Me, Mom, and our tour guide
When we reached
Valparaíso, we were immediately introduced to what the city is known for: its
hills. Basically, the only part of the
city that’s flat is the small business district and what’s immediately along
the coast. Besides that, the city is
divided into different cerros, or
hills. Most of the residents live in the
cerros. The houses are built so they fit on the
hills, and the people adjust to live that lifestyle. It’s really quite fascinating. There are even ascensores or trolley lifts that can take you up or down a cerro.
I personally didn’t mind walking the hills (although I was only there
three days), but driving up and down was quite frightening sometimes…
On Monday (Dec 17), we
had a personal tour guide drive us around to see Valparaíso, Viña del Mar, and Reñaca. That was a fantastic day! All three cities lie just a few kilometers
from each other along the coast. Reñaca
and Concon are popular vacation towns, with a lot of tourist rentals or
part-time homes and sunny beaches. My
favorite city was Viña del Mar. Valparaíso
is cool because of the hills and colorful houses (it’s a historic city
protected by Unicef), but to me it seemed kind of dirty, and I didn’t think it
had that much to do. Viña is much more
like an actual city. It was developed,
with nice looking buildings, parks, a river, and the coast too, of course.
Valparaíso
Look how skinny this building is!
acensor
Boats
in the port. I’m particularly fond of the yellow one.
We saw a sea lion colony as we drove along the coast!
and pelicans too!
As
we were driving back, the clouds were resting just on top of Valparaíso across
the water… it was a spectacular image!
After three nights in
Valparaíso, the last activity we did was visit the botanical gardens just
outside of Viña del Mar, which were really lovely. Then we headed towards the “mountain lodge
resort” that Dad had told us he booked.
We drove south to Chillán, and then east into the mountains, past the
town of Pinto, until we reached Roca Negra (the name of the lodge). Roca Negra reminded me a lot of Walter and
Miriam’s house. It was constructed
completely out of wood and lava rock (hence the name Roca Negra, which means
“black rock”). There are ten guest
rooms, a bar, small restaurant (breakfast and a three-course dinner each day
were included… score!), a swimming pool, and two hot tubs. Normally Roca Negra operates as lodging
during the ski season, when people come to hit the slopes in Termas de Chillán,
about a 20 minute drive away. In the
summer, Ruben and Roberta (the couple who owns and supervised the construction
of the lodge) are trying to draw more guests in by offering trekking, mountain
biking, and other summer activities.
As soon as we arrived,
it started to snow (even though it’s summer down here; that’s what going into
the mountains can be like!)… So, even
though it wasn’t quite the 25th yet, that was the closest I came to having a
white Christmas.
The place is quite
isolated from anything that looks like society, but it was nice to have a
two-night getaway. We were the only ones
in the lodge… which was kind of weird but nice at the same time. We had some nice family time. We took full advantage of the lodge bar,
played some pool, watched some movies, and had a nighttime hot tub
session. Ruben even drove us to Termas
de Chillán (the ski resort) Thursday afternoon where Mom and I enjoyed a
massage in their spa ;) Overall, we
really enjoyed our stay. The staff were
super friendly and it was just a really great atmosphere!
A waterfall on the way to Termas de Chillán
Our next stop was Santa
Cruz, where we stayed one night. After
dinner, I ordered mote con huesillos for
dessert, which I heard was a typical Chilean dessert even though I had no idea
what it was. Well, here’s what it turned
out to be:
It’s
peaches, in a glass with peach juice, and wheat (yes, that’s what those
floating white things are). It was…
quite weird. Kind of refreshing, but I
would have enjoyed it more if it didn’t taste like I was drinking the high
fructose corn syrup that comes with canned peaches.
Before we left Santa
Cruz, we visited another vineyard, Viña Santa Cruz. No tour this time, just wine tasting
accompanied by a cheese platter, cracker, and mixed nuts and dried fruit.
The last night of our
trip was fairly tranquil, back in Santiago.
We went out for pizza and a couple last pisco sours (typical South American drink made from pisco, a grape-based liquor, and egg white, among other ingredients), then had a mini Christmas in the hotel room.
It was really nice to
see my parents, even just for 11 days :)
Sunday afternoon I flew to Buenos Aires, and then met up with my friend
Anna (who was in my TEFL class) for a drink and a chat. We talked about our experiences thus far,
both the good and the bad, and it was really nice to talk with her, it was kind
of exactly what I didn’t know I needed.
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