Two Morrows in South America: Santiago, Valparaíso, and Viña del Mar

Before I talk about Chile, I will answer a few questions from the comments we've received. Feel free to ask questions and I will answer them as soon as possible!

Mom Cooper- On the 29 hr. bus ride we stopped several times to pick up and drop off passengers along the way, but only 2 or 3 of the times were long enough for us to get off, use the bathroom, etc. We also stopped once at a little restaurant for lunch and they gave us about 20 min. to buy food and eat.

Matthew- Yes, we are loving the Lumix. Its working great!

Deana- YES, I remember ¨musculos¨ but I couldn´t remember that that´s what we called him! As we were climbing all those steep trails I told Seth that I remembered someone pulling us up with a rope but that was about it. Wish you could have been there with us!

Ok, now about Chile. We left San Martin de los Andes and crossed the Andes Montains into Chile. There aren't buses that go directly from San Marin to Santiago, so we had to make a stop in Pucon, Chile. There are lots of things to do in Pucon and we thought about staying a night there, but the weather wasn't cooperating. From Pucon its only 20 minutes to get to the base of an active volcano. There are daily guided hikes that take you to the top of the volcano where there is always snow. From the top there is supposedly a great view of the Andes. It was cloudy and rainy the day we were there, and the forecast was the same for the next day. So instead of spending a night there, we stayed in Pucon for 10 hours or so until we could take a bus into Santiago.

We got to Santiago on March 31st and we stayed about 6 days. (I´m going to have to add dates since we are so behind with the blogs). In Santiago, we stayed with a friend from Word of Life, David, and his wife, Lorena. Chileans are known for their hospitality and David and Lorena certainly didn't dissapoint. They were so great to us (as have been everyone else that we've stayed with). They took us to lots of cool places around the city and made us feel right at home.

David and Lorena have a busy life. In the mornings they work at a feria (street market). Ferias are very typical in Chile- they are a part of every neigborhood. Several of their family members work at the feria as well. They are always full of people because you can usually find things cheaper there than in the grocery store. Anyway, they have their own little stand selling children´s clothes so it was fun to see how the ferias work behind the scenes. In the evenings, David and Lorena are busy with ministry stuff. They are currently planting a church in their neighborhood and leading youth Bible Studies. We were there for one of the youth Bible Clubs.

David tearing down from a day at the feria

Bible Club

We drove to the top of Cerro San Cristobal, a mountain/hill right in the middle of the city where you can see all of Santiago and the nearby Andes Mountains. Its fun to be in such a big city and still so close to mountains. The only sad part is that because there is so much smog in the air the Andes are difficult to see even on a clear day. They are so close, but its easy to forget they are they because of poor visibility.

The building on the right will be the tallest in Chile when it is completed

Another fun thing we got to see in Santiago was one of Pablo Neruda´s (a famous Chilean poet and Nobel Prize winner) houses. He had three total, all around the Santiago/Valparaíso area and had plans for a fourth when he passed away in 1973. He was an interesting fellow with several wives and mistresses (usually at the same time) but he built really cool houses. He loved boats and a lot of the rooms in his house were made to resemble the inside of a boat.

This is the best picture I could get since we weren´t allowed to take any inside. The portholes are windows into the dining room.

Before arriving in Santiago, we had planned to spend a couple of days in Valparaíso and Viña del Mar right on the beach. Once we got there, though, we decided just to take a day trip to see both so that David and Lorena could come with us. Valparaíso is a really artsy place, famous for its colorful houses almost stacked upon one another up the steep hills all around. They have several asensores which are kind of like diagonal elevators that take you up the really steep hills. Unfortunately, many were closed for maintenance the day we were there. We did get to go up one, but we had to truck ourselves up the stairs for the other two hills.

one of the asensores in Valparaíso

Valparaíso

more Valparaíso

After spending the morning in Valparaíso we drove about 10 min. to Viña del Mar. Viña is a modern, Miami-esque city with beautiful beaches. Its an upscale, resort town for Chile and much of Argentina. Seth and David were brave enough to swim a little in the cold water. I put my feet in but that was enough for me. The waves were bigger than we´re used to so some of them caught Seth by surprise when he first got in. Pretty entertaining! We stayed long enough to watch the sun set over the ocean while eating ice cream.