Vina del Mar (and a little Valpo)

We just got back from an amazing weekend at the beach in Vina del Mar!  I know alot of you are experiencing snow right now, so there will be some bragging in this post :)  In a couple weeks the roles will be reversed and you can all brag about your amazing spring/summer in the US (though I will be enjoying the slopes of the Andes then, so brag away!).

Vina del Mar, the vineyard by the sea, is about 85 miles northwest of Santiago (for Houston and Haviland's geography lesson this week - can you find us?).  On the way there, you pass through the Casablanca Valley where they produce both wine and olive oil.  This is the white wine region of Chile known for producing many Sauvignon Blancs.  We didn't stop for a tour, but driving through was some of the most beautiful countryside we have seen thus far.

In Vina, we stayed at a great little hotel, B&B Casa del Sol.  It was the perfect retreat for the weekend, though next time we will probably go cheaper!  The hotel was located about 2 blocks from the beach, on top of one of the many hills of the area.  It was a bit of a walk to the "downtown" part of Vina, but allowed for some great exercise every day!

I was a tad disappointed with the seafood in Vina.  All week I talked about what we were gonna eat when we got there, but our meals were a little disappointing.  Stephen thinks my sights were set too high, but it's the beach!  It should be amazing anywhere, right?  Needless to say, we will be back...and we will find the good stuff!

About the only touristy thing to see in Vina (other than the beaches) is the Reloj de Flores.  It is a clock made out of flowers and is actually really beautiful (see Stephen's attempt at humor :)).

Saturday night we decided we were going to forgo the trip to Valpo that we had planned for Sunday and just rent bikes and ride around Vina some more.  We decided to try a different direction though and ended up in Valpo anyways!  It was a great surprise and there was a nice bike trail along the beach which made for a good day.  About halfway through our ride, we came upon seals and sea lions sunning on a rock.  I was obsessed and took about a million pictures.  We saw multiple seals try and jump back on the rock after falling off or jumping in the ocean.  It was humorous!  See a few of the pics below.

Although the beaches were stunning and the weather was gorgeous (yes, be jealous)...the water was FREEZING!  As this was my 1st time at the Pacific, I had to at least stick a toe in. Well, as you can see below, I ran away from it as soon as the water touched me!  It was definitely not the ocean I am used to...it was even colder than the Cape in May.

All in all, it was a wonderful weekend at the beach and a destination I am sure we will come back to many times!

As always, we love hearing back from all of you and hope this finds you well.

Much love,
Steph and Stephen

Santiago Livin'

Cathedral in Plaza de Armas

Up til now, I have really only written about our weekend trips, so I thought this post could be about daily life here in Santiago!  This is as modern a city as any back in the US and has everything you could ever need....just not in the places you would think they would be.


When we 1st moved into our apartment, the one thing we really needed was hangers.  Seems simple enough...except there is no Target down the street.  After going to a couple stores we thought may have them (a department store and a Bed, Bath and Beyond type store), we were told to go to the grocery store.  WHAT?!?!  We thought the clerk misinterpreted our word for hangers, but we thought we would give it a shot anyways.  Sure enough....hangers - at the grocery store!


Even still, every corner reminds us of how global our world really is - from the Dunkin Donuts and Starbucks to the array of fast food restaurants, many things remind us of home!

California Cantina with our traveling friends Wendy and Dusty - for a great read, check out their blog: roamthepla.net 

For St. Patrick's Day, we went to our local gringo hangout (though I was the only gringa in the bar when I walked in for lunch), California Cantina.  This is the ultimate tex-mex, burger, american food joint!  Honestly, I wish they would open one in Brookhaven too :)  Any big "holiday", this is the place to go...Superbowl, St. Patrick's Day, Mardi Gras....they do it all.  And, they had green beer!  We/I sat in the bar, dressed in green, eating quesadillas and drinking Chilean beer with green food coloring - life was good, ahhhh to be Irish :) 

Besides the occasional american meal, we have been trying to emerge ourselves in Chilean culture as much as possible.  It makes it very easy when you have a Chilean friend living down here!  Ian (who I used to work with) and his wonderful family invited us over to his house for an asado last weekend.  An asado is a BBQ, but is much different from your typical American BBQ.  In Chile, they cook 6 or 7 different types of meat.  As soon as it is done, the grill master cuts it up and passes it around for everyone to try...finger foods if you will.  This goes on for hours!  They may have one or 2 side dishes to accompany the meat, but the meat is definitely the focal point of the meal.  Ian's extended family all lives in Santiago as well, so it was a nice way to spend a Saturday with him and his entire family!  And believe you me....we will be bringing the asado idea back with us when we come home...get ready Atlanta!

At Kalafate - BEST restaurant in Providencia!

We also experienced our 1st club outing in Santiago.  For those of you who know me at all, you know I am not much of a dancer (interpretation - I am TERRIBLE), nor do I really like to dance - so this was not #1 on the to-do list :)  Stephen's boss' wife had her bday party at a club down the street from us.  They got there a little early - at 12:30 AM!  We definitely aren't use to that.  As we were walking to the club, we kept thinking that in Atlanta we would be walking home right now!  Despite the dancing, it was a fun time and we got our 1st (and hopefully only) club experience in Chile!

Anyways, that was just a little glimpse into our everyday lives in the city.  We are planning a weekend trip to Valparaiso and Vina del Mar this weekend, so a new blog to follow next week!

Bella Lastarria with Cris and Nadine

Cajon del Maipo

Our 1st trip out of Santiago was a couple weeks ago, Feb 19th-21st.  I wanted to write about this because it was heaven!  We went to a place called Cajon del Maipo, which is about a 2 hour bus trip southeast of Santiago.

Let me start with the bus trip.  After finally finding the bus, we got on to find out it was standing room only.  Now this wasn't a big deal at first because we thought it was only a 45 min trip....well, were we wrong!  Not only was it 2 hours...but after the 1st hour, it was all dirt road.  Let me paint you a picture.  When we got on the bus, we didn't think we would fit because it was that packed.  They fit 15 more ppl on the bus after us.  No air conditioning, packed like sardines, bumpy dirt, mountain road.  Needless to say, I did not feel well (under statement of the century).  A lady gave me her seat about 20 mins before we got to our stop, probably for fear of being thrown up on.  It was awful....I have learned to pack the Dramamine!  Below are 2 pictures as soon as we got off the bus - happy Stephen feeling good, surrounded by beautiful scenery....and me.

Our montage of TheKev continues everywhere we go.

No mas.

After the initial nausea wore off, I looked around and almost thought the bus trip from hell was worth it (though in the end it definitely was)!  We stayed at a great inn called Lo Refugio.  It is owned by a German Club in Santiago and run by a Chilean/British couple.  There is no electricity until after 8 every night.  It was so refreshing and relaxing!  The view below is from the outdoor patio at Lo Refugio.  It is the most spectacular 360 degree view you have ever seen!

Our chairs the whole weekend

We hiked up the mountain next to the inn on Sunday.  It was definitely not an easy hike, but the views the entire way made up for that!  Here is about half way up to the top (yes we used a hiking stick Katherine).

And here is Stephen reaching the summit with the Chilean flag next to him!  I have to admit, I didn't make it all the way up as it got a bit dodgy at the top, but I imagine looking over the other side made it worth it!

After hiking back down and eating lunch, we decided that we wanted to go relax in the Banos Colinas.  These are thermal  springs that come from the volcano in the area.  As you can see from the picture, it isn't the most inviting body of water.

REALLY hot water comes out of the spring and into the 1st pool (where we spent most of our time) and then it trickles down to about 8 other pools ranging from "not a hot tub" to "2 hour old bath water".  It was definitely relaxing to sit and stare out into the surrounding mountains, though an hour was more than enough.

View from banos

After the banos, we enjoyed one more dinner at Lo Refugio with some great Chilean wine and a view to die for!

The best part about the couple who runs this refugio is that they are really nice people.  On Monday, they offered to drive us back to Santiago (after hearing my bus story one too many times I imagine).  All in all, it was a wonderful weekend away from busy Santiago.  And I imagine we will be back again soon - though it will not be on a bus!

By Popular Demand - #2

So this 2nd post has been a work in progress for awhile now...so here are my random thoughts over the last week....

LAST SATURDAY:
I am so glad that this blog has found you all well...and since you have asked for it, here is numero dos!  Though I can't promise any long winded post, as there is a techno asado (cookout) going on outside and they are already feeding me beef and beer!  Life really is great here :)

So some of you have asked how the food is down here.  Well with the exception of the free pizza/beer/ceviche that we found last night, it definitely isn't as cheap as we thought.  Don't get me wrong, it isn't THAT expensive - you get salad, bread, juice, entree, dessert and espresso with almost every lunch "special" here!  But the food is interesting to say the least.  I don't know what I expected, but Chileans LOVE hot dogs.  It's bizarre.  But their hot dogs are covered with so many amazing toppings, we can't stop eating them!!!  My favorite so far is a hot dog covered in guacamole, spicy peppers and tomatoes.  They also love their mayo and put it on everything (including hot dogs).  My most useful spanish phrase thus far is "sin mayo".

TUESDAY:
So after being lured into a really fun asado with our neighbors here in Santiago, I am back!  I have just completed my 2nd day of intensive spanish classes.  I signed up for a 2 week program and I am hoping it will be enough to refresh/learn the basics.  So far, I have learned quite a bit and am really enjoying it.

This coming weekend we are going to Santa Cruz for a wine festival (somewhere south of Santiago), thanks to our friend Cristian whose mother lives there!  I will definitely post pictures from here as it is supposed to be gorgeous (as is everything down here!).

SUNDAY:
We just got back from an amazing weekend in Santa Cruz.   This weekend marked the harvest for the Colchagua Valley in which Santa Cruz lies.  The whole town comes together to celebrate the harvest in  the town square.  Vineyards set up tasting booths and vendors set up food booths with everything from meat on a stick to empanadas to my new favorite Chilean food - sopapillas!!!!  It was fabulous.  We went down there with 2 of our friends - Cris and Nadine.  Cris' mother and grandmother live in Santa Cruz and were sweet enough to not only let us stay with them, but also feed us 2 amazing lunches!  Made for a really great trip.  Some pictures of the festival below, including one of the bathroom bus - what an amazing concept...flushing toilets, sinks, air-conditioning and light jazz.  All festivals should have these!

Stephen, Me, Cris and Nadine on OUR bench.

Apparently llamas are a normal thing at a festival in Chile?

Bathroom bus!

Meat before it was on a stick!

Stephen started working this past week as well.  He is teaching english for the ecotourism department at University San Sebastian a few hours a week and went on an overnight camping retreat with the students and other teachers last Thursday and Friday.  He went to Cajon del Maipo (same place we went a couple weeks ago) and had a great time meeting the kids and teachers and being outdoors in a beautiful region of Chile!  It is such a cool position and sounds like he will get to do alot of these types of activities in the future as well - I am a little jealous :)

Other than that, not much going on down here, though I promise to update this more - we finally have internet and will make it easier to be more connected.  We miss you all and hope to see some of you down here in the coming months!

Love, Stephen and Steph