Las Montañas

Every day we wake up to this view of the Andes Mountains:

Well, almost every day.  Some days the fog or the clouds are so thick that it appears they have completely disappeared.  Por ejemplo:

The first site we encountered on our flight's descent into Santiago was of some of their peaks.  They are spectacular and insanely tall! George is fascinated by them.  He wanted to know if they also stretched into Argentina, and it turns out that they do!  But wait, there's more!  They not only stretch through Chile and Argentina, but also Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Peru.  Seven different countries!  Several of their plateaus host major South American cities such as Quito, Bogota, Arequipa, Medellin, Sucre, Merida, and La Paz.

And now for a brief Wikipedia timeout: The Andes are the longest continental mountain range in the world. They are also the world's highest range outside of Asia and contain some of the highest volcanoes, which includes Ojos del Salado on the Chile-Argentina border.  The highest peak, Mount Aconcagua, rises to an elevation that is about 22,841 feet above sea level!

Suffice it to say, the Andes by far trump Chile's sparkling wine and potato chips!

Riding the Subway is fun

However it is also pretty loud.

Hillbilly hors d'oeuvres

Potato chips and Chilean sparkling wine.  We're classy that way.

Lunch with our friends

My good friend Angel Soto was gracious enough to drive us to a wonderful festival celebrating this holiday weekend in Chile.  We had a delicious lunch with empanadas that Amy and I may have to smuggle home in our luggage.  Is it illegal to smuggle empanadas?

Our first day

Behold the view from what now serves as Casa Lynch here in Santiago.  It is an apartment on the thirteenth floor of a very nice building in the "Las Condes" section of Santiago.  Our arrival coincided with the start of a national holiday weekend here in Chile, thus necessitating Pat having to carry grocery bags full of beer and wine (there may have been a bag of potato chips for the kids I think) to the apartment because just about every business in the city shut down today.

We Celebrated Chilean independence by going to a park and introducing the kids to the very nice subway system here.  The kids really seemed to like the park, but interestingly George seems to think that everyone speaks Spanish here just to be annoying to him personally.  I don't think he realized that "speaks Spanish" meant "doesn't speak English" but I'm sure he'll get the hang of it.

George lost his legs!!!!

Where could they have gone?

We have landed

After two flights and a long trip we have arrived in Santiago, Chile.  On our descent into the airport we encountered the valley blanketed in clouds that gave us a beautiful contrast with the mountains.

Miles to go before we sleep.....

 

We are on planes, airport trains and automobiles!  It has been an interesting journey so far and the kids have been troopers!  George and Viv have discovered the joys of airport lounge cookies, while Amy has found the house Chardonnay completely acceptable.  9.5 hour flight from arrival......

Welcome to our blog!

Friends, family, and people who have stumbled here, we are the Lynches, and we are going to live in Chile for three months beginning tomorrow, September 16th.  We have set up this blog in order to keep a record of our trip, but also to share our photos, thoughts, and misadventures.  We will post frequently to semi-frequently depending on who is visiting, what wines we are drinking, and whatever strikes our fancy.  Expect photos, videos and observations.  We miss everyone, wish y'all were here, and will do our best to convey the experience.  Bienvenido!