Home again, home again, jiggety jig!

As of yesterday, we are officially back in the land of Hoosiers!  We were fortunate to have the daughter of one of Pat's colleagues stay with our house and two cats, and when we walked in the door, the house was spotless, and she'd left us with a delicious chicken casserole, salad, and Christmas cookies!  Thanks, Kim!

When we left Santiago, it was sunny and the temperature was in the mid-80s, so it felt a bit strange unpacking our winter-wear in the Indy terminal just to walk to our car.  Normally it saddens me to exchange warmth and sunshine for cold and overcast, but it's Christmas time, and I've been craving the brisk air, brightly-lit evergreens, and dusting of snow that is so common and familiar in the mid-west!  Once the holidays are over, I'm sure I'll long for the climate of Santiago, but until then...

Though we're less than 10 days away from Christmas, we're in the process of unpacking and also hurriedly putting out the Christmas basics for the kids--the tree and ornaments, stockings, and few other simple items.  For those of you who we won't see before the New Year, we want to wish you a wonderful and safe holiday season!

We hope you've enjoyed reading a bit about our time in Chile.  I want to belatedly thank Katherine Nagy, because this travel blog was basically her idea.  I'm certain I never would have thought to do this if she hadn't asked if we'd be keeping a travel blog while we were gone.  So, thanks, Katherine!  This was a really fun way for us to keep track of the wonderful people we met, places we visited, and experiences we had, while simultaneously keeping in touch with friends and family back home!    

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Happy New Year to you all!

Pat, Amy, George & Vivian  

 

The Lake District

Our longest time away from Santiago was a 7 day trip to Chile's Lake District.  It was my favorite place that we visited in Chile--I even preferred it to Santiago!  We rented a car for this trip, which was liberating after almost 3 months of public transportation.  

Chile's Lake District is comprised of a variety of towns settled by Germans, Austrians and the Swiss, and this influence was liberally evident in many of their architectural and culinary endeavors.  We first flew into Puerto Montt and spent 2 nights there.  Puerto Montt is a port town famous for its seafood, and it certainly did not disappoint!  This town also had the best deals on woven and leather goods that I've found in all of the places we've visited in Chile.  A considerable chunk of my Christmas list was taken care of in these two days!

The next 5 days were blissfully spent in Puerto Varas.  Ah, Puerto Varas!  This place is extraordinarily beautiful!  Pat arranged for us to rent a cabin on a beach of Lake Llanquihue (Camp Kutral), which was cozy with extraordinary views.  There were two volcanoes in view from our back yard, one of which I could not stop taking pictures.  The name of this volcano is Orsorno.  It is perfectly symmetrical, and its appearance was constantly varied, depending upon the time of day and arrangement of the fog.  The contrast of this snow capped volcano with the azure blue of the lake was breath taking.  We were even treated to a rainbow one afternoon!

We twice visited a town close to Puerto Varas called Fruitillar.  It is a lovely and tiny little German town on a lake with a lot of interesting shops and restaurants.  We walked to a place for lunch called Frau Holle.  The food, service, and view of the lake and volcano were fantastic.  We liked it so much that we drove back for lunch another day. The kids liked the town a great deal too, as there was a playground right on the beach.

The weather of the Lake District was an interesting contrast with Santiago.  When we left the city, it was 90 degrees and we were in shorts and tee shirts.  When we arrived in Puerto Montt, it was in the high 40s and mid 50s for the week, so our winter coats had to be pulled out of the suitcases.  It was chilly!

I knew ahead of time the weather forecast, and also that we would be on a lake, where the water was certain to be really cold.  I packed only one pair of shoes each for the kids, never in my wildest dreams thinking they would get in the lake. Unfortunately, the first day in Puerto Varas proved me wrong, as they came back from their first walk on the beach soaking wet up to their waists. I packed plenty of extra clothes, but the wet and sandy leather shoes were a problem, as we didn't have a washer and dryer in our cabin.  Fortunately, the cabin staff kindly offered to wash and dry them in their office facility for us. 

Our visit to the Lake was a fantastic trip for the entire family, and when we visit Chile again, I would love to try to go back!  

These are a few of their favorite things...

Referencing the von Trapps is fun, and even more so when talking about buying touristy Chilean kitsch.  The following items are supposedly things you absolutely cannot leave Chile without purchasing, although I'm pretty sure some of them are strictly for tourists--as I've not seen them in the homes we've visited.  Nonetheless, while I didn't complete the entire list, I made a valiant effort to get as many of them as my husband would allow me to charge.  I'm pleased to share that almost all of our bags are packed, and we didn't even have to purchase an extra suitcase!  Enjoy!

1) Lapis Lazuli:  This brilliant azure semi-precious stone is said only to be found in Chile and Afghanistan.  Stores abound all over Chile with Lapis carved into jewelry, vases, clocks, figurines, candlesticks, letter-openers, and basically any item you can think of where the stones might be placed.



2) Copper:  Chile is the largest producer and exporter of copper in the world. As a result, items made with copper are relatively inexpensive when purchased locally.  Copper cookware, jewelry, maps of Chile, roses, animal figurines, and a variety of other items can easily be found all over the country.

3) Wool:  This material abounds in standard items such as sweaters, socks, scarves, blankets, and table runners.  I personally love the Mapuche-woven textiles.  There are a lot of alpaca items as well, but the price is a bit more steep.  There is a process called wool-felting, and I am in awe of so many of the artsy pieces I've seen stemming from this process.  The dolls, figurines, pillows, and even scarves that I've seen using this process are captivating.  They are also kind of expensive, but the designs are so intricate, it's easy to see why.

         

4) Wine: This might be one of my favorite things about this country! I've yet to have a bottle that is anything less than great, and it is incredibly inexpensive!  It is actually difficult to find a bottle in a restaurant that is more than $20.  And in the grocery stores, our average bottle has been about $8.

5) Chilean Ceramic: There are many stores all over Chile selling items made of this material.  The ones I've seen the most are blue and white ceramic animal figurines.

 

6) Indio Picaro: This is probably the tackiest item I've seen in Chile, and difficult to avoid because they're sold everywhere.  The Indio Picaro (Teaser Indian) is a wooden statuette of a Mapuche Indian with a cheeky smile.  The grin supposedly stems from the "surprise" that occurs when you lift him up.  This is a relatively family-friendly blog, so I'll let you look up the surprise on your own.    



 7) Greda: This is Chilean pottery that is often used as cookware, and it's ability to retain flavor is on par with cast iron.  It also sits out in many homes as decor.    

    

8) Aji Merken: This is a Chilean spice made from smoked chili peppers.  I don't know why we don't import this back home (or do we?), because I think it's fantastic!  It has just a hint of sweetness to the spice that flavors food wonderfully!
   
I could happily continue to list more, but my kids are complaining of hunger pains, so I guess I'll stop talking about shopping and make them something to eat.

PS - this is Pat I MADE DINNER!!!!!!!

Our Artistic Adventures

As our trip comes to a close I wanted to chat a bit about all of the artistic stuff the kids and I have had a chance to do during our time here.

This is not the kids' room or a picture of my office.  No, it is a modern art exhibit at the Bella Artes Museum of Contemporary Art in Santiago where the kids and I spent a day roaming the halls.

And this is from the Parque de la Esculturas near my office where I took the kids on typical Santiago spring day.

This is a good representation of what I looked like after an entire day with the kiddos.

All of this art viewing seemed to have a somewhat inspirational effect on George and Viv.

Here is a temporary installation in our bedroom entitled "Study in Mom and Dad's Pillows #5". It speaks to the soulless nature of the modern world....and Daddy's need to have a lot of pillows.

This is one of Vivian's Explorations in Play Dough series called "Santiago had Bad Traffic".  I found it moving, and easy to peel off the glass door.

Geocaching Santiago

Today is a Chilean holiday, and pretty much everything is closed, including my husband's office.  It was a perfect sunny afternoon for the entire family to go geocaching around our Santiago neighborhood.

"Geo...wha?", is what I uttered when Pat first mentioned this international hipster phenomenon to me yesterday.  Geocaching, I've since discovered, is basically a high-tech outdoor international hide and seek/treasure hunt game.  It's origin corresponds with the public accessing of the GPS system in May of 2000, which participants use to locate a "cache".

Caches are typically small waterproof containers with a pencil and a log roll inside. Once located, participants log their name, date of the find, and then place the cache back in the exact same spot in which it was found.  Sometimes larger containers are hidden that may house trinkets of minor value or perhaps items with sentimental value.  When a participant finds a container with stuff inside, they are supposed to replace it with something of equal value.  Here is the official Geocaching website if you're interested in learning more:  https://www.geocaching.com/play  Wikipedia also has a detailed entry on the phenomenon: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geocaching  

Santiago apparently has 74 geocaches hidden around the city!  Our neighborhood is supposed to have two, but we were only able to locate one.  Still, it was pretty exciting to find the first one--which was a small, yellow, magnetic container with a smiley-face that was attached to a water pipe in a park.

The second one is supposed to be hidden in a park that the kids and I go to on an almost daily basis.  We spent a considerable amount of time searching for it, but to no avail.  We may look again tomorrow if the kids are still interested.  Indianapolis is also home to its own collection of caches, and while I'm eager to come home for a variety of reasons, now I can add geocaching in Indy to the list!

Valparaiso

Earlier this month we spent an afternoon in Valparaiso, which is about 10 minutes away from Vina del Mar.  Some friends live in Con Con (also about 10 minutes away), and they met us in Valpo for lunch.  It was a lovely afternoon of colorful vistas, bargain shopping, and fabulous conversation.

Valparaiso was once a thriving and hugely successful port center for Chile.  Once known as the "Jewel of the Pacific" and "Little San Francisco", it was an attractive locale for many European immigrants.  Unfortunately for the city, the opening of the Panama Canal drastically reduced its shipping traffic, leading to a significant decline in much of the city's commerce and vitality.

One of the friends we had lunch with is originally from Valpo.  As we were walking around after lunch, she wistfully pointed out several buildings and sections of the city telling me what they were like in their former glory.  Interestingly, many of the Valpo families and businesses relocated to Santiago; so it could be argued that the decline of this city has led, in part, to the current thriving of Santiago.

Since our previous trip to Vina del Mar was so enjoyable, we taxied back to the same hotel for four more nights.  The kids were pleased with this arrangement, because after an afternoon of shopping and talking to grown-ups they were able to log four days of considerable pool time!  It was a lot warmer this trip, and our hotel had just opened their outdoor pool.  The kids played at this one for a bit, but due to the brisk winds, they would quickly skip through to the much more reasonable temperature of the indoor pool.

These short trips are a nice change of pace from the noise and hustle of Santiago. While I enjoy getting away for a bit, I always feel a sense of relief and greater appreciation for our apartment life in the city.