Santiago

OK, I guess it is time to update this page ... :-)

Sunday night I arrived in Santiago and Bill and Francisco picked me up at the Hostel and we all drove to their house - what a luxury ... driving in a car, living in a normal house with even a washing machine I was allowed to use ... after over two months I finally was able to wash my own cloths ... how great !!! Here in South America you have to give your clothes always to a dry cleaner and get your clothes washed, ironed and folded back from there ... no Laundromat, no possibility to wash your clothes by yourself. And I did the dishes ... how much fun! Honestly, it was really a nice change to live in a normal house with normal duties :-)

Anyway, when we arrived at the house I hugged Martina and met Francisco's family: his wife Marisela (really nice and friendly), their son Agustin (5 years old and cute, but really spoiled) and their daughter Pascal (7 months old and just cute).

We all had a Pisco Sour as an welcomes drink (I just love Pisco Sour ... wherever I move on the end, I have to be able to get Pisco there! It is a knockout criterion if it is not available there ;-) ...) and after Francisco finally gave up his battle with a blowup mattress and let me use my thermarest mattress we all went to bed.

Next morning I woke up because of an earthquake! The first shake was hardly noticeable, but the second one was pretty shaky! Later on Francisco told us it was a 3 on the scale ... I never ever want to experience a 6 or 7!!! All together I experienced three different earthquakes here in Santiago in just four days! The same day we (Martina, Bill, Francisco, Agustin and I - Marisela couldn´t join us, she had to meet Santa Claus) took the car and went to Valpariso. It is a nice city next to the Ocean, two hours west of Santiago and has a nice downtown and a big harbor (but sure enough nothing compare to Hamburg ;-) ...). We walked around for a little bit (don´t forget, that we had a five year old with us) and enjoyed the old and sometimes colorful buildings. We also went to the harbor and to a view point where you can see the whole coast of Valpariso and the neighbor cities as well.

Afterwards, Francisco took us to the beach of Viña del Mar, a beach resort north east of Valpariso. We enjoyed the beach for a moment (but the water was just too cold to swim in there ... but I have to admit, that Agustin had no problems with the temperature of the water and jumped into the water like it was a hot tube!), had something to eat at a restaurant right on the beach and than it was time for us to return to Santiago, because Marisela told us to be back by 7 PM (they had a parent meeting from the school or so) and when you tell two Germans to be back on time, of course we are there in time! The funny side of the story was, that poor Marisela and Francisco left on time for their meeting and were the first ones there and the next couple who showed up came over an hour later - well, here in South America they are listing to a different drummer ... While they went to the meeting, Martina, Bill and I were babysitting the kids (poor Pascal was really sick, she threw up her milk).

Tuesday Marisela and Francisco had a lot of things to take care of, so they lent us their second car. We drove to a nice Glacier (San Francisco Glacier, 2 hours east of Santiago) and hiked up to the bottom of the Glacier (from 1800 meters to over 2500m at least that´s what I remember ...). The hike was really nice and we enjoyed it a lot ... well, let me be honest ... it was nice, but it was a very sunny, hot day and no shade at all ... and whoever hiked with me under these conditions, knows what that means! ;-) ... but I liked it, don´t get me wrong! ... while we were hiking we passed a lake (I would have called it pond, but oh well ...) and we always saw these yellow birds ... don´t know the name of them, but they were beautiful! When we drove back, we stopped on the way home to wash the car ... it was soooo dusty! The last 15km on the way to the Glacier was a dirt road and the car changed its color from dark grey to a very light grey ... it was a very hot day and the car had no A/C ... so we rolled the windows down, but as soon as another car passed by, we had to hurry up and rolled it up all the time ... our arms got strong that day ;-)

That night we went along with Marisela and Francisco and visited friends of them. It was a cookout a week before Christmas, started at 9 PM, of course, the kids came with us as well and it was fun. The host made really yummy shish kebab and also the dips, chips, bread and cheese were sooo good ... and of course, we had Pisco Sour, beer and wine as well ... we had definitely too much food and somebody had a sip too much of alcohol ;-).

Wednesday (after a little late start) Marisela and the kids were all sick (stomach problems) so Francisco, Bill, Martina and I decided to try Chilean wine directly at a vineyard ... we drove to the famous Concha y Toro and had a great time there. First they showed us a little movie about the history of Concha y Toro, then they showed us around ... we received a wine glass (and we were allowed to keep it - hopefully these glasses make it back to Richmond in one piece! Cross the fingers for us!) and so we got three different wines to try ... I liked the first one the best, but that could be, because it was such a hot and sunny day and the first one was a refreshing white wine ... we walked through their cellar (it was nice and cool down there ... perfect for a hot day), learned about the story behind their famous wine ¨Castillo del Diablo¨ (we also got a glass of it to try) and at the end they gave us a very expensive glass of their special wine ... I can`t remember the name and I personal didn´t like it at all (remember, just give me cheap wine, everything else is a waste ;-) ...), but Bill and Martina appreciated it at least ... That night we went to a big Mall (I still had somehow a culture shock ... it is so amazing to see all these things after Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia) ... but I loved it ... if there is a country I would move to here in South America, it would be probably Chile ... this country is not perfect, but I think, it has a serious chance to become a good place to live ... the nature is already awesome!

Thursday we really had a late start ... breakfast was around noon and then Marisela and Francisco dropped us off at Santiago Downtown and we walked around there for a little bit. Martina and Bill had been there before, so they knew were to go and what so to ... but I will be here with Jens in two weeks, so for me it was just a little taste and that was all I wanted anyway. Martina and I both got a big ice cream (I mean, it was REALLY big!) and later that day we took the Metro to get near Francisco's house. There he picked us up and later that night we left on time (German time by the way ;-) ...) to get to the Bus station. Mariselas parents dropped us off there and we hopped on the bus just in time. Familie Zeising had their seats downstairs (more expensive, but also more comfortable) and we had the first row upstairs in a double-decker bus ... what a luxury again ... the view was great, the bus was really comfy (at least I though so) and we all had really huge leg and butt room ... it seems like, that the long distance buses here in Chile have all a better standard ... and the streets are very good as well ... they have even highways here! Chile used the German Autobahn as a model and it really looks like the German Autobahns. The signs are all blue and at the exists the blue signs with the meters (300m, 200m. 100m) are exactly the same. The bus organisation even showed a good movie (I just didn´t see the end, the seat was just too comfy! ;-)..., but Bill and Martina liked the whole movie!). So we drove through the night and next morning we arrived in Osorno ...