chile

Hello again!

As promised, here is an overview of the weekend I spent in Chile. I'm gonna do things a little differently in this post; there are going to be more pictures and it's going to be organized by topics instead of a chronological "I did this, and then went here, and then that happened" break-down. Without further ado, let's get to my trip across the border!

 
Buses, Customs, and Huelgas: Oh my!

So to get to Chile, my friends and I took a bus from Mendoza to Santiago. It's about a 7-hour ride across the Andes, depending on how long you're stuck at customs. Because nothing can be that simple, there was construction being done along the pass, making it one-way. That meant we had to take a morning bus to Chile and a night bus back.

Customs was relatively painless both ways. We were stopped for an hour or two but there was nothing really to complain about.

However, when we returned to Mendoza everyone was shocked we were able to get back. We had heard snippits of information from fellow hostel patrons about trouble crossing the cordillera, but assumed it was weather-related and assumed it had worked itself out since we were able to cross. To our surprise, it was actually because the Argentine bus-drivers were on strike (actually, it's not that surprising considering the regularity of strikes down here in Latin America, but it certainly wasn't what we were expecting). Thankfully we had waited until we were in Chile to book our bus back so that we could travel with Tur-Bus, a Chilean line. Otherwise we probably would have had to buy a plane ticket back.

tl;dr: We totally lucked out travel-wise and were able to make it to Chile and back sin problemas. 


Food

As you probably know, I love food. My tummy has been quite happy here in Argentina, but it took special delight in visiting Chile. This was partly because of a few "tastes of home" -- with a foreign twist. 

First and foremost, upon arriving in Santiago we were greeted with a very familiar sight: Starbucks. The chain can be found if in Mendoza if you're willing to venture out to one of the shoppings, but in Santiago they were conveniently located all over the city. After two months without the over-priced coffee whose mediocre quality is made up for by adding any flavor under the sun, I was re contenta to be sipping a grande white mocha. 

In Valpo, I experimented a little to get my caffeine fix by trying a cafe dos leches. Let's just take a minute to look at this little piece of heaven:

It was almost painfully to stir this beautifully assembled creation, but boy was it worth it! The dos leches refer to the standard milk foam (top layer) and -- wait for it -- condensed milk (bottom layer). Please, if you can't imagine how delicious this was, go find a barista friend and try it. The only downside to my cafe dos leches was it overshadowed the leche caliente con miel (that's warm milk with honey) that I had earlier that day.

I may still occasionally dream about both of them. Drool.

As of writing this, I have just under 29 days until I can make my next diner-run. If you don't understand exactly how important that is to me then you probably shouldn't be reading this blog because you've clearly never had a single conversation with me in your life. That being said, Chile knew how to pile a heart-attack on a stack of fries in a way that made me feel right at home. My friends, I give you chorillana.

Double drool.

Yes, that's beef, chopped-up hot dogs (classier joints use sausage), egg, and onions on top of those fries. Yes, I have found a recipe and plan on making this when I'm stateside. Yes, I am getting diner cravings just thinking about this and need to move on.

And now for something really adventurous! There aren't many foods I won't try, even if I wasn't entirely sure it was edible until I saw it in a fish market stall. So, when we stopped for lunch at el Mercado Central in Santiago, I went our on a limb and ordered erizo -- sea urchin.

Something I'm happy to cross off my bucket-list and probably never do again.

This, by the way, is what they look like before you throw them in a soup.

As far as snacks go, you couldn't beat some fresh churros from a truck on the side of the road. Whether you got them plain or filled with manjar, they really hit the spot.

Que rico!


Street Art

But Nancy, I thought you said there were going to be more pictures in this entry?

That I did, and here they are. Both Santiago and Valpo abounded with street art, some of it commissioned and some of it "graffiti". I spent a good chunk of the weekend wandering about snapping photos of the murals, so here are some of my favorites (all from Valpo). 

Are you my mummy?

Even an empty, abandoned lot could make a statement.

Neruda

It's hard to study Spanish, or literature, without at some point talking about Pablo Neruda. A Chilean poet, diplomat, and Nobel Prize winner, he was called (by Gabriel García Márquez) "the greatest poet of the 20th century in any language."

Today, his three houses are preserved as museums and open to the public. I was lucky enough to visit (and totally geek out at) two of them: La Chascona in Santiago and La Sebastiana in Valpo.

Unfortunately you're not allowed to take pictures inside the houses, which is a shame because each room had a new quirk that revealed a new piece of Neruda's personality. His love of the sea and all things nautical was evident in the furniture, the architecture, and the exteriors and views. While I would love to use only brightly colored water glasses and can't help but smile when I think about the pair of paintings in La Sebastian bought to keep each other company (and set up on opposite walls so they can stare into each other's eyes), the private table in La Chascona where only he and Matilde sat was definitely my favorite feature in any of the houses.

Actually, on second thought it's probably a good thing I couldn't take pictures. I'm sure my Pinterest followers are grateful.


Santiago

My friends and I arrived in Santiago in the afternoon, checked into our hostel, and set out to do a bit of sight-seeing. We walked around La Plaza de Armas for a little bit -- that's the square where the city was first settled by the Spanish.

Naturally one of the main features was the cathedral, as shown by this artistic reflection in the building across the street.

A street performer in from of the cathedral

 

The fountain at the center of the plaza

 A statue of the Chilean national hero Don Pedro de Valdivia

The next day we really toured the city in earnest, starting with Cerro Santa Lucia. From that hill we could get a nice view of the city. And get scared by a cannon, but that's besides the point.

If you look closely you can see the railing that is your only hope when descending the stairs of death.

It was a bit hazy, but still a great view of the city. This was taken from up in the tower seen in the last picture.

Next up: El Mercado Central, or Central Market, which is basically a giant maze of pescado. There are rows and rows of stalls selling fresh fish as well as plenty of restaurants, complete with the ever present workers trying to harass you into eating there.

Of course, there was plenty of harassment from the fish stall workers too.

We did end up having lunch there, which is where I ate the aforementioned sea urchin. I was eventually able to get the smell of fish out of my sneakers and jeans, which I was honestly worried would never happen.

 

 Oh hello there.

 Live lobster tank! Just cause I'm 20 and still like saying hi to the lobsters doesn't mean you have to judge me.

 

We also found a floral market, which was basically a warehouse lined with stalls, each filled with flower arrangements. It reminded me of running around Bill's Village Florist when I was little and playing in the big fridge, and I also liked getting to show off what knowledge I've picked up from being a florist's daughter.

 I will never stop loving that these are a thing. Ever.

 Roses on roses on roses

The ones topped with birds of paradise were my favorite arrangements.

When we came back to Santiago for our return trip to Mendoza, we checked the last landmark off our list: La Moneda. Not to be confused with monedas, or coins, this is akin to The White House or La Casa Rosada -- the seat of the executive power of the government.

Valparaíso 

I've already covered most of the sight-seeing we did in Valpo with the street art and La Sebastiana, but that's not all the beauty this port city had to offer.

First off, there's the port itself. Taking a break in the open air to sit and enjoy the view of the city was a nice change from walking around. Now if only I'd appreciated it more before having to climb all those hills...

 Hey, look at those guys! These seals were all over the port and didn't seem to be bothered by the harassment from tour guides.

Back on land, what struck me the most was how the entire city is one big work of art. The buildings themselves were painted in brilliant hues, dotting the hillside with bursts of color. 

 

Of course, this was portrayed in various murals throughout the city. It was like Valpo-Art-Ception.

Oh, and then there's a view from La Sebastiana, up in the hills. Pro-tip: head there later in the day, close to closing. The sunset is spectacular.
 

So that, ladies and gents, was my trip to Chile! What you did not see are the handful of ferias -- artisan markets -- where my friends and I spent hours (and probably too much plata). I also haven't mentioned the fantastic hospitality of old and new friends who played the role of tour-guide for us in both cities. A huge thank you goes out to all of them for helping us find our way around, giving us the inside-scoop on where to go and what to do, and especially for being able to communicate with los chilenos... I still can't understand half of what they say.

Keep your eyes peeled next for a post about my home-away-from-home, Mendoza :]

Hasta luego!

semana santa!

[Yes. This is the VERY delayed post about what I did over my Easter break. It has been written and sitting in my drafts for a while, but suffice it to say that I have zero patience for uploading photos. Many apologies.]

One of the benefits to studying in a Catholic country is that I actually had an Easter break! With one full week free of classes and obligations, I got to do some traveling; some friends and I headed down to northern Patagonia.


Buses, Round One

The trip down involved two bus trips totaling 18 hours, with a change-over in Neuquén. Luckily I had a friend with me, and on the first leg of the trip one of the movies they showed was "The Shawshank Redemption" (subtitled, because there are international laws prohibiting anyone from dubbing Morgan Freeman's voice). However, due to dozing off, inaccurate time estimations, ill-marked bus stations, and general confusion, we got off a stop too early. We casually asked one of the poor souls stuck working in the bus station during the ungodly hours of the morning where in the terminal we could catch our next bus, to which he kindly, and not at all condescendingly, replied, "That bus leaves from Neuquén, not here." At this point, we sprinted to the wrong bus, got off the bus, got on that bus again, got off once more, and then finally found the bus we were supposed to still be on just before it pulled away. And then, 20 minutes later we finally found ourselves in the Neuquén bus terminal, where we watched the sunrise and awaited the next 6-hour leg of our trip.

San Martín de Los Andes

On the afternoon of Good Friday, we arrived in San Martín, the first stop of our Patagonian journey. We met up with the rest of our group, and there was much rejoicing. However, they had already been there for a day, so we temporarily parted ways: they went to set up camp, and we checked out the town and settled in to our hostel.

The next day we met up again and headed off to find a campsite along the lake. The walk along the road was scenic, which probably was why we took so long -- we couldn't help stopping for photo breaks!

When we did find a campsite, rainclouds started to close in. We managed to fit in a quick lunch before the downpour started, shutting us in tents for a few hours of bonding. And when the storm let up and we emerged...

A double rainbow above the lake! Who could ask for more than that?

That night we went on a little adventure to explore the area around our campsite and somehow managed to pick up a canine companion. This was fine except for the fact that he apparently had a death wish; he would cross the road and freeze in the middle of the lane when a car came. He had a few close calls that scared the bejeezus out of us! Despite our attempts to return him to where we found him, he kept following us back to our campsite. He sat around the fire with us, guarded our tents, and then returned to town with us, where he met a friend and finally let us go on our way.

Clarification

Now, some of you may know that the original plan for this trip was to bike along La Ruta de Los Siete Lagos. However, the rental store we chose (cause it had sister stores at each end) that, just for the record, INSISTED we wouldn't need to make reservations, only had 2 panniers left. That was not going to work for 8 of us.

And so, following the advice of our program advisor, we decided to "go with the flow" and adapt to a new plan. We stayed that extra night camping in San Martín and the following morning took a bus trip along the lakes instead.


Villa La Angostura

The bus trip dropped us off on Easter Sunday in Villa La Angostura, where we stayed for the majority of our trip. After checking in to a hostel, we spent some time checking out the town and relaxing. We cooked up some chicken stir-fry for dinner, got to know some porteños who were also staying there, and overall had a good time. As a side note, I also finally got around to buying a pack of cards and played half a game of Euchre. Still working on getting a group of four to sit down and commit to learning, but it's going to happen!

The next morning we headed to El Bosque de los Arrayanes, a forest which is the last place where arrayanes trees grow naturally. These are by far the coolest trees I've ever seen (pun intended); they have orange bark and are cold to the touch.

At the end of the trail we came to Nahuel Huapi Lake. With the outcropping of rock jutting into the unbelievably blue lake, the mountains in the distance, the crisp breeze and the fresh Patagonian air... I swear, all I could think while I was there was that places like this don't exist in real life.

That night some other people from our program were stopping in Villa La Angostura on their own journey from Bariloche to San Martín, so we had a nice reunion. The next morning they, along with about half our group, went on their way. The rest of us got some more hiking in -- I headed up to see some the nearby cascada and then spent the afternoon taking a much needed nap.

 

This is the top of the waterfall, taken from only a few yards away...

...and here is the cascada itself, taken from the trail.

Fun Fact: Cascada is the word for a singular waterfall, as seen here, but cataratas is used where there are multiple falls together, such as Niagara Falls or las Cataratas de Iguazú.

San Carlos de Bariloche

The next morning we packed up and left our hostel to head to Bariloche. Unfortunately we didn't stay long; we were mainly there because it's the only place you can get a direct bus back to Mendoza. However, the two hours we were in town was enough to check out the gorgeous chocolate masterpieces (and buy some sweets for ourselves).

Now THAT is what I call an Easter egg!

Bus Rides, Round Two

There's not much to say about the bus ride home, except that it was long and they showed the worst possible movie selections available to them. I mean, seriously, when you have "The Avengers" and "The Hunger Games" but instead play "Miami Magma", you're doing something wrong.

The ride did offer us some breathtaking farewell views of the lakes, complete with picturesque cloud reflections.

And that, was my Semana Santa! Next up, an overview of the weekend I spent in Chile!