Prodigious life of a little lady.: Chile Chile Chile [Part II]

I had only been in South America for a few hours by this point, and I didn't really get an opportunity to rest when I got to Talca. As soon as the taxi took us straight to Megan's apartment, she was ready to begin our adventure! I think it was about 3:00 local time by this point. I freshened up as best as I could and we went for a stroll down to the promenade area. We walked around the shops for a bit, and then happened upon a lovely little cafe' called La Papa. We perused the dessert window and decided upon the most decadent chocolate and tres-leches cakes, that we shared as we re-connected over cafe' Americano's. It was such a lovely afternoon! At 6:00 that night, Megan's friend, Stephina, came over to bake Christmas cookies. You see, Megan still had two days left at work doing teacher training, and the cookies were to be taken for one of the team-building activities the next day. We munched on snacks and laughed and chatted over many bottles of wine, and I was delighted to be among such great company. We finally turned in for bed around 11 (the sun does not set until well after 10pm) and I enjoyed a perfect, dreamless, restful sleep.

Our wonderful little cafe, La Papa

The best wine I've ever tasted, straight from its native land.

The next morning I woke up with Megan and we enjoyed a cup of coffee before she had to leave for work. I admit that I did go back to bed for a few more moments of precious sleep, before I was fully up and ready for the day. I spent the rest of the morning exploring Talca. I walked up and down the promenade, and took in the sights of this quaint little city. Talca was one of the hardest-hit cities of a great 8.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Chile in 2010. Most of the buildings are still in total devastation. It was raining off and on, and I hesitantly took a few photos of the town and wandered in and out of shops before retiring to the same cafe of the previous day, for a nice coffee break.

I ordered my usual Americano. This was a time where I learned a very great lesson..... My beautiful espresso and water arrived, and I should have just enjoyed the hot beverage as it was served to me. But I was over confident in asking as best as I could, if it would be possible to have some cream or milk to add. Well, the poor waitress did not understand my request and was clearly upset as she took away my drink and returned a few moments later with a cafe con leche, or a latte as we know them. I felt horrible! And I soon learned, that it is not common to drink coffee with cream or milk as it is here in the US. And from that point forward, cafe con leche, was my drink of choice. After I had settled up with the bill, I was out for round 2.

By this time, it was pouring rain. I had no choice but to buy an umbrella from the street vendor, where I had my first clear understanding of the money via verbal communication. The umbrella had cost mil-quiniento. I did not understand this, and I had quickly drawn a small crowd of curious women, as the vendor graciously tried to demonstrate mil-quiniento by showing me the green bill (un mil) and demonstrating cutting the bill in half....(quineinto = 500). Light-bulb moment!! Ah-ha! Mil-quiniento! I was so proud of my purchase of the umbrella, and the women on the street cheered me on in my victorious purchase :) I walked around and repeated 'mil-quiniento' over and over in my head, (and of course, wrote that one down in my note-pad!). Feeling more confident, I wandered over to another vendor and admired some beautiful wallets. I asked, "Cuanto cuesta esto?" "Tres mil" (or tre mil, as it sounded...Chileans speak very very fast, and they do not enunciate their words and often drop off beginnings and endings of words....very difficult to understand.) I pretended to continue looking at the merchandise while I was really processing in my head. I slowly offered the exact amount of money and he handed me the wallet and said "Gracia! Chau, hija!" I smiled at him and at myself for another successful exchange. I was beginning to get my bearings!! I wandered around the park and snapped a couple more photos, before turning back to the apartment to meet Megan for lunch. I felt like a kid on the first day of school, eager to run back and tell Megan everything I learned that day! haha. We enjoyed a nice little lunch with some of her friends, and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing. Later that evening, we found a cute little chocolateria and finished the night with some rootop sunset-gazing with what else? Wine.

This looks like a house....on the other side of the door was an open lot.


Apparently the ass is free in Talca.

I loved riding the city bus!

Beautiful Talca sunset

Friday morning, we were up and at em, and I joined Megan on her last day of work. I went to the University for her last day of class, in which her students had all prepared a nice little presentation/final project. It was fun chatting with the locals and feeling so welcome. That afternoon, we did a little more shopping on the Alameda. This was a really fun afternoon, as the local vendors were really excited to meet us and talk to us! One of the girl's was named Belen, and I was really excited to tell her that my grandmother's name is Belen! She was really cute and excited to meet me, and wanted me to add her on Facebook. Haha!

My new friend, Belen

So we shopped around a bit longer, and later on found a great little outdoor pub. Megan, Stephina, and I enjoyed a couple good beers and we shared a completo. Completos are very common in Chile, and you can order them almost anywhere! It's basically a hotdog smothered in mayonnaise and guacamole! It was definitely something I would never order, but it was surprisingly quite good! After all, it was Dec. 21, and the end of the world, so why not go out with a completo?

We finished up our beers and said our goodbye's to both Stephina and Talca, then Megan and I grabbed our bags and were ready for the next part of our adventure to begin! We had tickets for the 9:30pm bus out of Talca to Puerto Montt, where we would meet up with another friend, Andrea the next morning. We made it to the bus station just in time! We found our seats, and were horrified to discover that we were in the very back of the bus next to the banos, and worse, next to a gang of disgusting, filthy, smelly, and obnoxiously rude men. It was a looooooooong 12 hours. We were finally able to fall asleep amidst the cat calls and the offending smells of the toilet and feet of our neighbors. But it was a rough start to the morning as I was trying my hardest not to vomit from the hot stench and motion sickness. But right on schedule, we arrived in Puerto Montt and were welcomed by Andrea... and sheets of rain.

Talca --> Puerto Montt

[Andrea is our new friend from New Zealand. She met Megan while they were both living in Arica (Northern Chile). Andrea is a primary school teacher, and was sent to Chile for one year to study Spanish, so that she could go back and teach. Wow! Talk about a great job! So when Andrea learned that Megan and I would be traveling around the South, she met up with us after her vacation in Patagonia, and we enjoyed the rest of my time in Chile, together!]

So after the long bus ride, we paid to use the bathroom, and found a little cafe where we enjoyed our morning coffee and donuts while trying to decide what to do and where to go from there....as all our our plans had involved being outdoors. We settled on getting to our rental car and driving to our next destination, Puerto Varas.

Puerto Varas was the most lovely town, and I felt like I was in a completely different world. It was absolutely picturesque, and right on the water of Lago Llanquihue. Apparently the town has a beautiful backdrop of mountains and volcanoes just beyond the lake, but sadly we were never able to see it with all the clouds and the rain. We didn't really know what to do so until we came up with a game plan, we found a wonderful little cafe called Cassi's, and enjoyed more chocolate cake and coffee. It was wonderful. We walked around the little town markets and bought some gifts. There was still plenty of day left ahead, so feeling revived from our snack, we got in the car, and spent the rest of the day driving around the lake and stopped at little towns along the way for, what else? More coffee and dessert! After we checked into our beautiful hotel, we found the pool and sauna. We ended the evening with dinner and wine in the hotel lounge that overlooked the water. We decided that this was definitely the life: vacationing in beautiful South America, eating dessert, drinking coffee and wine to our heart's content, and relaxing in the spa. It was definitely very easy to get used to!

Making the loop between the lake and hidden volcanoes.

The rainy beach from Frutillar

Traffic jam.

The view from our lovely hotel in Puerto Varas

The next morning, we wanted to either attempt a hike, or go to the island of Chiloe to see the penguins! Well, thanks to the rain, we didn't get to do either. So we got back in the car and went for another day drive. We attempted to make it to Puyhuey National Park. On our way we had to stop for a bathroom break, and we found this little gem of a cafe located next to an auto museum! We sat next to the fire, and enjoyed our little coffee break while getting to know the owner, Jose. He was such a sweet little man and I think he was happy to have us.

We made it to the National Park, but it was kind of a bust. We were able to get a few pictures of some waterfalls, before being forced back into the car by the rain. It was extremely tempting to just keep on driving east into Argentina, but we were in a rental car, and it we did not have the proper paper work to take the car across the border. On the way back to Puerto Varas, we stopped at a roadside stand for some local empanadas and cheese. They were quite interesting, and different than I expected them to taste. It was almost like a beef stew-pie. We tried to make the most of our day, but I think we were all getting a little agitated with being trapped in a car so close together for so long.... We eventually made it back to our hotel for naps and alone time; and then finally! There was a break in the clouds!

and you think gas is expensive in the US...

Puerto Varas

I was very curious to what was on the other side of this wall.....

....and this is what I found. Beauty.

Megan and I took full advantage of the blue sky and went on the most glorious run! (I'm guessing it was about 5-6miles.) We found this wonderful hidden trail that followed the railroad tracks for a bit, then along the rocky shore of the lake, and then through a beautiful little meadow filled with wildflowers and lavender! I would have given anything to have had my camera with me to capture the beauty that was before us. I don't think anyone besides Megan will ever believe me when I say it is the most beautiful trail I've ever run. But it is definitely a memory that I will keep with me forever. The smells and the sights were as beautiful as it gets, and I'm so happy that I got to enjoy that feeling of wonder and freedom with Megan. That night we went out to a fancy dinner at a lovely little restaurant. I had salmon with lime sauce, and it was the most delectable meal I think I've ever had! Every bite was like butter and and heaven combined into one. We dined for hours on this wonderful feast with copious amounts of wine and dessert. We laughed and chatted, and eventually made the hike in the rain back up the hill to our hotel, in a drunken state of happiness.

Enjoying our wonderful exquisite meal.

The next morning, Christmas Eve day, we packed up and checked out of our beautiful hotel for the next phase of the trip. Up north to Valdivia. We enjoyed the views of the drive, and sang aloud to Christmas Carols in Spanish. As we exited off the main toll road onto the next highway, we saw a pedestrian with a pack crossing the road. Megan asked her where she was going, and likewise, she was headed to Valdivia. Our hitchhiker's name was Anabel. She was from France, and she was slowly backpacking her way all across South America. I was fascinated by this young woman's bravery. I sat in the front seat and smiled to myself as I took in the connections happening in our little car: Two girls from America who met over beers in Fort Collins, CO, a school teacher from New Zealand, and a brave young girl from France out to conquer the world; all away from our families on Christmas, together in a little car, out to seek the thrill of life. Life is really pretty incredible and I'm so happy I am blessed to be alive to experience it all, and meet such wonderful people along the way. Once we got to Valdivia, Anabel was on her way, and the three of us found our next hotel.

Chau, chau, Anabel! God bless you in your travles!

It goes without saying, our next hotel was quite the opposite of our resort we had be staying in the last couple nights. Our hotel reminded me of the Stanly Hotel from the Shining...only much less beautiful, and in a third world setting....The hallways were empty and dark, there was no wait staff, and every time we tried to find our room we would get lost! It was absolutely creepy. And where we would be spending our Christmas eve. We ventured back out into the rain to try to get a decent meal and a couple adult beverages. The town was in an obvious frenzy in preparation to shut down for Christmas but we were able to find an open market to get some food for our Christmas meal. Ours consisted of cantaloupe, prosciutto, olives, bread, and a tomato/avocado salad. Oh yeah, and three bottles of wine. We layed in our little twin beds all in a row, watch Mama Mia on cable, and feasted. It was one of the best Christmas eve's I've ever had.

The lovely view from our room

The creepy bartender making crappy Pisco Sours

Yes, let me just venture down this dark hallway.

Valdivia in the rain

Andrea wishing away the rain.

Christmas morning, we woke up to find that Santa had found us even in our creepy little hotel! We exchanged presents over coffee, and checked out of that hotel as quickly as possible! And..... It was NOT RAINING!!

Our Christmas Eve meal :)

Yay, Christmas presents! Thanks, friends :)

Merry Christmas, Megan! Love you!


Our Christmas Coffee and Chirimoya. (I'll explain the instant coffee in another section...)

We went to the feria where we walked around the marketplace and watched the sea lions & seagulls. We were enjoying the sunshine, when a drunk man wandered over to me (mind you, at like 10am) gave me a can of beer, and wanted to chat! I did my best to oblige in a conversation with my improving Spanish, but this drunk man started to get a little to fresh with me. So Megan, in her perfect Spanish, told him to get lost. We then wandered over to a wonderful little man who was a keeper of pigeons. He reminded me so much of the homeless lady in Central Park in Home Alone 2, who would call the pigeons by name with birdseed! He was such a cute little old guy, and happy to chat with us. It was a fun morning. We then made it to what we had been long waiting for: The Kunstmanm Cerveceria! This lovely place was where we had our Christmas meal of craft beer and Chilean-German food. After getting our fill, it was back on the road again (don't worry, we had a sober driver!) And alas, on to the final leg of our trip, Pucon.