Christmas for us this year was very different to what we would have at home! We were so lucky to be introduced to Nestor, a friend of Ethan's. Nestor is from Santiago and is now a very good friend of ours too! He showed us around the city and took us in to his family home for Christmas dinner, Chilean style! In Chile, Christmas is celebrated on Christmas Eve. Everybody has a very late dinner, then when the clock strikes midnight, it's Christmas day which means time for Father Christmas to come! Nestor has a little brother Max who is 10 and still believes in Santa. So, at midnight, we all went off to the park and Marts stayed back briefly to quickly put out all of the presents! Then when we got back we got to watch Max open all of his gifts from Santa! It was such a lovely night! We had Chilean salmon with gourmet trimmings, thanks to Ariel (Nestor's other brother) who is a chef. And Nestor's Mum was such a lovely, kind lady. She didn't speak English, but we managed to rustle up enough Spanish to have some kind of conversation and at least convey how happy we were to be there!
As Christmas Day is celebrated on Christmas Eve, I had my birthday all to myself for the first time in my life! Ange and I had a great day, beginning with phone calls from home and opening our presents from each other! We then had a champagne breakfast and spent the day relaxing, Ange even put together a cake for me so we could sing happy birthday! In the evening we went to Nestor's who organised a little party and cooked us dinner. So, we were looked after so well and it was the best thing we could have wished for, short of being with our own family and friends back home.
We spent a few more days with Nestor and his girlfriend in Santiago, eating fresh seafood the market, shopping in one of the massive malls, trying to dance salsa, and drinking quite a lot of pisco! Then, it was time for us to go to the coast, to a place called Valparaiso where we were going to spend New Years Eve. It wasn't quite the sleepy beachside town that we had imagined, but it ended up being fantastic! Our hostel was like an old mansion with the greatest group of people staying there! We had a Cuban band come and play for us in the evening, then at 11pm everyone went to watch the famous fireworks display to welcome in 2008! We went to the waterfront with thousands and thousands of people! The atmosphere was just amazing! Everyone was singing and chanting in Spanish, you couldn't help but join in! Crackers of glitter were going off everywhere and then... the countdown! Everyone went crazy and the fireqorks were so spectacular! WE've never experienced anything like it! It truly was the most exciting NYE we've ever had! The party continued on all night in the streets and also in our hostel. The next day we had a big BBQ with everyone and it felt like we were sitting around with a bunch of friends from home! We were just so lucky to have coincided with such a great group of people!
We spent a week in Valparasio, exploring the hills with all of the coloured houses perched precariously on them. All the walls are painted with street art and it has a really relaxed, bohemian feel. Again, we ate lots of seafood, and we had one really special dinner that was our Christmas and my birthday present from Georgie (thank you again sweets)! We went to a gorgeous restaurant with a terrace overlooking the sea where we watched the sun set, sipped on champagne and strawberries, ate a big seafood platter which was followed by a very decadent dessert! We've had a fantastic time in Valparaiso, but now we must move on! Tonight we're taking a bus that will eventually get us to San Pedro de Atacama, a little town out in the middle of the Atacama Desert!
