Back to Chile for a week. I flew from chilly La Paz to warm Santiago on a bus plane. We landed two times before finally reaching Santiago and went through customs on the first stop in Chile - Arica. I suppose that´s why you get such a good price. It´s always a new and interesting experience if nothing else! So I hung out in Santiago for a few days, wandering around Bellavista - the cute bohemian barrio (neighborhood) where Pablo Neruda once resided. I visited his house, of course. On my last night before the parental units arrived I met some fun people at the hostel and went for dinner with them. We were a Brittish, Irish, French and Canamerican! And none of us spoke Spanish very well. But we got by as we always seem to...I am finally deciding to settle somewhere and take Spanish classes for a month, something I should have done from the beginning.
So the next day I made my way to the airport once again to greet my parents upon their arrival. We took a taxi to the wrong hotel and then another one to the right hotel! We lulled the morning away at a cafe and later I took them to my favorite spot - Bellavista, for a pitcher of beer and empanadas. The next day we took a bus to Viña del Mar and stayed in a swanky hotel all week, which was a nice break from hostel life. We went on two tours, one to Isla Negra to visit Pablo Neruda´s favorite house. On the other tour we took a boat ride to see penguins and dolphins and pelicans, oh my! We also spent a day in Valparaiso, visiting Pablo Neruda´s third house and wandering the colorful streets filled with loads of great street art. This was my favorite part. The rest of the time we ate like kings and queens, and drank like them too - I think I probably put on 5 pounds! Hopefully backpacker life will bring me back. And of course, we stuck our feet in the Pacific Ocean.
At the endof all the gloriousness, we came back to Santiago in a taxi, stopping at a vineyard along the way for a tour and some tastings. We stayed at an apartment in Bellavista for our last night. Saying goodbye the next day was really sad but life goes on as always. I´m back on the road on my own. Back in Salta, Argentina. Mmmm Argentina. And life is an open book once again...
