Santiago, Chile - Week 1 (Sanhattan)

Hello Family and Friends,

We took a week to celebrate Thanksgiving with family back in Birmingham, Al.

We had a cousins' day at the zoo.

Atlas had a such a great time with his cousins.

Atlas, Sage, Aspen, Lily and Harold.

The twins and I did a 5K turkey trot on Thanksgiving morning. Josiah suggested it very last minute and I couldn't resist an opportunity to work out with my baby brother. This is actually our second consecutive thanksgiving turkey trot. It very well may be becoming a tradition.

Davina, I and Josiah braved the first real winter day in Alabama to participate in the turkey trot.

It was too short of a visit and then we were back on a plane to Santiago, Chile. Brett and Atlas got upgraded to first class. I had to stay in coach as Bruce wasn't allowed to fly first class.

Atlas snacking on his warmed up nuts before take off.

Brett was super pleased with his mimosa before take off, his dinner of prime rib and his seat that turned into a lay flat bed. He now has big goals of flying first class every flight. Bruce and I survived just fine sitting with the simple people.

Our spot in Santiago is very simple. It was the best we could find in the area that we wanted to be in. However the location is amazing. There are at least seven restaurants right outside our front door. There is a very large indoor shopping mall a ten minute walk with at least three other smaller indoor/outdoor shopping centers even closer. There are at least three mainstream fitness centers within a five minute walk. When I say mainstream I mean free weights, machine weights and cardio equipment. Atlas's daycare is a ten minute walk and he is doing great there! Atlas is a super picky eater, but they got him to try some salad.

This is my favorite street so far in Santiago "Ricardo Lyon". It is a tree lined and feels so nice to walk along.

The way we feel about Santiago after one week is that it is a very functional place. We have taken the metro around a bit in order to look at possible schools Atlas would attend if we were to move here. Probably the most handicap accessible metro of any city in all of the Americas. However, the city does lack greenery, which is probably why I like "Ricardo Lyon" street so much. It is one street in the city that has greenery.

However on our first weekend here we did take a trip out to "Viña del Mar" It is a beach city about a 2 hour drive from Santiago.

Atlas and Brett walking along the Pacific Ocean coast in Viña del Mar.

It is actually where I studied abroad sixteen years ago when I was in college. The best part of going back to Viña del Mar was being able to see "mi familia Chilena" (Chilean host family) again. This is the family that I lived with while studying abroad.

It was so good to share a meal together and spend a few hours filling in the last 16 years of our lives.

To the left is Marisol, "mi madre chilena" (my Chilean mom) and to the right is Paulina, "mi hermana chilena" (my Chilean sister).

It truly is a dream come true to see them again. I so enjoyed my time abroad in Chile when I was a university student. I always wanted to come back, but it never seemed like a possibility. So to be able to see them after 16 years just makes my heart so happy.

We also spent some time in the neighboring town of Valparaiso, which is a Unesco World Heritage Site. I'm going to be honest, I don't actually remember Valparaíso being such a big deal. I remember taking a tour, but not much else. Brett always tells me that I have a difficult time being present and that I don't remember my own life. Going back to Vina del Mar really made this message hit home for me, because besides my host family, I don't really remember much about the location. You may say that I was a little distracted by the people (yea, we're going to say the people and not anybody/boy in particular).

So you can say that I rediscovered Valparaíso. We would have loved to take a professional tour, but with it being a holiday weekend, tours were not being offered. So we made up a tour of our own. First we rode the train from our hotel location in Viña to Valparaíso. Then we took a "funicular", also known as a public elevator, up one of the the hills of Valparaíso.

View from the top of one of the 16 public elevators. This one is called "Ascensor Concepcion"

View of the sea from Valparaíso.

We walked around a bit, bought some ice cream and saw some street art. I totally get Valparaíso charm and why it is a protected area. For Brett, it had potential, but wasn't living up to it at all.

One of the cobble stone streets of Valparaíso with a view of some of the local art and the sea.

We then hopped back on the train and rode it all the way to the end of the line. The train ride was actually quite pleasant. Most of it was above ground and we got some good views of the Andes mountains. However, the best views of the Andes mountains was on our drive back to Santiago from Viña.

The Andes surround the city of Santiago, but when you're in the city, you don't really see the Andes like you do from the outside of the city looking in.

I had full intention of busying myself with a crochet project of some sort on our drive back to Santiago, but the view of the Andes kept my attention the entire time. Hopefully one of my very near future blogs will include us taking a weekend trip to the Andes mountains.