Isla Negra & Quintay

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Now that Steve is back (YEAH!!), we’ve reevaluated our options and have decided to return to Albuquerque in January, in time for the boys to go to school for the last semester. We had a couple different plans for how this trip would play out. Returning in January follows Plan B (sort of), which was to just travel for the first 6 months and then settle in somewhere in February when the school year starts here. But various factors - Steve’s job, the boys’ schooling, missing Stella, and more—have made us decide to scrap this second part of the plan. (Plan A was to live in one place the whole year and use it as a base from which to travel throughout the year). It’s a little sad to think of leaving already because we have settled into a routine of school, shopping, walking, and we are starting to get to know familiar faces in the community.

Our housemate, Paul, will also be heading out soon, traveling to Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. We decided to go to Isla Negra and Quintay with Paul as our last trip together. Isla Negra is south of Vina del Mar and is where Pablo Neruda had one of his homes.

Pablo Neruda was a big time collector of all kinds of stuff and his homes are full of his stuff. Theresa liked his mosaic fireplace and the inlaid shell floor. Ben liked the narwhal tusk. Steve liked his bottle collection and bar complete with a land-locked boat. Pablo Nerudo was really into nautical themes.

We rented a car to get there since there were five of us which made it easy to visit the little beach town near Isla Negra called Quintay. The beach here is nestled in a cove so the waves break against rocks a ways away from the beach. It is a beautiful spot. But the water is still cold for us. It is really rocky and the boys spent the afternoon scrambling over the rocks.

We had Yoya and Jorge and their children over - our first guests -- to our apartment. They told us of the building sustaining a huge crack from an earthquake years ago. It has since been repaired. We can’t decide if this is reassuring - to know the building has been through many earthquakes and has survived them okay or to know it was damaged and even needed repairs. Our first week in this building, Theresa felt 3 earthquakes and has felt a couple more since then. The epicenters were all way north of Vina del Mar - Ben, Oliver and Steve didn’t feel them at all.

For Halloween, we had a funny little celebration. It isn’t really celebated here, although the stores sell candy and stuff so it seems people feel pressured to celebrate it. At the last minute, the boys decided they wanted to trick or treat. We decided to do it in our apartment, which has lots of doors for the boys to knock at. The adults hid behind the doors and the boys trick or treated. It didn’t last too long, but we all have a great time. And we learned something new about Paul - he’s a really great “treater”. Ovie made up his own costume - a ninja with a cobra wand. Ben was Adam (as in Adam & Eve) - after all when would it ever be warm enough again on Halloween to wear only a fig leaf or two?

With our plans to leave South America in January, we are now frantically making our travel plans for the rest of the year, trying to figure out how to squeeze it all in. We will start with a trip to the Atacama Desert in northern Chile in just a few days in the beginning of November.

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Photos

Isla Negra
reminds us of Carmel, California

Pablo Neruda's bar
He didn´t like to go on the water, but he did like to have a drink in a boat. Something tells us we need a similar bar at home in New Mexico

boys and beach
view from Neruda's house