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Published: March 13th 2008
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When my parents found out that Barry and I were going away travelling for a year, they quickly came to the conclusion that they would have to come out and visit half way through. So, after our return from Easter Island we met up with my Mum and Dad at the very nice Hotel Vegas in Santiago. The next 2 weeks were taken up with Barry and I acting as tour guides and we visited some great places. Of course my parents were generous as always and so we were able to eat lovely meals and stay in hotels better than the hostels/tents we have become accustomed to!
Santiago
Our trip started with a few days in Santiago. Barry and I had already done some exploring and we went on to discover even more lovely areas with my parents. We all really enjoyed Santiago - it is a modern city but still manages to maintain a South American air. We particularly enjoyed visiting the greener parts of the city like Cerro Santa Lucia and Cerro San Cristobal. The latter was reached by furnicular, leading to various viewing platforms with great views across the city and out towards the hazy
Andes.
Before our visit I only knew one quote from Pablo Neruda, the Nobel prize-winning Chilean poet. This was from "The Simpsons" and something along the lines of "Laughter is the language of the soul". So, to improve our Neruda knowledge we visited a museum which was once his home in Santiago. It was surprisingly interesting and we learned lots from the engaging tour guide. He made Neruda sound like someone you would want as your best friend, and was quite offended when Barry suggested that maybe Neruda hadn´t been a model communist! (well he did own a lot of houses, threw extravagant parties and accumulated masses of stuff).
From Santiago we also took a day trip to the coastal city of Valparaiso. This is a very different city to those you find in the rest of Chile. It only vaguely follows a grid plan and is better known for being built on hills which grow away from the sea and require "ascensors" (lifts) to take people up and down. We enjoyed the main sights, pretty houses, great views and sunshine!
La Serena, the Elqui Valley and the Mamalluca Observatory
Soon it was time to head
north towards the "Norte Chico" part of Chile. We based ourselves in the lovely La Serena for a few days whilst we explored the surrounding area. La Serena itself is a prosperous city with plenty of history (the second oldest city in Chile) and some good sights including a nice main square, Cathedral and a vast number of stone churches.
From La Serena we visited the town of Andacollo, famous as being the home of a statue of the Virgin Mary who it is believed performs miracles. There is a bizarre museum next to the main church housing the gifts of thanks given to the virgin after she has worked her magic. These items range from exam certificates to model ships and mineral displays! We also visited the town of Pisco Elqui, situated in the stunning Elqui Valley. Our main reason for going there was to visit the Capel Pisco Distillery. Pisco is a Chilean (although others say Peruvian) brandy which makes an excellent cocktail when mixed to make a Pisco Sour. We enjoyed the tour of the distillery although the tasting at the end could have been more generous! The town of Pisco Elqui is also famous in
Chile as being the hometown of the Nobel-winning poet Gabriela Mistral and a copy of her death mask takes pride of place in the main square. We decided against visiting the Mistral museum though as it was far too hot and she didn´t sound as much fun as Pable Neruda...
Our third excursion was to the excellent Mamalluca Observatory in the Elqui Valley. Northern Chile is used by astronomers from around the world as the site for their star-gazing due to clear skies, lack of light pollution and all-round general good-quality air. The journey to the observatory is a bit long over winding roads but well worth it. Our guide was very knowledgeable and using a laser light he could point out constellations, etc to us. We also had a chance to look through various telescopes giving us close encounters with nebulae, saturn with its rings and the moon´s craters amongst other things.
Mendoza, Argentina
From La Serena we went back to Santiago where we stayed for one night before getting a bus to cross the Andes to Argentina. Unfortunately I was not very well on the crossing (I just about managed to avoid being sick over
the Chilean immigration people!) but still the scenery was stunning. There were delays at the border (no surprise) and we were glad to arrive in Mendoza in one piece where we stayed for the next few days. Mendoza was great fun. We wandered the main sights, particularly enjoying the open squares dotted around the city centre. Our hotel even had a pool so we spent a good few hours relaxing poolside in the sunshine. As we were in wine country we also decided that it was only fair we visit some vineyards. We went on a guided excursion which meant that someone else worried about the driving whilst we just took the tours and tastings. Back in Mendoza we also enjoyed bottles of the local wines - well, all in the name of travelblog research! After our experiences, I can safely say that Mendoza does indeed produce excellent wine.
All in all we had a great time with my parents and it was sad to say goodbye as they went off to finish their South American tour with a 5 day visit to Buenos Aires. And of course Barry and I had to get used to living our budget-lifestyle
again....
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Stephen Paul
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What a Pity
Such a shame this post is classified under Mendoza when all but 4 of the wonderful pictures were taken in Beautiful Chile! :) Ive been following all of you and Barry's blogs, love the pics! Stay in Chile longer please!