Jac Attack Part One

My college roommate and first faithful travel companion Jacqui is currently on a round-the-world trip (I know... awesome right.  You can read about her adventures here, and you should.  She is bouncing around all over the place).  I was so excited for her arrival in Santiago for the Chile portion of her trip.  Honestly, there aren't very many people that could share our shoe box apartment for a month sin problemas... actually that list is one, and it is her.  

The only slightly unfortunate part about Jacqui being here in November was the part where Michael and I were still having to work like real adults (super fome), but we sitll managed to take advantage and fit a surprising amount of things in on nights and weekends while she was here.  Of course, she did plenty during the days too, truly getting the Santiago experience... not sure if that is good or bad.  We'll have to read her blog.

Here's our first reunited pictures in front of the fancy fountain in the park down the street.  Nothing says bienvenidos like bright colors and homeless people.

Anyway, inn our first weekend, Michael had to work on Saturday so I took Jacqui on the short bus ride to Valparaiso and then over to Vina del Mar for a quick glimpse at the Pacific.  We managed to get through the day basically unscathed, despite the cold (yes, it is summer... no, the beach didn't get the memo that day).  

Valpo is super confusing to get around with every street curving and swirling, but with some help of the locals and some pure luck, we got where we intended to go.  

Jacqui had her first of many Chacereros... a typical Chilean sandwich with green beans on it.  

When we were leaving from Vina del Mar, there was a slight hiccup in our bus situation... as in, we missed the first one we actually had tickets for, but after the initial "There is nothing I can do, you have to buy a new ticket" and a response from me of... "Nope, I'm not going to do that, you are going to have to help me", a rare glimpse of decent Chilean customer service reared its head and we were on our way.  Success!!

Coastal Bliss

Between Christmas and the New Year, we took a tour o f some coastal towns with the whole Zenteno clan.  This is one of those posts where the pictures can do most of the talking.   

Our First stop was the Port in San Antonio, where we fed fish heads to sea lions, which actually meant we fed fish heads to the creepy Pelicans-- turns out those fellows are much faster than their "Lobo Marino" (sea wolf) friends.

We stopped off at the "Tomb of the Poet" in Cartagena for a short hike in flip flops (for me at least... Thanks Blas) and a great view.  

We continued North towards Isla Negra, where we visited one of Pablo Neruda's houses.  The house had beautiful views along with interesting knick knacks from Neruda's collection.  After the tour, we played on the beach rocks, Tommy hunting for crabs.

With Neruda's head.

We made our way to Valparaiso for the night.  We stayed in a cute German hostel atop Cerro Alegre, which offered the first "hostel" experience to some of the family and a great view of the port (especially at night).   It seems like everywhere along Chile's coast offers "great views", the hills probably help. 

The following day we visited another of Pablo Neruda's houses in Valpo.  San Sebastiana, you guessed it, gave us a stunning view of the eccentricities of colored houses, windy streets, and cargo ships.  The house is 5 stories high, the top floor serving as Neruda's study.  There certainly was no lack of inspiration from picture he saw outside of his window. 

Not the best translation work guys...

We walked through the Museo Abierto made up of beautiful street art, both officially a part of the "museum" and added at leisure.  Since Valparaiso is positioned on coastal cliffs, we definitely got our exercise, and through our struggled breathing, we came to the conclusion that no fat people live there... none.
Everything is a piece of art in the streets of Valparaiso, and although it is a little "down and dirty", I find it beyond charming.

After being on the coast, yet NOT playing on the beach, we made our way up to Con Con, where we enjoyed a seafood lunch, and hung out on Playa Negra for awhile.  Notice how it just never gets ugly... sigh.

Isabella nailing Michael with mud.

Ahh sunshine, water and family.  It was a great (and new) way to spend that week between Christmas and New Year's which is normally spent locked in the house recovering from the past semester.