Avenida Italia

Here in Santiago there is a specific street for everything. If you want a bicycle you go to Calle San Diego, if you want fabric you go to Calle Rosas and if you want vintage furniture - you come here to Avenida Italia.

Avenida Italia is the place for salvaged and awesome vintage furniture(plus a few extra antiquey vintagey goodies). During the week I walk up Italia to get to work, I can smell the laquer from a block or so away. During the week all of the furniture shops open up and move their work into the sidewalks sanding, painting, and re-upholstering vintage furniture. But the best time to go is on Saturdays when they put everything out. If we were moving here for good, this is where I would buy all of our furniture.

Being only a few blocks from our flat I love wandering up here on Saturdays to browse the treasures. And I'm always so tempted!

A few of these suitcases would be an awesome chest for the end of a bed...

Look at all that potential in there! Where is the Avenida Italia in Virginia??

Escaping the Smog

Today on our day off (Thanks to you - Saint Peter and Saint Paul) we went to the east side of Santiago where the city limits meet Aguas de Ramon park. There we trekked our way up into the Andes away from smoggy Santiago.

There was still some snow on the peaks in the distance that hadn't yet melted from last weekends storms.

Looking back to the smoggy city. See why we were ready for the fresh air? 

We saw vegetation of all types as we moved from the dry rocky slopes down into the damp riverbed. 

Then we found a mini cascada (waterfall).... 

But we went elsewhere to eat our picnic lunch. It got awfully cool in the shade. 

Walking back we were on a Northern slope that didn't recieve much sun. Here we found our first Andes snow!

It was a wonderful end to our three day weekend. We hope to return soon for the longer 7 hour hike further into the park.

¡Feliz Dia Papa(s)!

Happy Father's Day Dad!

So proud to say your mine. 

Miss and love you tons.

Happy Father's Day to both a great Dad and Brother-in-law!

Love you both.



"Autumn's Sweet We Call It Fall"

There aren’t nearly as many deciduous trees here in Santiago to reveal the signs of fall, though I found a few leaves to get my fix as if it were something like a Virginia autumn.  We are envious of the summer back at home but our time will come again in November.  Happy Weekend!

Part 4- Even further into the Valley, Giddy Up!

Sunday morning we woke up early and drove even deeper into the valley through the tiny towns of Paihuano, Monte Grande, and Pisco Elqui to hop on horseback for a morning ride.  

After a quick lesson on climbing on, steering left and right, speeding up and stopping we were lead out into the the dry rocky terrain of Chiles' 4th region.

 

We couldn't have asked for more perfect weather... It was simply a gorgeous day.

Juan - our guide. He definitely pulled off the hat better than us gringos.

 

What a cutie. They ran out of adult sized hats so Henry had to wear a kiddie sized one.

The view down into the valley was incredible.

(Minus the pile of road apples.)

After the ride we stopped in town to explore a little and grab a bite for lunch.

We made a new friend for Basil.

 

Then we climbed back in the fiat for our journey back through the valley westward which would evetually run into the PanAm to take us south, to our home away from home.

The sun set behind our backs concluding just one of many adventures we'll take exploring this long skinny country.

Part 3 – Out of the Desert and into the Valley

After the adventure out on the water we climbed back into the fiat and headed east.

We had a much more relaxed trip back through the desert with plenty of fuel in the tank and stopped to say hi to the burros and llamas along the way.

We stopped to check out the cacti and the scenery.

The happy driver and passenger stayed in the car while the Frenchies and I took photos in the desert landscape. (I guess growing up in Arizona leaves you rather unexcited by cacti)

The Eucalyptus trees are all over Chile. They even seem to love it in the desert.

After passing back through La Serena we headed due East on route 44 which ran through Valle Del Elqui.

Elqui is known for its grapes which are both used to make the famous pisco liquor and are also exported to the U.S. and sold in your nearest grocery store for eating.

The deeper into the valley we went the more grapes we saw. And then we came across these goats….

We guessed it was the end of the season and this farmer wanted to let his goats have a treat.  They so badly just want to be bipedal!

 That night we stayed in the small sweet hippie town of Vicuña.

 We were scheduled to go to an observatory that night to see the stars but unfortunately our tour was canceled due to cloud cover. Talk about bad luck because it’s only cloudy about 3 days out of the year in that region of Chile! I guess we’ll just have to go back!

Part 2 - Greeted by the Deep Blue Pacific

The sweet salty air blew across our faces as we hopped out of the car. We hurried to the shore where the pacific lapped at our feet and I instantly began stuffing my pockets with beautiful stones and shells.

 We had to wait about an hour or so to catch the next boat tour because our unexpected fuel stop put us a little behind schedule but we gladly explored to coastline while waiting to board the ‘Condorito.’

               

             

 Once we launched we were surrounded by blue both above and below – it felt great to be out on the water. (Made us miss Ocracoke!) And within ten minutes we were approaching the rocky coastline of the island.

The first creatures to greet us were the pelicans. (A little disguised on their dropping covered rock.)

Then the adorable Humboldt Penguins.

The Humboldt Penguins lay their nests on the high ground on the island and create little dirt paths to traverse down to the water to catch fish and to return back to the top for their nests. Humans are no longer allowed on the island because they are a danger to the penguins. If the penguins encounter a human on the island they become panicked and go to the cliffs where they jump off, sadly ending their little waddling lives. And so to minimize the number of penguin suicides, humans no longer set foot on the island.

They are tiny in this photo but you can see them traversing one of their paths to get to the shore.  It took them so long to get to the bottom, I can't imagine going uphill!

We also saw some dolphins.

And many many birds. (See them all atop the rock outcropping?)

Henry's favorite were the sea lions, which in Spanish are named ‘Lobos del Mar’ which translates to wolves of the sea. They are named this because they often seem to have their heads leaned back as if they are howling at the moon like wolves.

        After seeing the animals our guides took us to another small island off the coast were we wandered and explored.

Despite the longer trip than expected it was well worth the adventure to the coast to see the creatures of the Pacific.