McDaniel Family Visit: San Cristobal and Franklin

On Thursday, which was Thanksgiving, we decided to mix things up a bit. Thanksgiving obviously isn't a thing here, so the boys still had school. So we decided to do our own 5K Turkey Trot and ran along the Mapuche River to a nice park nearby. Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

After the run, we met up with Drew and Mom and had a lovely brunch at a cute little cafe in our neighborhood called Cafe Figo. 

During the run, Osman took a lovely photograph of the purple jacaranda trees that bloom here in the spring. They are the most beautiful trees I have ever seen, aside from cherry blossoms. Definitely a highlight of springtime here for me.

We also got a chance to stop by our gourmet Whole Foods equivalent grocery store, the name of which is Jumbo, but it's pronounced Yumbo, and somehow that makes it fancier to my brain. Jumbo, not fancy, almost trashy. Yumbo, a step up for sure. The mascot of Jumbo is an elephant, which I forced Leah to take a picture with, because her Burner mascot is a much more adorable elephant called Swamy Toots (see pic below), so every time I go into Jumbo and see the elephant, I think of her. Toooooooottttssss! 

After brunch, we wanted to go to the Museum of Memory and Human Rights, which is a museum dedicated to the lives lost and the atrocities committed during the Pinochet dictatorship. Unfortunately we got there and the museum was closed because they were refinishing the floors. And it would remain closed for the entirety of their visit. Bummer. But you can't win them all. Instead, we walked over to this Church Drew and I discovered a few weeks back that looks like a mosque almost. Made from alot of concrete, it has a dark vibe inside, but it is filled with stained glass which is lovely. 

Our housecleaner, Karen, came by that day, and she cooked up homemade arepas with a chicken and avocado filling called Reina Pepiada. They are as delicious as they look. Karen is an amazing cook, and I love these things. I could eat ten of them.

Nanas gotta Nana, so she treated the boys to a brownie sundae for Thanksgiving.

On Friday, we walked up Cerro San Cristobal. First stop on the walk was the Japanese Gardens, which is lovely and very curated, as every Japanese Garden is. 

At the top of Cerro San Cristobal is a statue of the Virgin Mary, which Mom was very pleased to see. 

You can hike down Cerro San Cristobal, bur we took the much more fun funicular, which is essentially a box on tracks that goes up and down a steep hillside by a pulley. This one has been working since 1925.

More Nana lovin.

On Saturday, we took a trip to a part of town called Franklin which has an amazing restaurant scene and happening flea markets for things that both came in on trucks and fell off trucks. It's an interesting area, but it's certainly seedier than most. But our lunch there was super yummy. 

Saturday night, Mom and I went to Mass at the Catholic Church down the street from us. Had a really interesting mural behind the alter. 

Finally, had to top off Saturday with some $0.50 oysters. The ones from the South of Chile are small and briny and cheap, and I love them. So I knew Leah would love them too.

McDaniel Family Visit: Museums

 My Mom, sister, and brother-in-law came to visit for 10 days over Thanksgiving. Can't tell you how lovely it was to see them after an entire year. 

Saturday, which was the day they arrived, was filled with rest and relaxation. They got to experience the joys of a $40 massage for 90-min, as well as a $150 hair highlight. Prices too good to beat. I was trying to convince Leah she should travel down here every 6-months, and all of the money she'd save on the services she could get here would pay for her trip. Jajaja

On Sunday, we went to Los Dominicos, which is a cute village filled with artisan workshops selling arts and crafts. The fam tried their first round of empanadas as well as mote con huesillo, which is the peach and wheat grain drink popular here. I took Mom to Mass at the actual Dominican Church. Then that afternoon we had an asado with the Rodiños, the Argentinian family who lives in our building. Everyone liked the choripan and the proveleta. 

On Monday, we started our day by visiting the National Library, which is something the boys and Drew had visited in the past, but I had never gotten to see. The building itself is really beautiful, and there is a super cute coffee shop inside. It definitely is on my "must see" list for Santiago.

There is also a private library collection inside, which is housed in a room that looks like it was taken from the library at Hogwarts. All dark wood, huge volumes, spiral staircases to upper levels, the works. Very cool to see. 

After the library, we hopped across the street to Santa Lucia Hill. This is the spot where the city was founded back in 1541. The fountain in front is lovely, like something you'd see in Rome. Has a nice view of the city from the top as well. 

By this time, we were ready for lunch, so we went to Oda's, a yummy spot in Lastarria, which is a cute neighborhood right by Santa Lucia Hill. We had never tried Oda's before, but it was great. Would definitely go back. 

Last stop of the day was the Gabriela Mistral Cultural Center, which is half art display space, half gathering/workspace. 

On Tuesday, we started at La Moneda, which is the Presidential Palace in Chile, the equivalent of the White House. This was the place we went to with the boys a few months ago because Emerson needed to do a project on a landmark in Santiago. Underneath La Moneda is the Cultural Center, which had totally different art displays this time, so I'm glad we went. At the moment, there is a display showing a collection of art owned by the National Bank of Chile, which is called the Banco Central de Chile (BCC). Why would a bank own art you'd ask? Apparently there was an emphasis at the Bank to preserve Chilean art history as a public service, as they see it as their "duty to safeguard national value." There was also alot of art that was paid to the bank as collateral for defaulted loans, many by private banks that went under during the financial crisis in the 1980s and the BCC took over. This piece in particular was unbelievable, because it's a painting of the Cajon de Maipo, which is the first valley we camped at in the van, and the painting is spot on. I knew exactly where it was the moment I saw it. Below the painting is my own photo of the valley from our visit. Amazing, huh. 

There was also a picture of La Campana, which was the National Park with the large palm trees that we just visited. Pretty cool. 

After La Moneda, we went to La Plaza de Armas, mainly to check out the Cathedral there. It is very impressive. 

Tucked around the corner from the Plaza de Armas is the Museum of Pre-Colombian Art. I had never been to this museum before, but it was a highlight for sure. It was filled with art from before Columbus, which means art from Indigenous cultures. But the art is not just from Chile, but from all of South and Central America and up to Mexico. It was very extensive. But the most impressive part to me was how well preserved the art was. These pieces are 2,000-4,000 years old, but they look like they were made yesterday. And many of the pieces were very detailed and fiddly ceramic things that should have broken to bits through the ages, but they hadn't! They must have been buried in tombs to be that well preserved. 

Right outside the Museum of Pre-Columbian Art is the Supreme Court building and the Old Congress building, both of which are very beautiful gems tucked away. 

On Tuesday night, we went out for our fancy dinner celebration to a place called Yumcha. It was a 10-course pescatarian, Asian inspired meal, and it was fantastic. It wasn't cheap, to be sure, but each dish was incredibly delicious, the portions were generous, and it was paired with some very unusual wines/sakes/teas that were very interesting.

The last museum we saw was the Museum of Fine Art, which we went to on Wednesday. The building itself is gorgeous, with a lovely glass ceiling.  Half of the art is older pieces, half more modern. I liked seeing the building more than the art, but it's free, so why not. 

Parque Nacional La Campana

Last weekend, we went on a short camping trip to Parque Nacional La Campana, which is about an hour and a half outside of Santiago. We went up Friday night and stayed through Sunday afternoon. We mainly wanted to test out some of the fixes and alterations made by Drew and his Dad in the van over the last few weeks. We were also meeting a Dad friend and his two kids, who joined us on Saturday and camped in a tent Saturday night. We went for a nice hike on Saturday, which was decently long, about 8 miles, a new record for the boys. It had very moderate elevation gain and ended in a waterfall. 

The National Park is known for having enormous palm trees in it, the biggest I had ever seen for sure. Below is the AI explanation about why the trees are special. 

The palm trees in Parque Nacional La Campana are particularly special because they constitute one of the last and largest natural forests (palmares) of the Chilean Wine Palm (Jubaea chilensis) left in the world.

This species has several unique characteristics and ecological significance:

1. The Chilean Wine Palm (Jubaea chilensis)

• Endemic and Vulnerable: The palm is endemic to the Mediterranean zone of central Chile, meaning it grows nowhere else naturally. It is currently classified as Vulnerable due to threats like forest fires, herbivory in its early stages, and the historical commercial exploitation of its sap and fruits (known as coquitos).

• A "Living Fossil" and Megafauna Survivor: The Chilean Palm is considered a "living fossil" that has survived for over 10,000 years, dating back to a time when mastodons roamed the area. It is believed that the seeds were once dispersed by these giant animals.

• Impressive Size and Longevity: It is one of the largest palm species in the world, capable of reaching heights of up to 30 meters. It also has a remarkably long lifespan, with some individuals estimated to live for over 500 years.

• The Most Austral Continental Palm: It holds the distinction of being the most southern continental palm species in the world.

The waterfall at the end of the hike wasn't super spectacular, but the rocks that formed the cliff that it went over were very interesting. Very jagged and stair-steppy. 

View of the valley with the large palm tree grove. The terrain felt very similar to Colorado except with these giant palm trees!

Because our friends were sleeping in a tent, we actually camped at a private campground just outside the park. These private campgrounds are very common throughout Chile, more common than official government run ones. Imagine a mom and pop KOA campground. This one actually had three pools of various depths, a playground, a soccer field, lots of tables and grills for cookouts, bathrooms with showers, and a few cabañas available for rent. Very family friendly space, and the boys and their friends had a blast. And the view was lovely. The largest mountain in the picture below is why the National Park is called "La Campana," aka The Bell!

5 stars. Would camp here again.