Piscina Tupahue

 A couple Sundays ago, Drew and the boys went on a hike with our first friend in Chile, Antonio, who is actually Venezuelan. We met him in Oct. 2023 when we were visiting Santiago for the first time to see if it would be a good fit. We met him playing volleyball, of course, and discovered he is a super nice guy who also loves to hike. So, last Oct., Antonio actually showed us the same hike to the top of Cerro San Cristobal, which is a very accessible hike with a great view of the city and some tourist attractions. We reconnected with Antonio since moving here, and so this time, Drew, the boys, and Antonio did the same hike but from the opposite direction. The boys had a great time, but because they went too early, alot of things at the summit were closed (church, statue of Maria, snack shops). So we said we'd go back.

We take public transit whenever we see things inside the city. The boys love riding the extra long buses that wiggle in the middle.

So, last Thursday, we decided to go back to Cerro San Cristobal, but with a different approach. We still took a city bus to get there. The boys wanted to sit together :)

But this time instead of hiking, we took the gondola up. Its about $4/person round trip, not bad as far as tourist traps go. We also had a buch of gear as we were planning on checking out Piscina Tupahue, which is a public pool located up there. Hiking with all the pool things would have been a bit much. The gondola was very fun, and because we were going on a Thursday, there were no lines. I can imagine though on a weekend in the middle of summer, it might get super busy. There is a designated stop for the Tupahue Pool, but we didn't stop there and instead went all the way to the summit first.

At the top of Cerro San Crisobal is a Catholic Church that we explored. Has Mass there every Sunday at 12pm!

The view from the top also shows you how expansive the city really is, and how small our Vitacura bubble really is. Definitely puts things into perspective. 

The main attraction at the top is a giant statue of Mary. The boys didn't get to see this on their hike, so that was fun to see with them. It's enormous, much larger than this picture makes it seem.

We then took the gondola back down to the Tupahue stop, and checked out the pool, which was $7/adult and $4/kid. The pool was built in 1966 and is considered a National Monument of Chile. It was originally a quarry, and the pool is built using stone from that exact quarry. It's huge, over 80 meters long and 25 meters wide, and apparently can fit 1,800 people. I decided I didn't want to experience the weekend crowds, hence why we went on a Thursday, and it was certainly busy, but not crazy. It had showers, a free bag check, grassy areas to lay out, a snack shack, and a cool center rock outcropping that the boys loved swimming around. The pool was actually quite deep, there really wasn't a shallow kiddie area, hence why the boys liked clinging to the rocks. They rediscovered their love of swimming, and overall it was a very fun day. Most Chilean families seem to spend the entire day at attractions like this; they bring packed lunches, coolers, chairs, etc. and make a day of it. I'm realizing that while the prices for these places seem very reasonable to us, a family making $100K every year, for a family making $510,000 Chilean pesos a month which is the national minimum wage, or about $531 USD, which equates to only $6,372 USD a year, these prices feel steep, so they get their money's worth. Again, definitely puts things into perspective. 

Valparaiso

 During our 5-day trip to Viña del Mar, we took a day trip to its sister city, Valparaiso (Valpo). Valparaiso is a port city, founded in 1536, so lots of history there. It's the third largest city in Chile, and has alot of universities. It has a cultural, hippy vibe, and I'm sure all of the universities aid in this. It is also very hilly, with all roads leading down to the port. There are a couple neighborhoods known for their beautifully painted historic homes, and lots and lots of murals and street art, Cerro Concepción and Cerro Alegre in particular, so that is what we went to explore. To be transparent, most online info suggests to stay exclusively in those neighborhoods, as they are the safest for tourists, and to be alert, especially at night. We felt perfectly safe all day, but we also took all the normal precautions. And we don't go out at night, because of the boys. :) So keep that in mind if you're traveling differently. 

There are many ways to travel from Viña del Mar to Valpo, but we decided to make it an adventure and take one of the local buses that zip around the two towns. Avery lovingly named these buses the "Putty Putt Buses" because they are all old, small, and seemingly on their last legs. He couldn't wait to ride one.  In Santiago, public transit is paid for with a refillable transit card, called a "Bip" card. Here, it was all cash/coins. It's cheap, but we needed to get our hands on some smaller denomination bills before beginning this journey. They will give you change on the bus, but not for large bills.  It was a 45min ride south from our Airbnb in Reñaca Beach (which is a tad north of downtown Viña del Mar), to Valpo, and for our family of 4 it cost $2.00 round trip.

A "Putty Putt Bus." 

They actually reminded me exactly of the minibuses in Hong Kong. They are smaller than a normal public bus, the drivers drive very fast (they get paid per ticket), and they are crowded, hence why the boys are sitting in our laps here.

Once we got to Valpo, we took the Ascensor Concepción which is a funicular (think small, old, tram/gondola/wooden box) that goes up/down a hillside. Drew and I generally shy away from "touristy" rides like this, but from an ease of exploration with the boys, it was 100% worth it. It took us directly from the lower sea-level streets of Valpo up to the exact artsy neighborhood we wanted to explore. If we didn't take it, we would have had to navigate up some very steep hills, and the boys would have been tuckered out before we even got to the good stuff, so it was completely worth it. It cost $0.30/person/ride, and is the oldest in the entire city, established in 1883. The turn style here was cast in 1887, you could see it stamped on there. Again, boys were in love. 

This is the view from the top of the funicular. Two cruise ships were docked while we were here, and there were definitely group tours from the cruise exploring the same neighborhoods we were. But I wouldn't say it was overrun. 

Once we got to Cerro Concepción, it was time to wander and explore. This neighborhood is one you could visit a dozen times and see/notice different things each and every time. I'm sure we missed stuff, especially with the boys, as going slowly and mindfully is not their forte, but these were some of our highlights. 

A fun staircase with a slide alongside it. Boys loved it.

As with lots of artsy things, alot went over our heads. My guess is that this tile mosaic is of Rasputin, but I could be totally wrong on that. And why would a mosaic of Rasputin be in Valpo, Chile? Don't know. There are lots of walking tours you can take that explain the art a bit better; maybe we'll try that next time but without the boys.  

Drew noticed there were small, white ants painted sporadically on the sidewalk throughout this neighborhood, and we decided to follow them. They keep growing in number until they eventually led to a candy store. Clever marketing. There was another set of fish that led to a seafood restaurant.

Think loudly, feel deeply, speak clearly. Words to live by.

One staircase had a saying written out in English, "Not hippies, but happies." And this store was called the "Happies" store.

This is actually another tile mosaic, not a mural. Very impressive.

Going to have to bring Leah back here when she visits!

At some point we needed to stop for a potty break, and, as is common in much of Chile, you have to pay (not alot, but something) to use the public restrooms. Or you can find a coffee shop, buy a coffee, and use their bathroom, which is what we tend to do. The courtyard outside our chosen coffee shop had an artist working on a mural, and the boys were fascinated. They actually wanted to stop by again at the end of the day to see how much progress was made. Little did we know, but this artist had several murals throughout the neighborhood. We noticed his distinct style right away. It was fun exploring and trying to find more of his work. His stuff was actually my favorite. @varasmackenzie 

Until next time, Valpo!

Viña del Mar

 Once we were officially settled into the new apartment, we had a few weeks to explore before the boys started school on March 4th. However, the Adventure Van was still being worked on (A/C and seatbelts), so we decided to visit a place that wouldn't have been Adventure Van compatible. It was also pretty hot in Santiago (and by hot, I mean 90s), but with no A/C in the new apartment, it felt very hot. So we decided to take a trip to the ocean, specifically Viña del Mar, which is just under two hours away. 

Viña del Mar would not have been a good place for the Adventure Van for a couple of reasons. One, it's pretty packed with tourists and beach goers, with the real estate along the beach being taken up by high rises. Imagine San Diego meets the Conchas Chinas hills of Puerto Vallarta, MX. There would not have been a good place to camp close to the beach. Lately it's also been known to have a higher crime rate with car jackings on the rise. We also wanted to to a day trip to Valparaiso, its sister city, while we were there, and Valparaiso is like San Francisco, cute, artsy, super duper hilly, and crowded. Again, not Adventure Van compatible. Since the Lady was in the shop anyways, we decided to visit, but to travel a different way. Bus! There are direct and very comfortable giant buses that go from Santiago (either Central Station or Pajaritos) direct to both Viña del Mar and Valparaiso. They are safe, very comfortable, with wifi, bathrooms, outlets, etc., and allowed us to take in the scenery. To get to the coast, you have to pass through a couple valleys where there were alot of wineries. Apparently, this is where the lovely Chilean whites come from. But it looked alot like Colorado, very dry and scrubby, except for farms that had clearly been irrigated. The boys loved the giant bus.

We actually stayed at Reñaca Beach (sector 5), because our research showed there was beach volleyball at this location, and Drew wanted to scope out the scene, no surprises there. There is actually another section of beach that has beach volleyball as well, Playa de Deportes, (literally Sports Beach) which is on the north end of the main Las Salinas beach in Viña del Mar. But, due to the geography, there wasn't lodging super close to that section of beach, so we chose Reñaca instead knowing we could literally see the courts from our Airbnb. It was actually the perfect spot for us. We stayed at an Airbnb one road off the beach, but because of the hills, we had a fantastic view. We did have to climb 201 stairs to get down to the beach though. Good workout! The inside of the Airbnb was not spectacular, everything was old and had that oceany, musty smell. But, for paying $115/night for two bedrooms, it seems like a good deal. Imagine what you'd have to pay in San Diego for this kind of view?!?

This is on the Pacific Ocean, and the water is VERY cold, like 65 degrees tops. This is because of the Humboldt Current which sweeps water from Antartica up the western coast of South America. Don't be impressed, I had to google this, but for another reason you'll see below. It meant I never got in the water above my knees. It was actually very interesting, they had very attentive life guards at Reñaca Beach, and they would not allow anyone to get in beyond hip level. I'm not sure if this is because of rip tides (probably, as there were warning flags on the beach showing either red or green, and it was red every day we were there). Maybe it was also because of how cold the water is. Without a good wetsuit, swimming because pretty difficult pretty fast at those temps, at least that's what I've heard, jajaja. The beach also had a very aggressive break right on the shore, so there wasn't alot of wiggle room before you got pummeled. But Drew and the boys had fun splashing around.

We had some great sunsets from our Airbnb porch. 

The cold water also created a marine fog layer most mornings that wouldn't burn off until 2 or 3 in the afternoon. Because of this, the beach would be dead all morning, and wouldn't really get busy until literally 2 or 3 when the sun came out. Then it stayed busy until sunset. I was digging the cooler temps. Highs in the 70s, lows in the 50s. Felt nice to wear long sleeves sometimes for a change. And the foggy mornings actually worked in our favor as we could go to the beach and the boys could dig, but Emerson, poor, pale Emerson, wasn't a significant burn risk until the afternoon. Made my job as keeper of the sunscreen much easier. The boys couldn't get enough of digging. So many projects to be had.

I was researching the Humboldt Current because it brings nutrients and provides ideal conditions for oysters to grow off the coast of Chile, and we got to try them for the first time! We found a little seafood market in town that will sell them to you shucked and with a few simple condiments, and we ate them right then and there. $0.50/oyster. Score. They were delicious. Briny, small, just how I like them. Emerson was a huge fan. Avery not so much. Thumb down from him. But big thumbs up from everyone else.